Our vessel report on Faunalytics: Research strengthens the voice of animal welfare

The international research organisation Faunalytics has highlighted our report on the global fleet of animal transport vessels. The article summarises key findings from our joint research with Robin des Bois and the Animal Welfare Foundation. This is an important recognition – and an example of how scientifically sound research strengthens international animal welfare work.

Animal welfare organisations advocate on behalf of billions of animals, whose interests are often given too little consideration in politics, business and society. Yet comparatively few organisations and dedicated individuals stand up against enormous economic interests and established structures. This makes independent research, scientific findings and reliable data all the more important. They help us to expose abuses, underpin political demands and give animals a voice.

This is precisely where Faunalytics comes in. The US-based NGO provides animal welfare groups worldwide with scientific insights and research findings that they can use in their work. To this end, Faunalytics maintains a research library, conducts its own studies and presents complex scientific findings in an accessible way.

Faunalytics is now making our shipping report, “The Global Livestock Fleet”, available to its readers.

For this report, we worked with our partner organisation, the Animal Welfare Foundation, and the French NGO Robin des Bois to investigate 159 livestock transport vessels that carry live animals across the world’s oceans. The findings reveal a shocking reality: 134 of these vessels were originally built for other purposes and only later converted into livestock transporters. Many are now several decades old and suffer from significant technical defects.

The inspection findings also paint an alarming picture: in 88 per cent of inspections carried out in 2024, the authorities identified deficiencies. 15 per cent of the vessels inspected were even detained – almost four times more frequently than vessels in other categories.

Sharing knowledge, enabling change

We are happy that Faunalytics is taking up our research and making its findings available to an international audience. After all, investigative work does not achieve its full impact simply by exposing abuses. It is also crucial that the insights gained are disseminated, contextualised and used as a basis for further change. We hope that many organisations will use our findings to campaign for the abolition of animal transport by ship.

We are convinced that the more independent organisations, researchers and committed individuals share their knowledge, the stronger our collective voice for animals will become.

Read Faunalytics' article here.

Find the vessel report here. 

Download the report.