UK: Farm animals antibiotics data raises post-Brexit trade fears. US and Canada farm antibiotic use is about five (5) times the level in the UK.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/01/farm-animals-antibiotics-data-raises-post-brexit-trade-fears

Farm animals antibiotics data raises post-Brexit trade fears

Use of antibiotics on farms in US and Canada about five times the UK level, says report

The overuse of antibiotics on farm animals is rife in some of the key countries with which the UK is hoping to strike a post-Brexit trade deal, a new report shows, raising fears that future deals will jeopardise public health and British farming.

The US, Australia, New Zealand and Canada all allow farmers to feed antibiotics routinely to livestock to make them grow faster, and in the US and Canada farm antibiotic use is about five times the level in the UK, data compiled by the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics shows.

Meat produced in this way is cheaper, because the animals grow faster and can be kept in overcrowded conditions. But the meat is soon to be banned in the EU, for safety and public health reasons.

Antibiotic use in cattle in the US is about seven times that in the UK, and in pigs twice as high, according to the report. In Australia, the use of antibiotics in poultry is more than 16 times higher than in the UK, and use in pigs about three times higher.

Farm antibiotic use has risen in the US, Canada and New Zealand in recent years, and in Australia was rising in 2010, the latest year for which full data was available. Some of the drugs used are also problematic: the growth promoter bacitracin is used in the US, despite scientific evidence that it increases resistance to an antibiotic of last resort called colistin, used to treat life-threatening infections in people.

Cóilín Nunan, scientific adviser to the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics, said: “Antibiotic resistance is a global problem, and we need to raise standards around the world to prevent it increasing. These free-trade agreements need to take that into account.”

Overusing antibiotics on farm animals gives rise to resistant forms of bacteria, known as superbugs, which can have devastating consequences for human health. Meat infected with resistant bacteria can directly cause infections in people, and can also contribute to a more general rise in people’s resistance to antibiotic treatments.

British farmers also face the prospect of being undercut by imports of cheaply produced antibiotic-treated meat, which could reduce welfare standards in the UK, as farmers will be forced to stock their animals more densely to cut costs and compete with floods of cheap imports.

“UK producers will be forced to compete by reducing costs, which means larger numbers of animals in worse conditions, which means an increase in the use of antibiotics,” said Nunan. “Any new trade deals must not undermine British standards and threaten public health by allowing cheap meat and dairy produced with antibiotic growth promoters into the UK.”

Medical experts are increasingly worried about the rapid rise of antibiotic resistance around the world, which could leave us defenceless against common diseases, and make routine operations such as caesarean sections or hip replacements potentially fatal. Antibiotics are used far more on animals than on people around the world, but moves to curb their use have been rejected by the powerful farming lobbies in many countries.

Antibiotic use is more tightly controlled in the EU than elsewhere, and the use of the drugs as a growth promoter has been banned since 2006. In the UK, the use of antibiotics in farming has been broadly falling in the last half decade, to about half the levels of 2014, though there was a slight uptick last year.

In just over a year’s time, from January 2022, stricter EU rules will ban the import of meat treated routinely with antibiotics as a growth promoter, and ban all preventive antibiotic mass medication of livestock. The UK is unlikely to sign up to this ban.

The government has repeatedly said that chlorinated chicken and hormone-treated beef would continue to be banned from the UK after Brexit, after widespread concern about food standards in future trade deals. However, food and farming experts have pointed out that this still leaves the door open to hundreds of other forms of food and agricultural products that are currently restricted under EU safety rules, and under current processes many of these could be quietly signed into legal acceptance without public scrutiny.

Nunan called the forthcoming EU regulations “a huge step forward” and called on ministers to adopt them in the UK. “The UK government should commit to implementing the same ban [on preventive mass medication], as relying on voluntary action is not a sustainable approach for the long term. It should also ensure that trade deals set high standards for imports to protect human health and avoid undercutting British standards.”

A government spokesperson said: “This government has been clear that we will not compromise on our world-leading environmental protections, animal welfare and food standards.

“The UK already prohibits the use of artificial growth hormones in both domestic production and imported products – and this will continue after the transition period. We will also continue to operate robust controls on the medicines that can be used for all animals, including food-producing ones, to protect animal and human health and the environment.”

 

 

England: Government Consultation To Stop Live Animal Exports. Open to All; Please Take Part.

