From the outside, most people would probably not realize that around 9,000 animals are loaded onto this truck. Both sides of the vehicle are covered with plastic tarpaulins. They are completely closed and only have ventilation slits at the top. We are waiting at a motorway service area in Germany for animal transports when the truck pulls up right next to us. Just a few days earlier, we had already asked the police to inspect this exact same truck. At that time, it was carrying “laying hens” from Belgium, transported for more than 12 hours to Poland—severely overcrowded, in old metal cages with wire flooring, and without access to water or feed.
Just like a few days earlier, the truck is once again loaded with “laying hens.” Once again, the animals are crammed into the same completely unsuitable, outdated metal cages, where they sit on bare wire mesh. This time, unfortunately, we are unable to arrange a police inspection. There is no patrol available, so the truck continues its journey unchecked.
One of the drivers tells us that the animals were loaded in the Netherlands and are being transported to Hungary—young hens that are to be used there for egg production. We quickly decide to follow the animals to their destination. We accompany them for more than 920 km and 13.5 hours—from Germany through the Czech Republic and Slovakia to Hungary. We do not yet know how long they had already been traveling before that or where the transport originally started, but we will try to find out afterward.
During a driver’s break in the Czech Republic, we are able to see some hens in the rear outer cages. They appear exhausted and fatigued. Inside the cages, they are packed so tightly that they are pressed together with no space to move. Feathers and even wings stick out of the cages. Their white plumage is partly soiled with droppings from hens in the cages above, which fall unobstructed through the wire flooring onto the animals below. When we later get stuck in a full road closure and traffic jam in the Czech Republic, we become concerned about rising temperatures inside the vehicle—especially since the tarpaulins further restrict airflow. The drivers, however, seem unconcerned. Not once during our entire journey do they check on the animals.
At the destination in Hungary, we can no longer observe the animals up close. We are left wondering in what condition they arrived and how many of them did not survive the journey. No one is willing to answer these questions. What is clear is that these long transports must still be economically profitable—otherwise they would not take place. Ultimately, it is about profit. What is also clear is that the individual chickens do not matter. On site, we are told that the animals will remain there for 90 weeks. Then their already far too short lives as high-performance egg-laying hens will come to an end, and they will be transported one final time to a slaughterhouse.
We will also file a complaint with the responsible authorities in this case and demand sanctions for these completely unacceptable transport conditions.
