Today an Eyes on Animals team observed several livestock transports that arrived at a poultry slaughterhouse and a Halal sheep and goat slaughterhouse in Breukelen. Despite freezing temperatures (-4C), the transport of live animals continued undiminished. Within approximately 1,5 hours 6 livestock trucks arrived. The poultry trucks had their winter covers down and the large animal trucks had the shutters almost closed, so animals were somewhat protected against the cold.
Nevertheless, it is Eyes on Animals’ opinion that in the case of dangerous weather conditions ( code red ) a transport stop should be in effect, to prevent accidents caused by limited visibility or impassable and/or slippery roads. At this time, in the current “sector plan for livestock transport in extreme temperatures” no concrete measures have been included against cold stress.
Eyes on Animals strongly believes that measures are necessary to prevent animal welfare issues on cold winter days.
