i watching d.w. news from berlin stating for our documentary about animal transports and the cruelty that cattle have to suffer ensuring their journey on europe's highways seroquel you will have more news and headlines coming up at the top of the hour and a half really for me and the entire team here in berlin thanks for watching. call neal and i'm game did you know that 73000000 left out or killed worldwide sure but it's not just the animals of all suffering it's the environment if you want to know how always picked up the priests and the culture has changed us as we seek to listen to our podcast on the dream.

city and southern germany. for years it's been a departure point for long distance animal transports today it's calves just separated from their mothers. very profitable here in germany young birds often go for export. are headed for northern spain and another collection point. to sport which was filmed by. the animal welfare foundation she's followed the transports for more than 20 years the slide in their care about us all these are the noises the cats make when they're suffering and they increase as the journey goes on. more and more calves join in this bellowing you see them licking everything sucking at. each other and are really in

a kind of starvation stress the animals are under common and stress healers and then. after an almost 20 hour journey the animals are unloaded in spain many of the young calves are completely exhausted song having survived the ordeal. in this film we track animal transports not only despite. we also find out what happens to german livestock sent to other places such as north africa. and russia where we document the longest transport of german animals over thousands of kilometers to central asia. get.

it to early december $21000.00 when we set out with us bombed out now for the 1st time. we want to find out what exactly is going on behind the trade in young cattle and what happens to the animals financially neha frontier we're driving to a collection point near to clear. vision to become i was tipped off by an official who said young cats were being transported via various collection points to staying uber for sheena's amish day times put me at. the collection point is located in a small village on the river most of us watch as what goes on from an opposite hill she's expecting a transport to arrive today from bavaria. suddenly in around 3 o'clock in the morning trucks begin arriving while others depart. we follow 2 animal transporters. they take a strange route they should be heading straight across the border into france but

instead they take a huge detour if you have to be. the german cabs are unloaded at the collection point in your maneuvers. according to animal transport regulators the cattle should be watered and fed and allowed to rest for 48 hours now. next morning meets a friend i didn't call or not works for the french animal welfare group well farming. what are they expecting. that hans part of the transport will probably go on to spain and that's what we assume there are german cabs there too but we just don't know yet when they'll start to load the i reckon they'll do it when it gets light what to expect today both of them where we expect there'll be living in the morning and go to pep in hand and maybe we can but he's come to our

union. in the twos and you can't speak. it's the afternoon less than 24 hours after arriving the transport is on the move again. we're on the highway heading be early on to the south of france. with. the cabs have already been in transport for much longer than is legally permitted. at a service area on your need the drivers take a break it's a chance for the animal rights activists to get a closer look and maybe have a word with the drivers. of. the ear tags suggest there are german animals on board mostly from bavaria and been written down yet. ask the drivers where they've come from and where they're going. they say they came from near lewis and are heading to spain right no mention of the fact that they started off in bavaria. looking.

back on the car i didn't call on our contacts the french police she asked them to stop the trucks and check the. citizenship and everything that you're shifting but before she was even finished her call the transporters off again. the animal welfare activists followed them and didn't even see them and sometimes if anything did you know. they just tell me they don't have enough stuff for a check and unfortunately they couldn't do anything tonight. the 2 women watches the trucks pass the border into spain without a hitch. we want to know how this transport was possible in the 1st place even though you lost prohibit such long journeys. we had to the 2 years i explored veterinary office and speak to the man a charge that you can all just. go he's brought some colleagues for support.

and course did not detect these transports for the loading and unloading are monitored and the papers are checked to make sure they're ok and of those in the law it's a check on paper you know there's a check on the ground to. call what kind of check exactly. you know because your chance to see whether the animals appear to be healthy or not the nation is on. the. but the office also ought to check whether the transport is credible. this came from a very clear to our eyes us. and that's almost double the distance that needed. that alone arouse some suspicion. is that if i did no one ask why the animals were taken to vinci holeman and then to when a direct route would have been quicker. according to our checks the transport times

well by the book it's an economical decision whether to take the direct route or take a diversion. why would a diversion be economical. that i can't be the judge of that each company must decide for itself which route makes most sense. no one here appears ready to go beyond the call of duty but we're not giving up quite yet. some of your tags when the trucks were parked in southern france. that's enough for us to trace which farm the cabs originally came from. the tags lead us to a small parish in the burying region of all going. on the farmer to let him know we're coming. over for your focus got talks with your meats on the early evening. is that your

