After alerting the Dutch and Turkish authorities, and likely some negotiation and communication between both countries, it seems that the paper work mistakes have been solved and tonight at 18:00 the van Dommelen trucks with pregnant Dutch goats on board are allowed to leave Kapikule border, Turkey to head another 10 hours to their final destination- a farm in Gölbesi, south of Ankara. Upon exiting the “no man´s land” inside the border where there are no facilities for live animals, the trucks head to a station along the road in Kapikule to throw new straw-bedding into the trucks and to await the final paper work.
We will send a complaint to the Dutch authorities and ask that they do a thorough check on these consignments.
The journey was planned realistically, but once the trucks left they deviated from the plans. They booked a control post in Bulgaria and then did not even stop at it or call the control post to cancel the booking. The animals and drivers were on board for too long. And the organizer did not do a thorough check that all paper work and import requirements were correctly followed, leading to unnecessary delays in the transport journey. In total, the pregnant goats were in transit from The Netherlands to Ankara for 6 days.
