Many people are enjoying a tropical hot summer day today. But for animals in the livestock industry, the warm weather mainly brings even more misery, in their already sad life. After a life crammed together in stables, the transport to the slaughterhouse follows. And even though people have been talking about tough intervention in the event of heat stress for years, practice shows that they have been empty words. Keep the industry running and making as much money as possible. That's what it's about. That will become clear again when we receive these images , by someone who films for us more often. The images were taken at different locations and times. And yes, in the Netherlands, not far from a large and well-known slaughterhouse, not even at temperatures as high as today. The NVWA is nowhere to be seen.
How often do animal protectors have to capture these kinds of images before they finally intervene to make the industry comply with the law? I mostly hear empty words and nice talk about my own actions (failure)!), in response to abuses. That's why I called Lesley Moffat, founder of Eyes on Animals . She and her organization have been controlling animal transports for years and I want to know what she thinks of the images:
“The images of pigs being transported in overcrowded trucks are disturbing. Due to the high load, the animals can hardly lose their heat and have no freedom to choose where and how they want to lie or walk. Although heat stress is often associated with clearly visible symptoms, such as wide open pelvis and foam formation, the fact that these animals have to be in such conditions at all is already problematic.
This type of agriculture is exploitative rather than reciprocal. The pigs come from mega stables, where they stay inside all their lives, on slatted floors above their own stench, without ever having the opportunity to root in the dirt. With tails cut and always in tight conditions. And now, on their last day before being processed into food, they are again transported to the slaughterhouse in crowded and unpleasant conditions. Shortly after, they struggle to die in CO2 gas for 20-30 seconds. Not a single moment of joy. People can do better for the animals!”

Who doesn't agree with that? That's what I'm seriously wondering. But today and tomorrow, the mercury will cross the tropical 30 degrees in many places. And so there shouldn't be 1 transport on the road, because for animals, this heat is hell.
Actually, it's not even about those 30+ degrees. Heat stress can already occur even at much lower temperatures, as Lesley Moffat from Eyes on Animals explains. And there is much more misery on the way, such as overcrowded transports with pigs that don't know each other. This is prohibited, but cannot be controlled watertight. Ranking battles during transport can result in very serious injuries.
Not only can humans do better for the animals; it is our moral duty to do much better.
Karen Soeters Founder House of Animals and Animals Today

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