Transport of cattle from Ireland to Italy TLT International Ltd, Irish transport company

Transcription

1 Transport of cattle from Ireland to Italy TLT International Ltd, Irish transport company Animals Angels team: Veronica de Pieri, Silvia Meriggi Date and time of observation: between 3:45 and 8:00 of Place of first observation: Total distance from the place of departure to the places of destination: Journey time: road SS434, Villa Bartolomea (VR), Italy from Mullingar (Ireland) to Rovigo, Padova,Vicenza (Italy)= 1793 km 1 + ferryboat 2 from Rosslare to Cherbourg from 16:00 (Irish time) on , according to the tacographs, to 10:30 (Italian time) of = 66,5 hours 1 According to Google Maps there are 197 km from Mullingar to Rosslare, 1474 km from Cherbourg FR to Rovigo IT, 42 km from Rovigo IT to Padova IT and 80 km from Padova IT to Vicenza IT 2 18 hours of sailing by ferry, according to the tacographs of the driver, 305 marine miles according to 3 According to Animals Angels observation and Google Maps calculations

2 I. FACTS FOUND and INFORMATION RECEIVED 1. Details of the lorry, driver and transport company: Means of transport: License plates: Transport company: Address: Driver: one compartment truck Irish license plates 06TS3034 TLT international ltd, Irish transport company, approval number IE TYPE Kilmaglish House, Knockdrin, Mullginar, Co. Westmeath, Rep. Of Ireland single driver 2. Description of loading situation and condition of the animals observing the truck at Bellombra (RO): Species: cattle Levels: 2 Number of animals: Temperature and humidity: Estimated medium weight: 68 (3 consignments) 1 degree C was the minimum temperature and 93% was the maximum humidity 4 according to Animals Angels observation, the animals were medium size, around 350 kg Particular animal welfare concerns: the transport exceeded the maximum limit of 29 hours, travelling continuously for 34 hours and rested for 14 hours instead of 24. State of the animals upon arrival at the destination place: Bedding: we observed the offloading of the first deck at the farm of first destination in Bellombra, Rovigo, Italy: the animals appeared calm. there was a good amount of straw at the first deck, it appeared clean and not smelling. 3. Description of the transport Date/time of departure: Place of loading: According to the tacographs, at 16:00 of , Irish time according to the journey logs, Mullingar, Ireland 4 According to the weather forecast of

3 Places of destination: Expected duration of the journey: Transport of cattle from Ireland to Italy according to the journey logs, three destinations were scheduled in Italy: Vicenza, Padova, Rovigo. 70 hours, according to the journey logs 4. Further information and details: The driver had three journey logs due to three scheduled consignments. According to the journey logs: - a veterinarian was present at the place of departure in Mullingar, for additional checks; - the organiser/transporter scheduled the arrival in France at Cherbourg at 14:30 on , by ferryboat; - the arrival at the control post at Frontenaud was scheduled at 21:00 on ; - the departure from Frontenaud was scheduled at 21:00 on ; - sections 4 have the stamp of the control post and of the veterinarian. Considerations: - According to Animals Angels observations, the Celtic Link ferries that depart from Rosslare every Wednesday arrive at 16:00 on next Thursday. - Further, Frontenaud is 740 km far from Cherbourg, according to Google Maps, that is 10,5 hours driving at 70 km/h speed; - thus a truck arriving at 16:00 on Thursday at Cherbourg cannot arrive at Frontenaud before 2:30 on Friday night. In fact, according to the tacographs of the driver: - the truck arrived/departed from Cherbourg at 16:00 of 25/01/12, French time; - the transport arrived at the control post at Frontenaud (approval number FR ) at 3:00 of and departed at 17:00 on the same day; - thus, the cattle travelled continuously for 34 hours, exceeding the maximum time limit - further: the truck left the control post after maximum 14 hours instead of 24 hours (note that we should consider also loading and unloading time at the control post). The check of the Police, in Italy, started at 3:45 of 27/01/2012, according to Animals Angels observation at Villa Bartolomea (VR). Few minutes later, the Police and Animals Angels followed the truck up to the 1 st destination at Bellombra, Rovigo, where it arrived between 5 and 6 in the morning. The animals of the 1 st deck were unloaded there. The check ended at 7.15 in the morning on At 8 the truck left Bellombra, heading to Padova according to the driver, and then it was supposed to go to Vicenza, according to the journey logs. Padova is 42 km far from Rovigo and Vicenza is 80 km far from Padova. The total distance of 122 km takes 1,5 hours by driving at 70 km/h speed. Assuming that each unloading took 30 minutes (1,5 hours + 1 hour), the truck is likely to have finished the last unloading at 10:30 of , Italian time. The Italian Police imposed 1,000 euro fine to the driver and to the transporter, for the violation of the Regulation (EC) 1/2005, Annex I, Chapter V, point 1.4, letter d) in connection to article 6, due to the fact that the animals did not rest for 24 hours after the maximum limit of journey time. The Police also imposed 398 euro fine because the truck was overloaded by weight. II. INFRINGEMENTS OCCURRED DURING THE TRANSPORT