Sorry – it’s long but ……………

Defra (consultation) wording:

 

Overview

The current rules aimed at protecting animal welfare in transport are derived from directly applicable EU law, Council Regulation No 1/2005. The Regulation sets out the requirements that anyone transporting animals in connection with an economic activity must comply with. There are growing concerns that the current requirements for the transport of animals do not reflect the latest scientific evidence on how best to protect animal welfare during transport.

We are consulting in England and Wales on ending live animal exports for slaughter and fattening that begin in or transit through England or Wales, and further improvements to animal welfare in transport.

Why we are consulting

The Government is committed to the welfare of all animals and to making further improvements to animal welfare in transport and has a manifesto commitment to end excessively long journeys for slaughter and fattening. Now that the UK has left the EU, the Government can explore alternative options to better protect animal welfare during transport. As part of changing the current regulatory regime that sets the standards for animals in transport, it is right that we should gather the views of all interested parties.

The Farm Animal Welfare Committee (FAWC, now known as the Animal Welfare Committee) have reported to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the welfare of animals during transport. This report took into account the responses to the 2018 Call for Evidence on controlling live exports for slaughter and improving animal welfare during transport, and the scientific systematic review conducted by the Scotland’s Rural College and the University of Edinburgh on the welfare of animals during transport and at markets.

The Government has reviewed the FAWC report and is now consulting to seek views on ending the export of livestock and horses (this will not apply to poultry) for slaughter and fattening in England and Wales, where the journeys begin in or transit through either country, in addition to introducing further improvements to animal welfare in transport more generally.

WAV Comment:

Take part in the online consultation by clicking on the following link:

Note – we are currently unsure if (only) UK residents can undertake this; but we encourage folk outside of the UK, who are anti live export, to try ! – apologies if you are unable; as we say; may be UK residents only.

https://consult.defra.gov.uk/transforming-farm-animal-health-and-welfare-team/improvements-to-animal-welfare-in-transport/consultation/intro/

These are the consultation questions which you will need to respond to.  Hopefully; this advanced insight will give you a feeling of what (the questions asked) is required.

IMPORTANT – We (WAV) do not expect everyone to provide answers to every question. 

Some questions are really directed at transport operators – livestock hauliers etc – Questions 19 – 19 for example.  You do not have to respond to anything like this – only the questions for which you can do a response.  Your input to the consultation will still be considered even if you doo not answer everything.   The main point to remember is that you are on the animals side and want to get live exports stopped regardless of the animal species.  This is what needs to be reflected (included) in your responses when you do them.  This is the real point – we need to make it clear that we want this sordid trade stopped from the UK.

Best wishes with your responses; the fact that you are taking part is a big bonus.

And remember – you have until the end of January 2021 to respond.  Note that you can complete part of the consultation; save; and then return at a later date.  It does not all have to be done in one session.  Please see the consultation pages to enable you to save and return later.

Personally; this is a big thing for me and many other campaigners – brilliant Jane; brilliant Liza, wonderful Trudi; and all the others who a too many to mention – just brill !.  I personally have done live export campaigns and investigations from the UK for the last 30 years.  Been there, seen it; heard it and smelled it you could say; horses, pigs, calves, sheep and more.  They do not deserve to be treated as they currently are during transport – it is time for it to stop.

I did a big investigation report (5 undercover trails) with several other EU investigation groups on the trade back in 2010; presented to the EU and UK parliament, (with regard the EU) who threw it back in our faces and basically trashed the whole 120 page thing.  You can read one of the 5 undercover trail reports by going to About Us. | Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)   and scrolling down to all the livestock transporter / calf pictures are where you will find a link to the report.  Alternatively, go direct to Microsoft Word – JH.04.03.2010_REPORT on NON-COMPLIANCE with RESTING TIMES in relation to CONTROL POST at F-HEAUVILLE.doc (wordpress.com) to read just one of the five investigations into live calves being shipped from Ireland to France. It makes bad reading. The failures to comply with rest times etc (as defined in EU ‘legislation’ !) for example justifies why we need to get this disgusting trade stopped asap.  Your involvement in the consultation can help this.

Well that’s it from me;

Do what you can; for those in transport;

Regards Mark (WAV)

Kent; England.

The following is the basic outline of all the questions which are asked in the consultation.

Name and e mail.

Organisation if you represent one.  Note – individual citizens can also take part – you DO NOT have to represent an organisation.

Live Animal Exports

4. Do you agree that livestock and horse export journeys for slaughter and fattening are unnecessary? Please explain your views.

