On May 23rd, the "Walrus" set sail with a dedicated team from Sea Shepherd France and the Animal Welfare Foundation on board. This marked a new collaboration with a shared goal: to expose the animal suffering that usually remains hidden far from Europe's shores and the eyes of society on the high seas of the Mediterranean.

Every day, thousands of…

July 18, 2024.

In July, a team sets off for Croatia, to the port of Rasa. Trucks with Spanish number plates roll in, carrying cows from Germany. They are initially taken to the stables at the port. We wonder where the animals were exported from. A quick investigation reveals that the cows were loaded onto the trucks in Belgium. To retrace the…

For years, we have been documenting the cruel conditions of live exports of European animals to third countries via sea from the Spanish port of Cartagena. In the second half of June, we documented together with our partner organisations Welfarm and Animals International, the loading of sheep once again. The animals were loaded onto the vessels…

Investigation in Cartagena: Spain's live export industry by sea

Since 2018, we have been documenting the cruel conditions of live exports of European animals to third countries via sea from the Spanish port of Cartagena. In the first half of June, we documented, the loading of cattle and sheep once again. The animals were loaded onto the vessels…

Drei Jahre ist es her, dass der Jungbulle Ferdinand im Hafen von Cartagena, Spanien, schwer misshandelt wurde. Der Fall Ferdinand kam nur ans Licht, weil unsere Teams einschritten. Einer der wenigen Fälle, die bei Tierschutzverbrechen überhaupt vor Gericht verhandelt wurden.

December 2022 to July 2023 | Libya

For a year we investigate the export of EU animals to Libya. Because of the difficult working environment, we contract a Libyan man to investigate the transport, handling and slaughtering of EU animals in Libya. During this time, he visited three animal markets where the EU sheep are sold, a slaughtering site…

In March 2021, the livestock carrier ELBEIK made international headlines: with almost 1,800 young bulls on board, the vessel wandered the Mediterranean for almost three months. The animals were detained on the ELBEIK because of suspected bluetongue virus. 179 animals did not survive the cruel transport, the remaining animals were taken to the…

The facts by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) are on the table. When transported via sea, there are more animal welfare risks for all species than when transported via truck. And yet, the EU Commission is not ready to ban these cruel transports across the Mediterranean. How can that be possible?

EFSA is responsible for providing…

Live export tragedies at sea are man-made. This is again being demonstrated by the case Nader-A. At the beginning of September, around 800 young bulls were transported from France to Algeria on the vessel called Nader-A. The unloading of the animals was refused in Algiers due to a bureaucratic problem. After three weeks of wandering around the…