Eyes on Animals was invited by the EU Commission to present our findings on chicken-welfare problems during transport, and possible solutions, at their Congress held in Dublin today. The focus of the meeting was to show enforcement successes and failures of the EC legislation protecting animals during transport. We showed photos and short videos illustrating how the design of the transport containers for layers and broilers were often not within the scope of the EC 1/2005 requirements. We gave examples of how improvements to the design could be put into place, and talked about the workgroup we had formed in Benelux with various stakeholders open to the idea of taking action. We nevertheless made it clear that proper enforcement by the authorities is necessary to put an end to the 2% Dead On Arrival rate tolerated so far in the poultry world (with this not taking into account the other birds arriving alive but with serious fractures to their wings and legs). Over two hundred participants were at the Congress- from Chief Veterinarian Officers to highway-police to industry stakeholders. Several welfare organizations were also present and supported the argument Eyes on Animals made- that there is still lots to do to create an environment where the rules are clearly set for everyone, so the welfare of the animals can be seriously protected. We received a lot of positive feedback from people throughout Europe – it was clear that many people agree that the ways we collect and transport poultry are in need of reforms.
