Animals\' Angels - wir sind bei den Tieren | we are there with the animals

ANIMALS’ ANGELS observe cattle, sheep and other small animals being sold and handled. The yard is under cover and all animals are penned on soft ground. Most pens have water. Although this yard is primarily a cattle facility they also allow sheep, alpacas, pigs, goats, calves to be sold to peri urban farmers, who at times do not have either the skills to appropriately handle animals or acceptable transports. A pig was dragged by his front legs, a calf loaded into a tip truck with a very slippery floor, small trailers taking too many animals, small animals loaded with big animals, a calf was lifted and dragged by its neck and tail to a horse float. We discuss this with the management who prefer the DPI to handle such matters; but on this day for example the DPI is not at the yard. We find a solution and the management are in agreement to implement strategies to address issues.

Animals' Angels observes some slaughterhouses of poultry and rabbits in the north of Italy and meets some owners and one official veterinarian. The veterinarian says that when she finds some criticalities she calls immediately the place of origin and inform the owner to take remedies. For example if she finds some injured animals she calls directly the place of origin to inform the employees to pay attention at the handling during the loading of the birds. Animals' Angels will monitor the animals arriving at the slaughterhouses.

Animals' Angels participates at the workshop “Improving animal welfare: a practical approach” at Barcelona, in Spain. The workshop is organized by the European Commission.

ANIMALS’ ANGELS observe sheep arriving for the sale the next day. The sheep were forced to run fast over flooring which has not been maintained. Large holes some 15cm deep were observed in which a leg could become stuck. We believe this yard may have a higher number of broken legs due to the unacceptable flooring. Patrons fail to use ramps suitable to their vehicle and sheep were forced to jump over 1.0 meter to the ground. One sheep landed on his head and neck. This person also overloaded her trailer and ute: 21 sheep in the trailer and 25 sheep in the ute. Electrical shock prodders were in use and density of sheep in some trucks was very high. Unmuzzled dogs were also observed. There did not appear to be a competent person in charge to monitor handling, treatment and assessment of health and welfare animals.

ANIMALS’ ANGELS observe sheep arriving for the sale the next day. Handling was reasonably calm and the animals were in good condition. It is clear the yard has protocols in place and that these systems are enforced. The yard is a member of NSQA which means its standards should be higher than non NSQA yards. Signage stating that electrical shock prodders must not be used and all dogs must be muzzled was placed around the facility. They also expect patrons to use the mobile ramps, however we noted that two vendors did not. One sheep was observed in a pen on its own. The animal struggled to walk but did bear weight. He is destined to be pet food.

Animals’ Angels had been monitoring a horse fair in Spain. Unbroken horses are transported in groups of more than 4 animals, they are often unloaded from trucks on slippery and steep ramps, without any lateral protection, sometimes they are transported in lorries without the roof, exposed to the elements, further they are beaten with sticks and some of them kicked. Animals at the fair are not watered and some of them are tied so tight that they cannot lie down or bend their head. Animals’ Angels will inform authorities about infringements of Regulation EC 1/2005 on protection of animals during transport.

ANIMALS’ ANGELS observe and document 10 trucks taking approx 6860 sheep to the Bader. Due to a ship moving too quickly the night before as it passed the Bader, while it was tied to the berth, the ship moved which caused damage to the loading ramp. All loading stopped for the night which resulted in the ships that were at the port waiting to unload remained fully loaded over night. The trucks that had loaded at the feedlot on Saturday night arrived and joined those trucks unable to unload. More trucks loaded with sheep arrived in the morning. Eye infections were the worst we have seen for some time. We did not see any drivers check the animals on their trucks. We notified the transport controller of a sheep who was trapped and unable to breathe; he helped the sheep and although we asked that the exporters vet be notified about the animal, we did not observe the vet arrive. We do not know if the sheep survived. The State Animal Welfare Inspector was not present and neither was AQIS so there was no authority to ensure good welfare.

Animals’ Angels had been monitoring live animals’ transport at a port in South of Italy. The traffic appeared not particularly heavy in this period.

ANIMALS’ ANGELS observe xxx sheep aboard xx transport for loading of sheep onto the vessel Ocean Shearer. This is day 2 of 3 days loading animals.
Federal AQIS are not present nor is the state animal welfare regulator at the port looking out for the animals. Another sheep gets lose at 1.50pm and he is chased around the port by an uncontrolled dog. The sheep panics and runs toward the wharf edge where he decides to jump into the deep water rather than face the dog. We call the Water Police and Port Authority and although they look for the sheep, he is not to be found. The sheep has drowned. The DAFWA (regulator) doesn’t come to the port despite repeated requests. Another 2 sheep get lose 1 hour later. In transport: the inconsistent density- that is more sheep in one pen than another is an issue as is sheep on sheep.

ANIMALS’ ANGELS observe the loading of sheep onto the vessel Ocean Shearer. This is their first day of three loading animals.
Federal AQIS arrive later in the day but there is no state animal welfare regulator at the port looking out for the animals. In fact they have not been here at any time during the entire day. A sheep gets lose in the early evening but is caught soon after and returned to the truck for loading onto the ship. The lack of height for the animals to stand naturally with out their backs rubbing against the roof within the pen on the trucks is obvious as is inconsistent density- that is more sheep in one pen than another.