Today we held a Press Conference in Brussels, along with the Animal Welfare Foundation and Compassion in World Farming, about the horrible animal suffering we have documented together at the Turkish border.
We talked about the fact that many European livestock trucks in violation are accepted at this border, and once they arrive on the Turkish side, they often have to wait for hours and even days due to problems with the papers and complicated import regulations. Animals in poor condition are not treated or euthanized by the Turkish authorities, but simply forced to stay on the trucks and eventually get trampled to death. Some truck drivers who do try to do their job properly, are also frustrated because there is little practical help once things go wrong.
Dr. Gavinelli from the European Commission as well as Michel Vandenbosch from GAIA, also spoke at the conference. Journalists and several officials from all over Europe were present and the information and footage was broadcasted on the Belgian and Swedish TV news, as well as numerous European newspapers. An Istanbul journalist is now also going to cover the story. To view some of the articles and TV clips, please click on the button “Getting animals in the media” on our homepage.
