Police Training

    Animal transports need to be monitored by regulatory authorities during their journey, which is confirmed by the high number of animal welfare infringements documented during vehicle inspections. The legal allowance for long-term transports is up to 29 hours and national animal transports would often remain unchecked without police inspections. Without official inspections, these often problematic transports would remain unmonitored. Therefore, inspections by the motorway police or control groups specialising in heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) are essential in ensuring that animals are protected during transport.

    Many police officers ask fundamental questions during animal transport controls, such as:

    • What are the signs to identify a sick animal?
    • How many animals are allowed to be loaded onto the vehicle?
    • Which transportation times are allowed for different types of animals?
    • Which watering systems are adequate for the animals?
    • Under which circumstances should the veterinary inspection office be consulted?

    Therefore, we are offering training for police officers and interested veterinarians focusing on the protection of animals during transport. Sometimes the trainings take place in cooperation with other organisations like Eyes on Animals (Netherlands). Moreover, we were able to win Dr Alexander Rabitsch as an additional speaker for our training courses.

    In Hungary, we trained over ten different motorway police units in cooperation with the Welfarm from 2012 until 2015.

    In Poland, we have been offering police training since 2015 for the inspectors of Inspekcja Transportu Drogowego (ITD). By the beginning of 2023, it was possible to train police officers in 15 of 16 regions in Poland. More courses are planned. 

    Also, in Germany we were able to offer trainings in the federal states of Lower Saxony, Brandenburg and Saxony for police and official veterinarians. More courses are planned in Germany in the future as well. 

    Investigations