Investigations by Topics:

04. October 2022

Why is the EU working against science when it comes to live exports via sea?

EU cattle being loaded onto a livestock carrier via raceways.

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…

26. September 2022

Nader-A: Systematic authority failure again leads to the emergency killing of several hundred bulls

Recording from a past investigation: young bulls in an overcrowded pen on the Nader-A.

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…

25. June 2022

Investigation in the Spanish Port of Cartagena: Loading of cattle on export vessels from Spain to Egypt

Our team is not allowed to enter the port and works from a distance.

The port of Cartagena in Spain is one of the most important export ports. From there, European animals are transported to countries outside the EU. In mid-June, our team observes the loading of bovine animals onto export ships. Our partner organisations Animals International and Verein Gegen Tierfabriken are with us.

The vessels JULIA AK (built…

30. November 2021

Cruel transports by sea from the EU - 38 hours waiting time before unloading

Once again, our teams, together with our partner organisation IALS, uncovers violations of the EU animal welfare transport regulation: At the beginning of November, the livestock carrier Shorthorn Express leaves Portugal with over 3,000 young bulls on board. We track the transport using GPS data. Six days later, the ship reached the port of…

12. November 2021

Phoenix III: Another live export tragedy at sea after the vessel incidents Karim Allah and Elbeik

Video material by our partner organisation IALS in Haifa show exhausted animals crammed into trucks directly after being unloaded from the Phoenix III.

Two weeks long live animal transport from Portugal to Israel - livestock vessel stuck off the Italian coast for two days, 14 animals died during the trip. NGOs call on the ANIT Committee to ask for a ban of live animal transport at sea.

The vessel Phoenix III, heading to the Israel Shipyard Port in Haifa, Israel with a cargo of 1,200 young bulls…

15. June 2021

Croatia| Port of Raša | Sea transport from Croatia to Jordan, Egypt, and Israel

Our team observes the loading of bulls onto the vessel TULIP in the port of Raša.

At the beginning of June, our team is travelling to Croatia. We spend more than a week close to the port of Raša. It one of the exit ports of live animals to non-European countries.

After sending several complaints to the authorities the EU-Commission carried out an audit of the port in 2018. Like our investigators in the years before, the EU…

05. June 2021

Spain | Murica | Inspection of fattening farms

A French bull in Spanish feedlot.

Our team is investigating several fattening farms together with our partner organisation, Animals International, and two Members of the European Parliament: Thomas Waitz, and Caroline Roose. Spain is the biggest exporter of cattle and the second biggest exporter of sheep to third countries in the EU. Spain exports most animals by sea.

We inspect…

03. June 2021

Spain | Port of Cartagena | Investigation: Live transports by sea

Vessel “FREEDOM” loading European animals destined for export to Lebanon.

In the beginning of June, our investigation team is travelling to Cartagena in Spain. Cartagena is one of the main EU exit ports for live animals that are sent via sea to non-European countries.  

In 2018, an audit carried out by the EU Commission discovered various animal welfare violations during the loading of animals from trucks onto vessels…

16. March 2021

Livestock carrier Elbeik with 1,700 calves on bord stuck at sea since three months

The odyssey of the European calves stuck on the livestock carrier Elbeik continues. After the Elbeik left the Spanish port of Cartagena in December, it is now returning back to European waters.

In January our teams discovered the animal welfare scandal and have been working non-stop to find a solution for the animals ever since. We suspect that…