Instead of sitting down to dinner with family over the holidays, Animal Equality investigators set out to document the suffering of lambs shipped from Eastern Europe to Italy for slaughter. .
Every Christmas and Easter, Animal Equality documents the long and difficult journeys that lambs have to make from Eastern Europe to the slaughterhouses in Italy. These few weeks old lambs are already on the dinner tables of millions of Italians during the holidays.
Since 2013, we have been following their journey. This year, we are once again on the scene to document the suffering of these lambs.
For the first time, we’re sharing our findings with the public in daily updates that reveal what our investigators saw and heard during transit. We’ve also collected all of our finds in one place, with never-before-seen images, to show the public what these lambs go through.
In Europe, more than three million lambs, still fragile babies taken from their mothers too early, are loaded into crowded trucks by the hundreds. They traveled for days in difficult conditions up to 2,000 kilometers (more than 1,240 miles) before reaching their final destination.
Our investigators have accompanied them on this long journey to the slaughterhouse so we can share their untold story with the world and make sure they don’t suffer alone.
But we don’t stop there – every year, our investigators not only document welfare violations that cause pain and suffering, we also report violators immediately to government.
Since 2013, we have been diligently investigating the transport of lamb across Europe. In 2018 we started working with other international organizations, such as the German Animal Welfare Foundation (AWF) and national organizations such as the National Animal Protection Agency (ENPA) to Discover the truth about transporting lamb during the holidays.
Transportation: The Investigator’s Daily Journal
While delivery trucks tend to follow predictable routes, it’s not always easy to map their movements. We located and tracked several trucks, taking care not to lose them while gathering as much information as possible.
1 day
We are engaged in this area with the Animal Welfare Foundation (AWF). Today, we took the time to prepare for the journey and map out all possible routes. Then we started in two cars to track the trucks carrying the lambs to Italy.
First, we spotted a Hungarian truck heading to Central Italy with small holes in the truck’s metal edges for ventilation and animals to live inside. It was difficult to photograph the moving truck, but we managed to get some pictures as it merges onto the highway.
The baby lambs on the truck look very young and we suspect they haven’t been weaned. As we approached the truck, we could smell a strong ammonia smell emanating from it. This means that the floor of the truck is saturated with urine and feces. These wet, dirty conditions can cause respiratory infections in lambs.
We had to be careful when approaching the truck. Sometimes they are completely closed or only have small openings for ventilation, which makes it difficult for us to see the animals. It is essential that we have the right equipment to record images and videos in all possible situations.
Day 2
The trucks we encountered during our investigation traveled hundreds of kilometers from many other countries. Sometimes it’s just the small openings on the big metal trailers that allow us to catch a glimpse of the lambs: their eyes, ears, and sometimes even their noses.
This type of investigation is unpredictable. Sometimes we have to wait patiently for hours on the side of the road, only to suddenly depart behind a truck we have discovered.
Today, we come across a truck carrying calves. We can see that the calves are very young, unweaned and markedly dehydrated. Even from inside the car, we could hear their desperate roars and see them licking the truck’s rails. This act of licking, known as “tongue rolling,” is a sign of extreme suffering from captivity.
We immediately reported the calf’s condition to the authorities, but they refused to intervene.
Truck traffic never stops, and we’ve received confirmation of four trucks leaving tonight from various locations.
We decided to go to the border with AWF and a member of ENPA’s Guardian Zoofilean Italian citizen animal protection force, to attempt to identify and document shipments slated to arrive from Slovenia.
Day 3
After spending yesterday patiently monitoring the highways, we decided to move to the border to intercept the trucks as they entered Italy.
We left at 4am and drove non-stop for several hours. To avoid losing time, we took turns driving and stopping only for short periods of time.
The thick fog certainly didn’t help us, making it difficult to identify the truck and take pictures and videos. Despite these challenges, we were finally able to locate two trucks carrying lambs just a few weeks old to the slaughterhouse. We found these trucks after midnight and were determined not to lose them. (Tomorrow, we’ll be posting details about the lambs on these trucks, including a review by Tea, the AWF vet traveling with us.)
4th
After tracking the first truck the night before, we promptly reported the incident to the authorities. They intervened immediately, but unfortunately did not allow us to examine the animals.
We returned to the border and located the second truck at 5:30 am. We immediately called the authorities, and this time they let us record the condition of the animals.
Here’s what we found:
First bus 1:00am
Hundreds of animals were lined up in four floors on the truck. They are bleeding profusely.
The authorities stopped the truck to check on the animals, but they didn’t allow us to see or take pictures or videos.
Monday van 5:30am
The lambs are bleeding non-stop in physical and emotional suffering.
Temperatures are within the legal minimum of just one degree – sheep can be transported between 5-30 degrees Celsius (41-86 degrees Fahrenheit). This morning, the temperature was only 6 degrees Celsius.
The lambs lick the bar and ceiling of the truck. It was clear that they were terribly thirsty and hungry.
We tried to give them water, but apparently they only suckled and couldn’t drink. We suspect that they were taken away from their mothers before being weaned. Lambs like these are torn from their mothers at just a few weeks old and never receive the care they need.
They were transported by hundreds of trucks without food or drink. Unlike adult animals that can be fed on trucks, carriers are not equipped to feed undercooked animals and these babies receive no food during their long journey.
The suffering suffered by these undercooked lambs clearly violates European Regulation 1/2005, which states that the transport of live animals must be avoid unnecessary sufferingas well as Article 727 of the Italian Penal Code.
Day 5
After five days and five nights of relentless investigation, we finally returned to our homes.
We wanted to interview two very important team members whose work was crucial to our investigation: Tea, AWF veterinarian and project manager, and Paolo, ENPA Guardie Zoofile member .
Their work in the field was invaluable: Tea was responsible for assessing the animals’ condition and verifying their health, while Paolo contacted authorities to report the carriers.
In a short interview, Tea explains in more detail the most common problems young lambs face during transportation.
The Power of Investigation
In 2020, Animal Equality, AWF and ENPA also recorded the shipment of lamb meat to slaughterhouses in Italy during the holidays.
We have collected many photos and videos of animal transport conditions and we have compiled an overview of all our investigations from 2016 to 2019.
Since 2013, we’ve published eight investigations documenting the transport of live animals, and we’ve always found the same problems and the same suffering. The comprehensive evidence we have gathered in these investigations leaves no doubt about the cruelty of transporting live animals.
Through our investigations, we have repeatedly exposed the cruelty of live animal transportation and made these abuses visible to the public.
Stop transporting live animals
Since 2013, all of our investigations have shown that transporting live animals for slaughter causes undeniable suffering.
This is why we work tirelessly to uncover the cruelty of live shipping. By bringing these cruel conditions to the attention of the authorities, the public and governmental organizations, we are not only demanding justice, we are making it clear that the transportation of live animals in and out Europe needs to be banned.
Most importantly, our investigations bring to light the potential suffering of animals. We will not stop fighting until all animals are respected and protected.
We need your help in our fight to expose the truth about live transportation. You can support our ongoing work to protect pets by donating today. And please let the animals off your plate.
