Our team visits the Skaryszew Horse Market that takes place once per year and hundreds of horses are sold for leisure, breeding and slaughter. We are interested in assessing the transport conditions of the horses to and from the market.

Many horses arrive already on Sunday afternoon and are left in the vehicles until the market opens finally at 11…

Today, our team waits at the Lithuanian/Polish border for a truck of a German transport company, which we know transports unweaned calves from Lithuania to Spain. It is snowing heavily and the temperature is below zero. We observe eight animal transporters crossing the border, but none of the German company. At 3:00 at night, after waiting for 17…

We arrive at the weekly New Holland Sales Barn auction at 8:40. When we enter the stable, we immediately note that a weak mare is down, lying flat on her side. However, she is tied to the feed trough and her head is being held up by the short rope. She is extremely emaciated with hip bones and spine clearly visible. A group of people have gathered…

When we arrive at the Hoover Sale Barn in New Holland at 9:30, the auction is already extremely busy. With approximately 450 horses for sale, the small stable is filled practically past its limit and many pens are overcrowded. The more valuable horses are tethered to overhead beams from both sides of their halter, presumably in an attempt to…

Aris, the farrier, trims the hoofes of 40 donkeys in the Corfu Donkey Rescue center, plus two that are in foster homes on the Island of Corfu. He only found one donkey with a problem, he had an abscess. 
The most difficult case for Aris is Synefoula. Synefoula is just one year old and was rescued by the CDR from a private Zoo on the island. She…

Our teams from TSB I AWF and Eyes on Animals give a six hours theory training on the EU Regulation 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport at the University of life sciences in Lublin. The dean of the University opened the training and we appreciate the fact that Animal Welfare plays an important role at the University. The audience…

On Tuesday 19 January our teams from from TSB I AWF and Eyes on Animals give a six hours theory training on the EU Regulation 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport. 5 official veterinarians and 15 WITD officers participate in the training. Due to the fact that this is a small group there are lively discussions and questions in…

Today is the practical training that follows the theory trainings in Lublin and Kielce. The road inspection is near a livestock market in Lagow, where a cattle market is between 5 and 9 o´clock on Wednesdays. It is minus 12 degrees this early morning, but fortunately after only 15 minutes of waiting time the first truck is directed to the place of…

Our team has been called to a limping mare named Gafra in Jacentów. On the place we are checking her legs, that seem to be okay, but we can locate an abzess in one front hoof.

We are opening the hoof to allow a puss to flow, we disinfect it and protect the hoof with a bandage. The owner should keep it on the hoof for three or four days. Next we…