Dear donors and friends,
Only a few weeks old but already hauled over land and sea: this is the fate for the tens of thousands of Irish calves transported to The Netherlands annually. Recently we, joined by the French organization L214, inspected dozens of these trucks filled with calves.
Our teams documented extreme animal cruelty. At the resting facility in France, these calves were kicked, pulled by their ears and beaten with sticks. Some calves were beaten so hard they collapsed in pain. One of the employees jumped on top of one of the calves repeatedly after he had just collapsed. What should be a resting facility for these calves was in actuality a hell.
> Watch the video here
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Furthermore, the drinking systems in the trucks were not operable. The teats were either missing or of no use to the calves. In desperation, the calves licked the drops of water seeping down the truck.
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Calves, only a few weeks old (unweaned) still completely depend on milk and need assistance with drinking. During transport there are no means to facilitate this need. Help us ban the transport of unweaned animals. Sign the petition!
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After a long journey of 50 hours the calves finally arrived in The Netherlands. Carefully, but filled with joy, the calves hopped out of the truck – delighted they were finally able to move again. But this joy was short-lived. Immediately after arrival, the calves were pushed into small, hard and bare confinements. It’s here where the calves will spend the remainder of their short lives before they’re slaughtered.
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The shocking images were on the news worldwide this week. In The Netherlands Hart van Nederland (tv show), Trouw (newspaper) and Radio 1 have covered this story extensively.
In France the images were shown on the national news and Le Parisien (newspaper) published an extensive photo spread.
Various large newspapers in the UK and Ireland have brought attention to this investigation as well, like The Times, The Guardian, The Independent, The Daily Star, The Mirror, The Daily Mail and The Sun.
There was a radio interview with our inspector Nicola Glen on the Irish Newstalk Radio and our director Lesley Moffat was interviewed for the popular Irish television show RTE.
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L214 and Eyes on Animals have filed charges against the resting facility in France as well as against one of the employees for abusing the calves. This week the authorities in The Netherlands, France and Ireland have also been notified of the documented offenses and were requested to take immediate action.
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ACCOMPLISHED THUS FAR
- The employee of the resting facility in France, who jumped on top of a collapsed calf using his full body weight, has been arrested immediately on suspicion of animal abuse. He no longer handles calves. The case is with a judge.
- The Irish political party “Green Party” has called for a ban on the transport of calves and the Dutch political party “Partij voor de Dieren” has asked parliamentary questions.
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With your support we are able to continue these important inspections, hold the responsible parties accountable and draw attention to this inconceivable suffering. May we count on your donation and signature?
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