Eyes on Animals trailed a truck from the company Keus en Mollink transporting calves from eastern Poland to a fattening farm overseen by Van der Beek in Barneveld, NL who organized this import. We question the general ethics of importing 2-5 week old calves from so far away especially when it is known that calves cannot drink on board during these long journey…
Nevertheless, the Emate export station in Poland checked that the calves were at least fit for transport and able to walk, and the loading was quite gentle. There were two drivers, who also drove smoothly. They regularly stopped and checked the bottom level of the animals, but we had to remind them to also check the middle and top floor which they did well once reminded. Thumbs up for how much bedding they loaded. When we arrived at the farm of destination we were allowed to enter and observe the animals being put into their pens. They will spend 2 weeks in these individual pens. We remain critical of the fact that these young animals do not have space to do much more than stand and lie down. 
An animal has a behavioural repertoire that goes way beyond such basic movements. After, Van de Beek showed us one of their 1-star Beter Leven veal farm where the calves were housed on softer flooring (wider rubber slats instead of narrow concrete slats) and had a scratch brush. This made a big difference to the comfort of the animals and we encourage all Van der Beek and other veal producers (such as Van Drie) to make these improvements on all of their farms. Even if hygiene and air quality and pen-design have improved these last few years in the veal industry, the industry still needs to invest more time into enriching the lives of these young animals as their environment remains too barren.