5. Do you agree that in order to prohibit livestock and horse export journeys for fattening where the animal will be slaughtered soon after arrival, these export journeys where animals are slaughtered within 6 months of arrival should be prohibited? Please explain your views.

6. Do you agree that the only exceptions to prohibiting live export journeys should be for poultry live exports, and animals going for breeding or production that will not be slaughtered within 6 months of arrival? Please explain your views.

7. What would be the financial impact to your business or organisation of no longer being able to export livestock or horses for slaughter or fattening? Please explain any impacts provided.

8. What alternatives would your business or organisation explore if it was not able to export livestock or horses for slaughter or fattening?

Maximum Journey Times

9. Do you agree with the proposed maximum journey times as outlined in Table 1? Please explain your views and highlight any potential regional impacts that your business or organisation might experience.

10. Do you see a need for any exceptions to the maximum journey times and, if so, why? Please provide evidence.

11. In the case of such exceptions, what requirements should be put in place to ensure animal welfare is protected?

12. What would be the financial impact to your business or organisation due to new maximum journey times being implemented? Please explain any impacts provided.

13. Including loading, unloading and stops, how long is your average journey for the livestock, poultry or horses that your business or organisation manage?

14. Do you agree that a new journey should not start until a minimum of 48 hours have elapsed after the previous journey? Please explain your views.

15. Do you agree that there should be a minimum 7-day rest period for cattle? Please explain your views.

Thermal Conditions and Ventilation

16. Do you agree that we should prohibit both short and long poultry journeys when the external temperature is outside of a temperature range of 5-25oC, unless the vehicle is able to regulate the internal temperature within this range for the duration of the journey by means of a thermo-regulation system, and that this temperature range should be 5-25oC? Please explain your views.

17. What would be the financial impact to your business or organisation of prohibiting both short and long poultry journeys when the external temperature range is outside of 5-25oC? Please explain any impacts provided.

18. Do you agree that we should prohibit both short and long livestock and horse journeys when the external temperature is outside of a temperature range of 5-30oC, unless the vehicle is able to regulate the internal temperature within this range for the duration of the journey by means of a thermo-regulation system, and that this temperature range should be 5-30oC? Please explain your views.

19. What would be the financial impact to your business or organisation of prohibiting both short and long livestock and horse journeys when the external temperature range is outside of 5-30oC? Please explain any impacts provided.

20. Do you think that there are other species that should be considered as vulnerable and have a smaller external temperature range applied, outside of which journeys cannot take place? Please provide evidence.

21. What proportion of your current transportation vehicles have the facility to regulate temperature and provide ventilation?

22. For your vehicles which do not have the facility to regulate temperature and provide ventilation, what would be the cost of retrofitting to enable them to regulate temperature and provide ventilation?

23. Are there any other steps that can be taken to ensure animal welfare can be maintained in extreme weather? Please provide evidence.

Space Allowances

24. Do you agree that we should use allometric principles as a basis for future space allowance calculations? Please explain your views.

25. Do you think that reforms to space allowances based on allometric principles should apply to both short and long journeys? Please explain your views.

Headroom Allowances

26. Do you agree with the proposed species-specific headroom requirements?

27. Do you think that the proposed species-specific headroom requirements should apply to both short and long journeys? Please explain your views.

28. What would be the financial impact to your business or organisation of the proposed headroom requirements for both short and long journeys? Please explain any impacts provided.

Sea Transport

29. Do you agree that we should prevent animals from being transported in rough weather at sea and that animals should not be transported during Beaufort Wind Force 6 or above? Please explain your views.

30. What would be the financial impact to your business or organisation of prohibiting transport during Beaufort Wind Force of 6 or above

Exceptions

31. Do you think that there should be any exceptions to the previously mentioned proposals alongside the specific exceptions already outlined, excluding the proposal to prohibit live exports for slaughter and fattening? Please provide evidence.

32. What conditions should be met in order to ensure animal welfare is protected in the case of other exceptions?

33. Do you think that it should be possible to obtain permission to use an exception on an ongoing basis to avoid the need for transporters to apply before every applicable journey? 

This completes the consultation.  Submit your answers in accordance with the site.

 

·         Dear all;  this is going to multiple contacts;

Here is the link to the government consultation re the stopping of live exports.

