01/08/18 A Bull from Croatia Crucified in a Lebanese Slaughterhouse
The results of an investigation into animal transport: Video testifying to brutality and breach of regulations
- Horror at the final destination: Animals being tortured with electric prods and hung before they are slaughtered
The brutal transport of live animals within the European Union and beyond that has recently been exposed to the public is a breach of European legislation on animal welfare and international agreements. Croatia is not an exception when it comes to animal export and transportation from other countries, as animals end up slaughtered even in countries in which there are no laws that provide animals with at least a minimum of protection.
A video filmed by the Animals International organization in 2017, following an investigation into the practices of live animal transportation, proves that. The disturbing footage shows a bull with a Croatian ear tag (MP / HR 1 20084 / 6713) unloaded from a truck into a slaughterhouse in Lebanon. Earlier footage from the investigation showed that Lebanese slaughterhouses use a practice of partially hanging fully conscious animals, before torturing them with electric prods and slitting their throats. The footage of the bull from Croatia shows a terrified animal with his hind leg tied up with a rope to a ceiling and his front leg tied to the truck which just drove him in. One worker holds the head of the crucified bull while the other one slits the throat of the fully conscious animal.
Animals end up in countries outside the EU after a several-day or even week-long journey, during which they remain standing in overcrowded trucks. Some of them do not even survive the journey. Some of them continue the journey by ships. Although the journey from the European ports to the countries of the Middle East or North Africa takes up to ten days, there is no regulatory requirement for a veterinary escort.
The bull from Croatia which ended up in Lebanon after one such journey was not protected at the destination even by the basic legal provisions which exist in the EU. The European Court of Justice has already twice upheld the need that the Ordinance on protecting animals during transport be implemented also during the transport of animals beyond the EU, but in countries outside the EU, there is still no infrastructure for the unloading, feeding, watering or resting of animals, nor is there basic veterinary care.
The investigation conducted by Animal International into the slaughtering methods in Lebanon shows that methods such as eye-gouging are also being used to overcome the animals before their throats are slit. Most of the slaughterhouses do not have the necessary infrastructure, and animals are exposed to clear suffering when tied up with ropes and killed by the slitting of their throats while fully conscious. In many butcher shops, animals are slaughtered at the entrance, and the usage of ropes before the slaughter is a routine practice to pull the animals out of the trucks.
Different footage shows the arrival and reloading of animals from Austria, Lithuania and Slovakia in the Croatian port of Rasa, from which they are transported to Turkey. Among them is a young bull which breaks loose and runs away trying to find a way to freedom, but the only way out is to jump into the sea. The workers catch the bull and bring him back to the other animals to continue its five-day journey with no return.
While most Croatian citizens do not think about what is happening to animals bred for food, the real practice - resulting from animal breeding and export, and the disregard of legal regulations - leads to enormous daily suffering for animals who are transported across Europe, hidden from view in trucks and on ships. Animal Friends invites everyone to contribute to stop the transport of live animals by switching to a plant-based diet. For more information visit www.whyveg.com.