farm. and you keep. how many cattle do you have. so it. 'd was just a subset so for that is it at least it was for them so it wasn't just going to have calves to. their female so thread from high yielding cattle if all goes well he says they'll be producing 10000 liters of milk a year. because in this could be a few to come to you because we film cattle on a transport to spain that was last december 5 like and what did you get for those animal cities that you couldn't because wash us on the top to force the other that actually if you're in the boat is in the boat from this if you feel the boat will this wonderful sequoia with this just a few. obvious fear shots. but i was the price of their place you know coming off the fair to say that the ball calves as males are

a waste product of this breed. to do the most as even if it's a choice fast 5 little beat this very good will but say mr obvious fun but he's here come a saga it's a. saga is this so when it's a little difficult this is the outside with the farmer shows us his cow shed he has a mixed herd but they're largely high yielding cattle the only key to the dairy cattle so he has no use for male offspring. as an addition there's little demand in germany for veal these days. you get the photos this is. all done with the stock most of the good is destructive wasn't enough. for a hose. to get this county. i'm never going to the animals we're going astray after so make at least you must

have time to get what did you think. are you selling to the elf. it's a nice. thing about this house but it always does in the end. the farmers calves ended up being taken to spain but what happened to them after that. we had to cut along yet to find out it's the center of spain's cattle fattening trade and here we discover one farm after another. in the spanish that go with us to take a look. there are hundreds of calves here we can see they come from all over the earthian union. this is the spanish style of industrial cathi army. on closer inspection of some of the farms we see that some of the animals came from the u.k. . at any. other place. there are also

calves from france and slovakia. were not far from the sea court are going up and find that's where most of the calves are exported from. and on the way to the port we see animal transporters on the return journey. the transports unload on the pier. electric prods are used to drive the young bulls onto the ship. this load is mostly made up of animals from france or destined for lebanon. one man stands out among the workers at the port you want to start off an animal exports. are obvious from morocco. as we establish later he's bought the animals for an arab company. he's prepared to talk to us so

we arranged to meet with him a few days later. just. what's your job. most contiguous and exposed i work as an export eartha companies here in spain and organize transport to arab countries. i drive around and pick out the animals. selection by them try to negotiate the best price to export them to arab countries they always end up at an avatar. which countries do the transports go to. most. clearly bill you know i work a lot with lebanon but i also export to jordan. saudi arabia libya. morocco tunisia. almost all of the

arab countries to libya computers i mean more many animals how many cows and they're loaded up from germany. with. thousands of them. i don't keep a precise count. statistic live cattle from germany are shipped abroad for slaughter to many arab countries are insufficient cooling conditions for frozen meat. we meet your husband back of terror going to court where she wants to show us a chef. it docked the previous there and tomorrow it's due to load up on animal transport. it's the crema law. for. a few officers this is. the car in marlow was built in 1965 originally as a car ferry it's 55 years old at some point it was repurposed to carry livestock

transports that unfortunately not very well. in 2016 we got onto the ship it shouldn't be allowed to carry animals so that's what it's full of things that animals can injure themselves on the ramps are steep not for animals when they run out of the ships they have to make a 90 degree bend and go straight down steep wraps then they're hit with electric process that looked like that i think the shopping day there's one deck on the ship that's only one metre 60 high not even a person can stand on it but can also regularly load it in there it's terrible the animals can't reach their food or water and if there is a problem no one would crawl through there to get an animal out of those away. for years the county malar has to 1st the mediterranean with its cargo of livestock

for the middle east. a few years ago animal welfare managed to smuggle about onboard you recorded these images during the crossing. the shore the cattle packed together with insufficient water troughs an animal struggling to reach the. ship looks neglected to credit with potentially hazardous ragged and rusty metal engines. just 3 days at sea and the 1st animals die. because lion with their own excrement. investigations by the european commission confirmed these abysmal conditions. several inquiries last year found serious shortcomings on this and other vessels it found that the watering system was broken the food trucks were empty the cattle were weak and underweight the cattle were soiled with urine the feces donation system in certain areas did not work as a true at. home and all that but we asked the ns buthe

