For our first visit this month, our Farm Animal Service (FAS) team is going to a farm in Michalow. We are asked to trim the hooves of two ponies that suffer from laminitis. The farrier that used to do it refused to come this time. In general, it is considered not profitable enough for farriers to only trim the hooves of one or two animals. This is…

Our team is inspecting the animal markets in Bodzentyn and Lagow. At the horse market we do not see a single horse. It becomes ever more typical that there are no horses being sold at the Bodzentyn horse market anymore.

At the Lagow cattle market our team only documents three cows.  However, the traders keep haggling for over an hour. We hear the…

Today we are at court in Opoczno. We have been invited to a hearing on the verdict in an animal abuse case. A cow has been severely neglected by the owners. The animal suffered from an ingrown horn that caused chronic pain.

It has been a long fight for justice. In December 2018 our team found the injured animal during an inspection at the…

On the second day of our training on animal transports we are inspecting live transports together with the attendants near Bautzen. Within three hours we find a national transport and the course attendants get the chance to put their theoretical knowledge from the day before on the test.

The transport is loaded with cows and calves in a separate…

Today, our team is in Bautzen. Together with veterinarian Dr. A. Rabitsch we are holding a seminar on the EU Regulation (EC) 1/2005 on live transport. Our training is targeted for police officers and official veterinarians. In total, 23 police officers and four veterinarians are attending our training in Bautzen.

Our training consists of a…

Our team is on their way to the cattle market in Lagow. We want to inspect the market for animal welfare violations. When we arrive, we are surprised to find out that the entrance to the market is closed. The market is not operating today. However, we cannot find out why. We will look into this and continue with our animal welfare inspections as…

This year, our Farm Animal Service (FAS) team has been forced to pause their work for several months due to the coronavirus pandemic. Since July our team is out in the field again. However, many animals did not receive any trimming during our absence. Therefore, our farriers currently receive many calls from farmers asking for help.

Our first…

The coronavirus crisis forced our Farm Animal Service (FAS) team to pause their work for three months. Finally, we can continue with our field work programme ATET. Our programme is focused on helping farm animals in need. Due to the long-enforced break, we receive a lot of calls this month from farmers asking for our help. The coronavirus crisis…

Our team is in France for an investigation in the EU port of Sète. From this port, live animals from Europe are often shipped across the Mediterranean to the Maghreb states and the Middle East.

During our investigation, we document two animal transport ships in the port of Sète: ALONDRA (year of construction: 1995) and ETAB (year of construction:…