This is the most important one to be involved with.

https://consult.defra.gov.uk/transforming-farm-animal-health-and-welfare-team/improvements-to-animal-welfare-in-transport/

It has only started today (3/12) and runs until 28 January next year (2021).

Please access the link and give your views.  I have not yet done it but it looks like it may be ticking points re a series of questions.  Cannot confirm this.

Also, additional – you can add your name to the list in support of the CIWF consultation response.  The more signatures the more impact from the CIEWF side.

To add your name – Go here and follow the link – https://www.ciwf.org.uk/

Think that’s it for now.  Will send anything more through later if necessary;

Regards Mark

France: Undercover footage at French farm shows ‘deplorable’ conditions for pigs.

Video footage of pig cannibalism, dead animals in pens, and pigs in overcrowded conditions
Video footage released by French animal welfare group L214 appears to show pig cannibalism, dead animals in pens, and pigs in overcrowded conditions. Photograph: Courtesy of L214

Undercover footage at French farm shows ‘deplorable’ conditions for pigs

The animals are supplied to frankfurter brand Herta and sold in supermarkets including Waitrose, which has pulled the products pending investigation

Undercover footage at French farm shows ‘deplorable’ conditions for pigs | Animal welfare | The Guardian

Undercover footage published on Thursday appears to show pig cannibalism and other serious issues at a supplier for a Nestlé-owned brand of frankfurter sold by most major supermarkets.

Waitrose has suspended the pork products by bestselling French brand Herta while it investigates.

Herta is being sued by campaigners for animal mistreatment and misleading consumers. The brand, which is sold in UK supermarkets, is 60% owned by Spanish food company Casa Tarradellas and 40% by Nestlé.

The video footage published by French animal welfare group, L214, appears to show pig cannibalism, dead animals lying in pens, and pigs in overcrowded pens climbing over one other. In one section a sow, which appears to be struggling to stand in a narrow farrowing crate with no bedding, slips and squashes at least one piglet.

L214 has now begun legal action against Herta in France, based on the undercover videos which it said it filmed in June and September this year. The case, according to L214, will centre on Herta’s animal mistreatment and the way it misled the consumer with promises of better welfare.

In its press release L214 said: “Contrary to the commitments made by the brand, the images show deplorable conditions for the pigs that do not comply with regulatory requirements. L214 is filing a complaint for mistreatment of the animals against Herta, the most purchased brand in France, and for misleading the consumer.”

More than 20 pharmaceutical products are shown in the video, including a “last resort” antibiotic called colistin. Colistin is widely used in the pig industry, often to prevent or treat a piglet sickness known as post-weaning diarrhoea.

Waitrose has said it does not permit suppliers to use colistin. It told the Guardian: “We pride ourselves on our high animal welfare standards and our standards around the use of antibiotics. We have therefore taken the decision to suspend all pork products from this brand while we urgently investigate the video footage.”

The World Health Organization has recommended that colistin’s preventive use in healthy animals be halted to preserve the antibiotic as one of the “essential … last-resort treatments for multidrug-resistant infections in humans”.

EU funding from the common agricultural policy for the Herta pig supplier farm, which grows crops and keeps other livestock, totalled about €150,000 (£135,000) in 2018 and 2019, according to the French government website, Telepac.

The pigs in the video appear to have had their tails docked, a practice outlawed in the EU, other than in exceptional circumstances. No straw or other bedding is seen and the sheds do not appear to have any natural light. The pigs and piglets appear to be covered in faeces. Additional footage by L214 seen by the Guardian appears to show a pig chewing after biting a dead pig’s stomach.

EU law governing pig welfare stipulates they “must have permanent access to” rooting materials “such as straw, hay, wood, sawdust, mushroom compost, peat or a mixture of such … ”

A worker loading the pigs for slaughter appears to use an electrical prod and to hit pigs’ backs with a plastic panel. One half-escaped sow is trapped by her hips in the bars of her crate. A piglet appears to have its foot trapped in the slatted floor.

In an email, L214 co-founder Sébastien Arsac accused Herta of “lying” to consumers about pig welfare, and described the pig housing conditions as “squalid … [where] animals spend a life of suffering”.

In an email to the Guardian a spokesperson for Herta said almost 350 French breeders hold a filière préférence contract that commits them to “a continuous improvement process based on animal welfare criteria such as the use of antibiotics, animals restraining conditions or better housing conditions”.

It also said: “Herta has a rigorous purchasing policy with its 40 meat suppliers in Europe. These partners are regularly audited by the company. These companies are, themselves, in contractual links with various groups of European breeders who have the obligation to respect European legislation.”