a professor of criminal law at mannheim university for a legal standpoint on all this. he's an expert on animal protection laws this could be fitted have caught the european how much risk what regulations have extra rules for the transport of animals by sea venda vessels don't conform to them . in this ship is not legally permitted to transport animals. if there are sharp edges and corners that could injure the animals but it that's also a violation of the rules require their animals are transported in a way that they are not home to. ok with us i stood on the roof so transports and ships like that shouldn't be taking place and that's right yes. and yet they are taking place despite the scenes like those on the cutting my luck being documented time and time again and the carcass of a dead cattle are simply dumped at sea as possible on more. or less frequent back

to units out of the animal exporter we interviewed in tehran on a. normal fiercely they're thrown in the water. into the sea portal. oh isn't that simple i. suppose it is that possible because. it's the law of nature. it's also illegal given the mediterraneans natural preservation status. as a result it's not uncommon for beach goers in israel to find carcasses washed up on the sand. the animals are shipped across the mediterranean to the middle east mostly to the ports of beirut haifa and gaza. german cattle usually end up in arab countries and what happens then.

for showing footage of how transporters and meat workers treat the animals in these countries we see upsetting images of animal cruelty the likes of which we've never seen before. some of the pictures are too disturbing to show in their entirety. i. but here they're even children watching the mood is a bit like an affair. i. first the cattle are tied off and then restrained by force i. i kicked slapped pushed over the i was. close. i was. feeling

sick and then brutally winched onto a truck. there's no respect no sympathy for the maltreated that i. had to subject it to pure violence. a much more workers stand in a pool of blood while they slashed the cows throats. for neither stun nor anesthetized beforehand. and. receive pictures from gaza beirut and the west bank. if that was we meet the filmmakers who took this but if you get a dividing power from animals international what's their main takeaway from what they've seen. often to miss often the knives silent show up or long enough that

we've seen them stopping at the carotid artery. in egypt lebanon and other countries it's the norm for the tendons in the legs to be slashed and for the eyeballs to be cut out and by and then. all of our organization has been in these countries for more than 10 years documenting the suffering and misery of these animals being exported from germany and other e.u. countries and all this time nothing has changed. and i have never seen anywhere in these destination neutering nordoff nor even near east or in the middle east anything that would be illegal in european union the reason this is happening is that there are no laws in those countries to protect d.n.a. markers and the animals are being seen as objects and not as a living beings it's moments when there anymore is losing its dignity because the

anyone can smell death and any mother can see death it's all wrong and she knows what's coming there is a single reason why no matter how many anymore i was dying on this day or died this is still a good business it simply because of the price in the destination concrete is sometimes even then biomes more than european union business built on the suffering of animals deemed a waste product by germany's dairy industry. we asked professor about the role of the german veterinarian authorities after all they're aware the animals are being transported destined for the middle east. if the veterinarian knows the transport will very probably result in the conditions we've just described he issue a transport permit. it's his responsibility to stop it in accordance with the animal protection regulations if he allows insurance and want to go ahead then he is going to this and the eventual slaughter and the us himself has acted in

a better animal cruelty. does that apply to slaughter that doesn't happen for another 9 months because it can happen 20 years later it doesn't matter. in 2019 more than 60000 cattle were exported from germany some federal states such as bavaria and has have designated these countries high risk for animal welfare and want to ban cattle export to them. but what about this year the transport of livestock has continued to lebanon war torn libya and morocco with a little song that the german veterinarian thorniest interested in animal welfare. the export of dairy cows to morocco is usually said to be for breeding purposes sent over in trucks the cattle are allegedly aimed at boosting the north african countries own beef cattle population. high yielding german

dairy cows enter the country via the port of tangier and are brought to the casa blanca region. the animals angels group filmed these images and 2019 at 1st glance they give the impression that the animals are well fed and well treated. but were skeptical and want to find out whether german animals are really being brought here to build up morocco's beef cattle industry. in december 2019 we fly to casa blanca to find out more. from the animal protection group animals angels was with us she's familiar with the situation there. one of the organizations moroccan members picks up. a little early. over the next few days will be looking at cattle markets east of casa blanca.

