Today we unfortunately observe 5 dead sheep being pulled out of a Greek truck(Loukas) while being unloaded at the stable on the Turkish side of the border.
According to the driver, there were some smaller lambs mixed with bigger ones in one compartment of the truck, thus they may have been trampled. The authorities want to check the ear tag of each lamb on board, a process that takes too long to finish up today so the animals will have to wait until tomorrow before continuing. Fortunately some are allowed to rest in the stable.
Our letters to the EU Commission and Member States seem to have paid off- the control post that transporters were claiming to use to rest and unload animals but that in reality was closed, has been indicated now on the EU list. Now official veterinarians approving export papers to Turkey will know that this control post is closed and not to approve journey logs of transporters claiming to rest at this post.
It seems our presence has inspired a local to finally start building another stable that he has been talking about since months. Construction started today. In the future there may therefore be more space to unload more animals that are in need of fresh air, rest and feed.
We observe “slaughter” bulls from Greece and young bulls from Estonia being unloaded at the current stable. The workers are calm with the animals and the animals get plenty of fresh hay which they are very appreciative of.
Nevertheless the older bulls are very energetic, mounting each other repeatedly to try to establish their hierachy. Many slip and fall down while doing this. As well, many bulls coming off the lorry slip. We express our concern to the owners of this stable about the slippery floor. They will give some consideration into how to provide more traction.