In 2019, it said: “More than 120 farm audits were carried out by Herta teams in France. A Herta farm audit includes 42 control points and 17 are specifically dedicated to animal welfare.”

Casa Tarradellas referred the Guardian to Nestlé for comment. Nestlé said: “We strongly condemn any mistreatment of farm animals. Consumers trust us to hold our suppliers to high standards. Nestlé is a minority shareholder in the Herta joint venture.” The company stated that an audit has been carried out which found no issues at the farm in question. This confirmed the findings from a previous audit earlier in the year. “Herta will now send additional investigators to the farm and continue to follow up these allegations to determine if the images were taken there.”

Nestlé added: “We will ensure Herta reviews its audit process to identify necessary improvements. Nestlé is strongly committed to improving animal welfare in its supply chain.”

The Guardian approached one of the owners of the farm but he did not wish to comment.

• Footnote added 3 December 2020. On 3 December 2020, after this article was published, Nestlé announced that supply from the farm to Herta had been suspended pending an investigation to determine the appropriate next steps.

France: British Expat (25) Shot Dead by Hunter Who Mistook Him For A Wild Boar !

 

British expat, 25, shot dead outside his home by French hunter, 33, who mistook him for a boar – as ‘mortified’ gunman is arrested for manslaughter

  • Morgan Keane is thought to have died instantly when he was shot in La Garrigue 
  • 33-year-old huntsman, who has not been named, was later taken into custody 
  • Both of Mr Keane’s parents died, leaving him and younger brother in the house 
  • Their father believed to have died recently and sons were looking after affairs 

Read the full story, with photos, at:

ttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9015185/British-expat-shot-dead-French-hunter-mistook-boar.html?ito=push-notification&ci=57183&si=17774922

Research in India’s chicken farms

Animal Equality India has released a new investigation into the country’s chicken production industry, detailing numerous animal welfare and food safety violations.

THE DETAILS: Animal Equality investigated several chicken farms and meat markets from February 2019 to October 2020 in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana—states in India which are known for their chicken production.

What we found was shocking.

In India, It’s standard practice to give feed laden with antibiotics to grow the bodies of chickens unnaturally fast. As a result, their legs become crippled because of the unnatural weight gain. In our investigation, we found birds who could not walk or reach food or water.

We also found many chickens severely ill and dying of starvation, heart attacks, and respiratory infections. The carcasses of the dead birds were left to rot next to live chickens.

THE HORRORS OF PRODUCTION: Once these chickens reach their maximum weight, they’re crammed into overcrowded transport trucks. The birds are then sent on a rigorous journey that lasts for hours, sometimes days, without food or water. Many will die along the way, while those that remain are barely alive.

At the meat markets, the chickens are crammed into small cages for hours—often days—again without food or water.

Many chickens waiting for slaughter develop various infections and diseases, and aside from the absence of veterinary care, there is no health inspection conducted on the birds who will soon become food.

When the chickens are slaughtered, their throats are slit and they are thrown into drain bins where they languish in pain for several minutes before they die.

The meat from these poor birds is then prepared in filthy, unhygienic conditions.

Without food or water at the meat shop

PAST WORK IN INDIA: This is Animal Equality’s second investigation into Indian chicken farms.

For more…at https://worldanimalsvoice.com/2020/12/03/research-in-indias-chicken-farms/

 

Comparison to German practices…About 50,000,000 laying hens live in Germany! That’s quite a lot, considering that there are around 83,000,000 inhabitants.
In Germany, 97 percent of the chickens live in conventional barn farming.
Nowadays, facilities with over 200,000 animals are no longer uncommon.

Battery packs have been banned in Germany for several years. As a result, the meat industry came up with “small group farming”.

Chickens of a so-called meat breed in a German fattening farm.

These are also cages, but this time larger ones, in which up to 60 hens are crammed. For the hens also cruelty, each chicken has the area of ​​a 3/4 A-4 page available. Just that the chicken has room to lie down.
Apart from eating and laying eggs, a chicken cannot do any of the things it would like to do.

The most common poultry diseases are intestinal parasites, skin parasites, vitamin deficiency diseases, ball abscesses, laying deficiency, poisoning, goiter constipation – information from Zurich Animal Welfare.

