Following enforcement requests by Animal Rights, the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) will finally take stronger action against a long-standing animal welfare issue: birds ending up on their backs in transport crates or containers. This often occurs when poultry is handled roughly during loading and tossed into crates or containers at high speed and from a distance.
Once on their backs, birds are often unable to right themselves due to their heavy breast weight and the crowded conditions. In this position, they struggle to breathe (as they lack a diaphragm) and are frequently trampled by other birds. To make matters worse, once the crates and containers are stacked on the truck, they often cannot be opened. As a result, birds that are trapped, injured or stuck on their backs cannot be rescued during transport — many die before they even reach the slaughterhouse.
Following the enforcement requests, duck slaughterhouse Tomassen Duck-To has been fined twice for the presence of such animals. The NVWA has also introduced a new assessment framework for birds lying on their backs, which came into force on 1 November 2024 for all poultry slaughterhouses under permanent supervision.
This marks a crucial step forward: for the first time, fines are actively being issued for this form of animal suffering, and poultry catching teams will need to adapt their rough handling practices. We thank Animal Rights for their persistent efforts in bringing about this progress.
We now hope the NVWA will also begin enforcing existing rules on access doors in transport crates and containers — so that animals in distress can be reached and helped during transport.