village on the dock is our starting point. ali has already laid the groundwork we want to see for ourselves whether german animals end up in such cattle markets. so that it's a sunday morning. on a large area of ground outside the city. preparations are underway for the market. due to open the next morning. this my guess is that every monday everyone yet in this area that there is said the spot it's there and it's the most important area. by 6 o'clock the next morning the market is already buzzing to life. that traders arrive in about 2 hours being set up. the animals that are brought

here are often slaughtered right away. this trader tells us that he has a catherine belgian that she. wanted to show me another comes from luxembourg we hear. her increasing signs that animals being sold here originate in the e.u. . most of the trade is in young calves and sheep. on the next day we travel to a place near america. it's the site of one of the region's biggest cattle markets. traders bring their animals on open trucks 1st we only see cattle from the surrounding area.

but then we discover european couse. this animal is from france. that has several your tax. someone has tried to cover up its country of origin. and in the middle of it all seems like this cow is being milked in filthy conditions. right next to the grounds of the other 2 are animals that have changed hands are brought here for slaughter. for filming with concealed camera. the florist covered with blood hanging from the ceiling one slaughtered carcass after the next. year by more animals are being slaughtered while they're still fully conscious it's an open area anyone can come in. a short while later we make a discovery the tag shows this is a high producing house from germany. and. next we find another one among this group

of cattle this time it's a horse time friesian. it's just been sold so we hang around a bit to watch what happens. is forced up a steep ramp onto a totally unsuited truck. we see many incidents like this one where here. it's driven away with other animals. so. we asked the driver whether we can follow. that. he says we can't. so for an hour we drive north behind the animal transport parallel to the atlas mountains until we arrive in a small town in. the

make shift ramp is used again to unload 2 cattle including the german dairy cow. they're led away but we're not allowed to see where. earth farm. the traders are getting annoyed. the truck driver is more often they're being taken away for slaughter he tells us. that flutter here means restraining the animal going to get onto the floor several men seize the animal and turn its neck until someone finds the right place to stick a knife in. it's a horrific procedure i. hear tag informs us that the dairy cow was sent for export to morocco by a company called mustard and. must often does one of the biggest names on the german cattle market as a frequent sponsor of cattle shows the name is synonymous with the most beautiful and best mewling breeds. on its home page the company

mentions that around a quarter of its beef cattle are exploited to african arab states. we raised our concerns with must about finding one of their cows in a moroccan cattle market and it's inhumane slaughter. we received this written response. the marketing of animals for slaughter is fundamentally forbidden. of course we are aware that breeding cattle are expected to live forever are then taken to slaughter however they are the basis for the creation of domestic beef cattle populations and the basis for the continued profitable breeding of that population amuse reagents. but is it true that morocco is really building up a domestic beef cattle population and the aim is breeding.

we visit michaud model what's on the t.v. a german veterinarian sociate should actively advises and helps to promote animal welfare. he's looked in detail at the breeding programs and cattle importing countries such as morocco in the. desert in morocco the average fan sizes for animals at the moment so i support that means that production is relatively low intensity it building up the herd basically means we're breeding. to fill these are breeding cattle soaked. but simply milking them after carving isn't grady is connoted so. that means these animals are actually for slaughter them although they've been brought there as breeding animals. to the sense. animals for slaughter that would otherwise principally be used for milk production but since there's no breeding then sauntered is in the slot is that legal declaring them as breeding animals is false. the longest and most exhausting animal transport currently starts

from germany going through poland belarus and russia all the way to central asia. in february 21900 a team of animals angels activists followed one of their transports. the group filmed both trucks from their 1st supply stop a small that's. the journey takes place and driving snow and icy temperatures. and that despite it being illegal to transport animals below 5 degrees celsius. just ends or you can see the cyclops on the truck or open field engineer the animals are covered in snow when the outside temperature is below minus 7 so you have the added problem of the water systems for using and the transport by the transport. the animals are suffering from exhaustion the animal welfare group says

that because of the cold and the slow roads the trucks hardly stop even though they're on a 6000 kilometer trip that will last days. when they do stop it's only to throw in some part or to the animals. during veterinarian checks as they left germany the drivers had given assurances that they would make proper stops at supply stations in russia. the trucks are on the. rolled for a total of 10 days clocking up over 6100 kilometers. so do the supply stations in russia even exist. we had to view their western germany to meet an expert on the matter. she's the hester state animal welfare commissioner modeled in martin unhappy with

