Scandalous animal transports: cattle suffer and die on the border!
Scandalous animal transports: cattle suffer and die on the border!
Elbe-Elster, Deutschland - An outcry goes through the animal welfare scene, and the focus is on Brandenburg this time. The Animal Welfare Foundation demonstrated four paws at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin to draw attention to the grievances of animal transport. Especially in recent months, scandalous incidents have accumulated, which are once again moving the topic into the public's light. The transport, which took place between September and October 2024, is particularly remembered, in which 69 pregnant cattle were sent to a 3500 km trip to the slaughterhouse under catastrophic conditions. Just half of the animals survived this ordeal.
The cattle, which came from Brandenburg and the adjacent federal states of Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, were approved by the Elbe-Elster district, although it was already known at that time that the Bloelzungs disease raged in Germany. As the , the transport at the Turkish-Bulgarian border was stopped by the authorities there. For security, the cattle had to endure for four weeks at the border, often without the most necessary - like water. It is tragic that 21 animals died during this time, including eight cattle and 13 calves. The survivors finally had to be killed in a brutal way.
shocking balance
The incident that was illuminated in a documentation by Manfred Karremann in ZDF format "37 degrees" is not an isolated case. Another time there were two trucks with cattle on the border, just two weeks after the first incident. Despite shocking reports, German farmers use this transport route as a lucrative business by selling old dairy cows and calves. The Animal Welfare Foundation then reported the incident and calls for a national ban on living animal transports in third countries. Active members are already planning information actions to address the fate of the cattle in more detail during this transport.
from politics there are efforts to make a turn. Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture, Cem Özdemir, sent a key point paper to the EU Commission in February 2025, which demands improvements in animal welfare when exporting living animals to third countries. With the aim of preventing animal welfare transports, exports should only be bound to agreements on animal welfare standards between Germany and the import states, such as the website of the BMEL explained.
political and social responsibility
Minister Özdemir underlines the urgency of these measures after the EU Commission had already presented the first proposals for better animal welfare standards in December 2023, but without any significant implementation. In the future, it will be ensured that only transports will be carried out in which binding minimum standards in the third country are guaranteed. A prohibition of animal welfare practices after permanent stays or when killing the animals is also part of it.
Today's demonstration of four paws is a clear signal that the public does not want to look away. In times when animal welfare and ethical agriculture are increasingly being discussed, nobody can close their eyes from such grievances. It is also the responsibility of everyone to campaign for animal welfare and to draw attention to these grievances. If you want to know what our cattle are running out during the transport, you should not miss the actions of four paws.
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Ort | Elbe-Elster, Deutschland |
| Quellen | |