Turkey: Heifers in advanced stages of pregnancy held at Turkish border for four weeks during transport

Heavily pregnant heifer locked up on a transporter for four weeks

Two transport vehicles carrying heavily pregnant heifers left Germany on September 12 and reached the Turkish border at Kapikule four days later, on September 16, where they were held for a month. The German authorities were aware of the acute emergency situation since September 23 but did not intervene. Between September 23 and October 2, the animals were briefly unloaded, provided with water and feed, and housed in a makeshift shelter. On October 2, they were loaded back onto the transport vehicles. The exact reasons for this decision remain unclear. However, there are rumors that unsanitary conditions, intense odors, and a fly infestation prompted this action. The German authorities took action when the animals were reloaded onto the trucks, but the measures taken were completely inadequate.

The conditions for the animals on the transports deteriorated with each passing day. Although they were fed and watered, the care provided was insufficient due to their advanced stages of pregnancy. Moreover, the transport vehicles were not cleaned, causing the cows to stand ankle-deep in their own excrement. During this time, and under these appalling conditions, several calves were born, none of which had a chance of survival. The first report of a dead animal was received on October 6.

On October 11, the state of Brandenburg, from which the animals originally came, issued a euthanasia order that mandated the slaughter of the cows by October 13. On the evening of October 14, the animals were transported to a slaughterhouse near the border in Edirne. Many heifers and newborn calves had already died on the transport vehicles. On October 15, the animals were slaughtered without anesthesia. The calves suffocated painfully inside their dying mothers. There is a much more humane method of euthanasia called placentally accessible euthanasia, which allows the unborn calves to be euthanized alongside their mothers.

The bodies of those animals that had already died before arriving at the slaughterhouse were left on the trucks to be dumped in a landfill later. As the teams from Animals’ Angels and Animal Welfare Foundation left the slaughterhouse, they were alerted by the loud mooing of an animal that had been left alive on the truck, which was now to be unloaded alongside the dead animals. We were able to arrange for an emergency slaughter of the animal on-site.

Urgent Call for a Transport Ban

Since 2010, Animals’ Angels and the Animal Welfare Foundation have called for an immediate end to animal transports to Turkey. The conditions at the Turkish border of Kapikule and the cruel death of the animals once again demonstrate that these transports are incompatible with animal welfare requirements, as stated in Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No. 1/2005: "No one shall carry out or arrange for the transport of animals if it is likely to cause them injury or unnecessary suffering."

This case starkly highlights the urgent need for an immediate halt to such exports.

We will continue to remain on-site and work with a Turkish lawyer to initiate legal action. We demand clear and enforceable measures from the German government and the European Union to end the suffering of these animals.