WATCH VIDEO

Imagine that one day, Nazis or communists burst into your home, seize you and your family, and roughly push you into a truck as quickly as possible to take you to an extermination camp. As you resist, they beat you and give you electric shocks to force you to move.

Once you are forcibly put into that vehicle, you are so crammed that you cannot even sit on the floor, much less lie down. In fact, you can barely move and have to relieve yourselves in that crowded space.

During transport, as you must stand without being able to hold onto anything, the movements of the truck cause you to be crushed against each other and collide with the truck’s bars, leading to bruises, fractures, and open wounds, sometimes severe.

Furthermore, you are given nothing to eat or drink, so you suffer from hunger and dehydration, adding to the rest of your suffering.

All of the above causes you anguish and great stress, accentuated by abrupt changes in an unfamiliar environment, vehicle noise, vibration, and the uncertainty of what will be done with you, which does not look good at all. Due to stress, you exhibit abnormal behaviors, such as aggression, excessive vocalization, and self-mutilation. Additionally, fear and anxiety weaken your immune system, making you more susceptible to diseases.

If it is summer, high temperatures inside the truck and lack of ventilation can cause heatstroke, dehydration, and, in extreme cases, death. And if it is winter, the cold can cause hypothermia and frostbite.

WATCH VIDEO

The transport conditions are so adverse that some of you die along the way due to temperatures, fractures, bruises, and open wounds caused by overcrowding and rough handling, dehydration, asphyxiation, or stress, aggravated by exhaustion.

If you are lucky, this cruel journey will only last a few hours or a few days, but it may be that you are forcibly put on a ship and suffer all these hardships for weeks. And if you get sick, you might be thrown alive overboard, as was done with slaves on slave ships.

WATCH VIDEO

Wouldn’t all that brutality horrify you if it were applied to you and your family? Well, what you don’t want for yourself, don’t do to others. Because that is precisely what we do to billions of non-human beings who also feel.

International and national regulations exist to protect animal welfare during transport, such as those from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) or the European Union. However, they are highly insufficient, and their implementation is often deficient.

Violations of regulations rarely result in significant penalties, which perpetuates exploitation and mistreatment. Furthermore, legislative loopholes allow cruel practices to continue without consequences.

All of this harms not only the transported victims but also us, as it sometimes leads to outbreaks of zoonotic diseases that affect public health.

It is necessary for governments to approve stricter and more effective regulations to improve welfare in transport, including:

1.- Reducing travel time, which implies prohibiting the export of live animals and establishing slaughterhouses closer to the farms of origin.

2.- Improving transport conditions, so that vehicles comply with welfare standards, including adequate ventilation, sufficient space, and access to water and food.

3.- Training personnel in respectful animal handling and loading practices to minimize stress and injuries.

4.- Stricter monitoring to ensure compliance with animal welfare laws, including the use of technologies such as surveillance cameras and environmental sensors.

6.- Transporting meat and animal products instead of live animals.

The United Kingdom has already overwhelmingly approved the abolition of live animal exports. LET’S CONTINUE TO MOVE TOWARDS MORE CIVILIZED PRACTICES!

For this, it is essential that consumers, legislators, and producers work together. Only through a collective effort and greater awareness of animal suffering can we hope to end these cruel practices and move towards a more ethical and respectful transport system.

WHAT CAN A KIND AND EMPATHETIC PERSON DO TO AVOID THESE JOURNEYS OF SUFFERING AND DESPAIR?

1.- Sign campaigns like this one from WATCH VIDEO.

2.- Sign this campaign from the Institute of Well-being.

3.- Choose plant-based options.

4.- Share so that others are informed about the brutality suffered by animals during transport.

Read more actions at…

LET’S PREVENT HARM!: 10 actions to prevent animal cruelty

If you have read this far, it is probably because you are an ethical person interested in these topics. Now all that remains is for you to take one more step and sign, share, etc.

Thank you for doing so.