Live Animal Transport: Ensuring Compliance with EU Law and Ending Animal Suffering
Reports and publications on EU transport regulation compliance and animal welfare in live animal transport
These position papers and articles uncover critical issues surrounding the suffering of animals and legal violations in the EU's transport regulation. These findings emphasise the need for improved enforcement of EU law to reduce animal suffering.
As an animal welfare organisation, FOUR PAWS advocates for limiting transport to a maximum of 8 hours (4 hours for poultry) and ending the transport of unweaned animals. The revision of Regulation 1/2005 must include stronger safeguards, and the EU must transition towards transporting meat, carcasses, and genetic material instead of live animals. Until then, strict enforcement of existing laws is crucial.
Download our full reports to understand how we can collectively push for better enforcement of EU transport laws and end animal suffering:
1. Reports and position papers
Background Paper: Live Animal Transport
Over one billion poultry and millions of sheep, cattle, pigs, goats and other animals are transported within and out of the EU every year, causing significant animal welfare issues.
FOUR PAWS Position paper: Transport Revision Proposal
Crammed together in the transport vehicles, the animals suffer unimaginably on transports lasting up to weeks.
FOUR PAWS Position Paper: Transport Revision
FOUR PAWS position on the European Commission’s proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of animals during transport and related operations, amending Council Regulation (EC) No 1255/97 and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005.
FOUR PAWS: Key Demands
Animal transports cause immense animal suffering, which has been documented by animal welfare organisations and journalists for decades. At EU level, a committee of inquiry was established from June 2020 to December 2021.
2. Academic articles
Presentation of a checklist for cattle exports
Assessment Questions according to Art. 21 Paragraph 2 OCR for animal welfare requirements during the transport of animals.
Live Animal Transport: Closing the Gap between EU Requirements and Enforcemen
A Collection of Academic Articles on Compliance with the EU Council Regulation 1/2005 on the Protection of Animals during Transport.
Remarks on the transport of unweaned calves
The lack of compliance with the regulations for transporting unweaned young animals is clearly an ongoing and systematic failure of member states.