The following can also occur blackhead disease (diarrhea), round and tapeworms, avian cholera, avian tuberculosis, botulism, foot ulcers, conjunctivitis, leg weakness syndrome, neck pouch, skeletal anomalies.

Until the time of slaughter, the chest and thigh muscles are enormously enlarged and together makeup to 66% of the body weight.

Conventional chicken producers only fatten hybrid animals.

Käfig- und Bodenhaltung: Schockierende Einblicke in die deutsche EierindustrieHigh-performance hen, Germany

The focus of the breeding of high-performance broilers is a high amount of meat, efficient feed conversion, and the shortest possible fattening time due to large daily weight gains

Today’s mast hybrids reach this weight within 30 days or less.

Four globally active companies control the breeding of these mast hybrids: the Erich Wesjohann Group (EW Group), Hendrix Genetics, Groupe Grimaud, and Tyson.

The video was shot on an organic farm in Germany.

But you can see a lot of similarities to the video from India, except for the open cruel slaughter on the street and the transports.
India is known for having the worst animal transports, and not just related to poultry.

Nevertheless! No farm cruelty is justified just because there are worse ones elsewhere.
We don’t compete in cruelty.
We fight for these practices to be abolished no matter where in the world.

My best regards to all, Venus

 

Innovative Ideas

” The idea of dressing up as a shepherd seemed more promising to the wolf than the one with the sheepskin.”

 

…an idea is as good as its implementation

Regards and good night, Venus

The everyday cruelty to animals

Guest commentary by Daniela Schneider: (She is the campaign manager for animal transports at the animal rights organization Four paws Germany” based in Hamburg).

“Eyes wide open in panic, cattle shivering with exhaustion, huddled together and carted for days without a break in high-risk states such as Uzbekistan, Morocco, or Algeria under animal welfare law: Everyday torment of animals – even on German roads.

But instead of ending this ordeal, Agriculture Minister Germany`s Klöckner is not only inactive in this country.

It also misses the chance of the German EU Council Presidency to stop cruel animal transports across the EU.

If animal transports are dispatched from Germany to these third countries, this is almost always done in disregard of the applicable animal protection regulations.

“Four Paws”  has therefore filed 21 criminal charges against those responsible on suspicion of aiding and abetting animal cruelty.

Although almost all federal states have ensured that far fewer third-country exports are approved, transporters unscrupulously circumvent the applicable requirements.

The animals are first brought to other EU countries such as Hungary and then shipped on to third countries.

Instead of leaving the federal states alone as before, the minister should create nationwide uniform legislation that ensures that animals can no longer enter third countries. That would be an important first step and a strong signal in the direction of the EU.

Because the problem is a European one.

Only through an EU-wide ban on third-country exports and a limitation of transports to eight hours will the cruel animal transports actually end.

Together with us, 150,000 citizens are calling for this in a letter of protest to the minister.

Alternatives to the senseless death drives must become standard. If at all, only meat and breeding seeds should be transported instead of living animals.

Against the background of blatant animal welfare problems and a worsening climate crisis, the question arises why animals are “produced” on a massive scale and transported across the world like goods”.

 

http://archive.is/HlMhX#selection-393.0-417.391

And I mean…Around 3.8 million animals are transported every day in the EU alone. That’s 1.4 billion animals a year.
As in all branches of the economy, animal transport is all about money: animals are transported to where the highest profits await.

In the agricultural industry, work steps are separated: breeding, keeping, and fattening are concentrated where feed and wage costs are low.

For example, animals are born in Denmark, fattened in Germany, and finally slaughtered in Italy.

An EU animal welfare transport regulation EC 1/2005 applies throughout the EU.

Why animal transport laws don’t protect animals?

First and foremost because there is no time limit for animal transport. The animals are often on the move for days, sometimes even weeks, because there is no time limit for the transports.

On the other hand, because the EU regulation contains a large number of imprecise provisions that are always interpreted to the detriment of animals in practice.

Not even the few regulations that exist are observed: Serious deficiencies are found in around a third of the controlled transports.

Basically, food, litter, and drinking water are saved, because additional weight means higher transport costs.

And there is also a third reason for the meat industry and its lobbyists in Brussels to stick to live animal transports: The transport of live animals is still cheaper than transporting meat, which has to be permanently refrigerated.

And that is why the cruelty to animals on Europe’s roads never ends.
For a decisive change in the problem, one can forget about the EU.

Only civil society can change something – and it is developing into a new historical subject that even functions without a party program.

My best regards to all, Venus