We are traveling on Spain’s roads. Ahead of us on the motorway, we spot a livestock truck transporting horses. When the truck stops at a service area, we take the opportunity to inspect the animals’ and the transport conditions more closely.
The animals are draft horses, typically bred for meat production. We speak to the driver, who tells us that he is taking the horses to a facility about two hours away, where they are to be used for breeding “fattening” horses.
The horses are divided into groups in compartments, and we see a small amount of straw as bedding; nevertheless, they have far too little space overall. They are extremely dirty, and some try to push others aside with their weight in order to secure the little space available to them. Although the animals are being transported under adverse conditions and are very likely not accustomed to human contact, many of them look at us with a calmness that deeply moves us.
One mare, Selli, particularly stands out. She is sweating heavily and her muscles are twitching. At times, she shifts her weight back and forth between her legs. Her facial expression suggests that she is in severe pain. We cannot say with certainty what is wrong with her, but it could be colic or another acute health problem. We bring this to the driver’s attention, but he sees no issue with the animal’s condition. As a result, the mare continues to be transported for several more hours under inadequate conditions, exposed to cold drafts and the cramped conditions inside the truck.
We decide to follow Selli and her companions— we want to make sure they are cared for and find out where they are being taken. Unfortunately, our journey ends two hours later at the gates of the destination. It is late in the evening and pitch dark. The facility is extremely remote. Unable to continue accompanying the animals, we reluctantly turn back.
Yet thoughts of Selli and the other horses do not leave us, and so we decide to return to the facility the next day to find out more about the horses’ whereabouts and to speak with someone on site. We find no one there, but we are met with a positive surprise: the horses are grazing freely on a vast pasture. As far as the eye can see, there is nothing but green grass, blue sky, and white clouds. We cannot see Selli, but we hope that she, too, is doing better.
During our missions, we are often confronted with great suffering and cruelty. This time, however, we encounter a different picture at the destination. Relieved and somewhat comforted, we get back into the car. The memory of the freely roaming horses will undoubtedly give us strength for our next encounters on animal transports.