4 1) Responsibility of the transporter a)undue suffering The cattle are supposed to travel for =29 hours than to rest, be watered and fed at a control post for 24 hours. During this transport, the animals got stressed and uncomfortable resting 10 hours less than what is provided by law, they did not rest enough for their species and size. The cattle even travelled continuously for 34 hours, exceeding the maximum limit time by 5 hours, before arriving at the control post in France. (Council Regulation (EC) 1/2005, Violation of art. 3) b) Rest of 24 hours The animals did not do the rest of 24 hours, in fact they arrived at 3:00 on and departed at 17:00 on the same day. (Council Regulation (EC) 1/2005, Violation of Annex I, Chapter V, point 1.4, letter d in connection with art. 6) c) Exceeded maximum limit time The transport took 34 hours to get to the control post at Frontenaud, in France so that the animals travelled continuously, by road and by ferry, for more than 29 hours exceeding the maximum limit time. (Council Regulation (EC) 1/2005, Violation of Annex I, Chapter V, point 1.4, letter (d) in connection with art. 6) 2) Responsibility of the organizer: a) Irregular journey log In the section 1 the weight of the document is fixed in approximately 1000 kg per consignment that means 3000 kg totally for 68 adult bovines, that is not possible. The space is not indicated to make calculations to check the density. The list of scheduled resting, transfer or exits does not indicate the length of the resting but it indicates the length of the travelling from a point to another point of the journey. In the section 2 is not indicated the time of the first animal loading. In the section 4 the driver did not write the date and the place. (Council Regulation (EC) 1/2005, Violation of Annex II, point 1 in connection with article 5 paragraph 4) 3) Responsibility of the veterinarians: a) Not realistic planning The veterinarian at the departure place did not detect that the planning was not realistic as it indicated the arrival at Cherbourg at 14:30 instead of 16:00 and as it indicated the arrival at the control post at Frontenaud after 6,5 hours of travelling instead of 10,5 hours. In fact Frontenaud is 740 km far from Cherbourg and the tacographs of the driver indicate that distance took 11 hours by driving. Thus the veterinarian did not tell the organiser to correct the journey logs and fill it with the missing information as above described at point 2) a. ((Council Regulation (EC) 1/2005, Violation of art. 14, point 1, letters a (ii) and b ) b) Animals not fit to continue the journey The veterinarian at the control post authorized the prosecution of the travel but the animals could not be considered fit to travel because they did not rest 24 hours, as they were supposed to, according to their species and size (Council Regulation (EC) 1/2005, Violation of art. 3 letter b and Council Regulation (EC) 1255/97, Violation of art. 6 point 1).

5 4) Responsibility of the person in charge of the control post: a) The person in charge of the control post should ensure the welfare of the animals: in this case this person stamped and signed the journey logs even if the animals did not rest enough as they left after only 14 hours (Council Regulation (EC) 1255/97, Violation of art. 5, letter d) Silvia Meriggi Animals Angels