A recent case in the European Court of Justice (ECJ) demonstrates the power our undercover investigations have in not only exposing animal suffering but also bringing governments to account. The Government of Greece was found guilty for failing to uphold European rules protecting animals during transport and slaughter.
The case was brought by the European Commission following successive exposés by Compassion and other animal welfare groups. Whilst the legislation itself is inadequate, Case 416/07 did strike a blow for proper enforcement of existing rules, something that would prevent much suffering amongst the six million farm animals transported across Europe every year.
Case C-416/07 found Greece guilty of “failing to take all the measures necessary” to properly enforce EU legislation on the protection of animals during transport and slaughter. Specifically, Greece did not
• Ensure competent authorities properly carried out obligatory checks of route plans
• Provide facilities at ferry ports for animals to rest after unloading
• Ensure inspections of animal transport vehicles were completed
• Enforce rules on stunning of animals at slaughter
• Ensure that inspections and controls in slaughterhouses are carried appropriately.
Our investigators, often working undercover at personal risk, gathered evidence in Europe which documented how animals travel enormous distances for considerable time without periods of rest and access to water to reach their final destination – slaughterhouses where they are killed in cruel and unacceptable circumstances.
For example, our latest investigation showed how many unwanted male dairy calves born in Poland and Lithuania have been transported long distances to intensive veal farms in The Netherlands and Italy.
With respect to Case C-416/07, evidence was gathered by the European Commission’s Food and Veterinary Office which investigated how Greece transported and slaughtered farmed animals. The FVO is responsible for checking that Member States are enforcing EU animal welfare legislation properly. Their investigations were prompted in part by our own and those of other like-minded organisations. Our research in Greece in 1997, 2001 and 2005 documented widespread failure to comply with the transportation and slaughter directives.
The ruling in Case C-416/07 shines the spotlight on Greece and its treatment of farmed animals. Greece must now prove to the Commission its compliance with the transportation and slaughter directives. If it does not taken sufficient action, the Commission could issue a “reasoned opinion specifying the points on which Greece has not complied with the judgment.” The case could then be brought back to the ECJ.
Everyone who supports Compassion played a role in the successful prosecution of Greece. Your support helped us to make sure we had sufficient resources to operate our investigators in Europe, including those who work undercover. They provided us with the evidence we used in our reports on countries failing to implement the transportation and slaughter directives. As in Greece’s prosecution, our reports helped to persuade the European Court of Justice and the Food and Veterinary Office that not all of the EU’s member states were in compliance.
Please help us to hold these authorities to account and make sure that EU regulations are enforced by Greece and every other European country.
Thank you!
