Good Newsletter May 2017

Dear donors and sympathizers,

Eyes on Animals was often featured in the media in recent weeks. We talked about animal suffering in Dutch slaughterhouses, the cruel trade in South American horses for horse meat sold in the Netherlands, and the slaughter of highly pregnant dairy cows. In addition, camera surveillance in Dutch slaughterhouses will soon be mandatory and we succeeded in several transport companies being fined for violations they committed!

Polish pig transport company must appear in court

A Polish pig transport company must appear in court following complaints from Eyes on Animals and AWF | TSB. The transport company was checked twice by us. The first time there were several sick pigs on board, including a pig with a growth under his belly the size of a Skippy ball, a pig with respiratory problems and a pig with a prolapse. In the second check, the pigs were severely overcrowded in several compartments.

EonA on Radar TV show about cruel trade in horses

In early April, our director Lesley Moffat, was interviewed again on RADAR, a very popular consumer program with almost 2 million viewers, to talk about the recent inspections in South America, where horses were transported and slaughtered in a most horrible way. Even though Dutch supermarkets - due to our campaign in 2014 - stopped selling imported horse meat, horse meat from Argentina and Uruguay is still hidden in other products such as fast-food snacks at the snack bars. Would you like to know more? Watch the TV show here!

Article published about the slaughter of highly pregnant cows

In order to reduce the total amount of manure (phosphorus) produced in the Netherlands, dairy farmers have been told to reduce their herd-size and many perfectly fit dairy-cows are being sent for slaughter. Because: fewer cows, less manure. However, and many people don’t know this, dairy cows are almost always pregnant. Only when a cow is more than 8 months (90%) into her gestation is it against the law to transport her. But even this rule is regularly violated. Eyes on Animals performed a Freedom of Information request and found that hundreds of cows with fully developed calves in their womb were being slaughtered and their calves as a consequence suffocating to death. We contacted the media about this shocking news. The daily Dutch newspaper “Algemeen Dagblad” published an article this month. Read the article here. The NVWA has informed us that they will adjust their enforcement policies.

EonA interviewed about abuses in Dutch slaughterhouses at Pauw!

As a result of the slaughterhouse scandal in Tielt, our inspector Madelaine Looije was a guest on the very popular late night news show “ Pauw” on March 31st, to talk about our work in Dutch slaughterhouses. Are the conditions really that much better in the Netherlands? Check out the broadcast here!

Camera surveillance in Dutch slaughterhouses compulsory

A majority of the Lower House of Parliament has voted in favour to make camera surveillance in Dutch slaughterhouses compulsory. This is due to undercover images from the Tielt slaughterhouse, published last month by Animal Rights. Already a number of slaughterhouses in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany that we advised are equipped with camera surveillance. The fact that this will now be mandatory for all slaughterhouses is a big breakthrough! But in order to reduce the suffering of animals, the images will of course have to be viewed and used. Eyes on Animals will stay on top of this!

Dutch poultry transporter and organizer fined

Last summer, Eyes on Animals checked the arrival of poultry trucks to a large chicken slaughterhouse in the province of Utrecht. We saw poultry trucks parked in the sun for hours which caused chicken to literally die of the heat. The slaughterhouse director refused to talk to us. We therefore immediately called the Dutch authorities to file a complaint. Based on our findings, the NVWA has taken measures against both the poultry transporter and trader, because they did not adequately protect the chickens from the heat-stress.

In the months to come we will check additional slaughterhouses, livestock trucks and livestock markets. The more budget we have, the more inspections we can carry out. Will you help?

The Eyes on Animals team

IBAN: NL73TRIO0212364219

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