accounts she heard she and 3 other veterinarians traveled to russia last year. we haven't cuts if we did actually find to supply stations with a russian permit in the small lands grey gen. con and they got a very open reception one that we're allowed to look at everything. in the 2nd one was quite different the manager there was clear about not allowing us access he even had a man with a gun. on inside and told her i was in fear cut if that was based on the user would to that the 2nd part of the trip went towards a spake a stone dogs so does this. long this route there was not a single supply station with the russian permit and the horses it's all. on. and that means it's impossible to when load animals. of course that's extremely

shocking because we were finding these places with decrepit stalls. and no water or electricity. or the bus sometimes the stations were no more than a pile of haiti under a roof. on the. it was clear and late 21000 the facilities for animal transports in russia were inadequate again germany's veterinarian a 40 showed little interest. in february animal welfare activists from animals angels depart for kazakstan they want to find out whether central asia is better than russia for supply stations. in the ng to check out the situation not only in kazakhstan but also in respect us there we go with them. we have to drive 1000 kilometers until we reach the route used by the animal transports to enter the

country. more than you today we're driving from. kent to make up some time. and then off to shim kent will be on the routes that the trucks will pass where. several 100 kilometers and there's little change in the landscape. it's extremely cold. this is the road that leads to the border with russia. in the next morning we reach the 1st supply station it was listed in permit papers. at 1st glance it looks like a truckers cafe. if you know it looks like a motel and a gas station what's that meant to be. from what you want us in our information says there should be a supply station. in here i want to thank you. but there's nowhere here 20 more

animals. looks like it could be a hole for summer hardy. yes maybe. then they run with the wind the veterinarian authorities get information on what i meant to be supply station is all they have all coordinates on google maps coming up on maps as you enter those coordinates and all you see is 3 buildings in groups from above so you don't know what's in them what the best stable is how is this for storage sheds little bits of data if you're not on the ground there's no way of checking some of what. we drive further north a place that's also listed in the transport documents of the supply station. we make a similar discovery. and if so there are no facilities for animals

here you see was that listed with the german authorities as a supply station and. now that we are aware of no there's no list of supply stations in kazakhstan nothing official anyway just gets me. but a 3rd location is said to have a stable oh no power has entered the coordination center smartphone. and. this is the building it looks like the roof has recently undergone repairs. and angles. on. the animal welfare activists managed to get some footage from inside it's a storage hall for machinery there's no evidence of animals having ever been on noted here the walls of the cold through in winter this hole is practically unusable.

we carry on towards the russian border. the temperature drops below minus 18 degrees celsius way too cold to be transporting animals legally. 2 weeks later the animals angel's team has flown into transports they're carrying pregnant cows from germany bringing cattle. each truck has just one driver when they stop for a break the animal stay inside the trucks. one evening towards the end of february the trucks are parked at a roadside stop for the drivers to take what seems to be a likely break it's a chance to look inside the transport. animal stand on their own excrement and after more than 5000 kilometers on the road a few are exhausted. there are some lying on the cold metal truck floor.

the ceiling is a loft. there are signs that the animals have knocked up against it repeatedly during the journey. the verdict. well certainly ecker. has a truck should take a 24 hour break fair on the animal should be unloaded so they can recover at one of these resting stables and gotten them if it is that we found that the animals weren't on loaded the trucks start 15 hours with the animals packed inside they were fed and given water but it wasn't just such a tory 24 hour break so basically it's proof that as soon as these transports have passed the e.u. 60 area borders they can no longer be subjected to checks. and as. the official declaration on this transport said nothing about a journey without proper brings or without the animals once being on the road.

the veterinarian authority back in germany who say sure reagent declined to be interviewed. they say they 1st wanted to see evidence although they could just as easily demand to see the carrier's transport records. in april the russian authorities finally informed the german government that there are currently no supply stations open. the official confirmation of something animal rights groups have been documenting for the past year. finally some german states respond by imposing restrictions or outright bans on animal transports to central asia. but does that mean that the practice has been stopped completely. a vet from the eastern state of plantain pork tells us that cattle are now being transported via other you countries to that destination. it's known the transport leave from poland slovakia hungary and italy and they are known to avoid austria. so who is responsible now.

the view than that of a neighborhood in the truest of the very authorities are the smallest card in the will. and i don't see the european commission as necessarily responsible what the regulations are relatively clear appropriate procedures should be in place to put pressure on member states. the german government says the federal state governments are responsible for their actions and that's true. doc i often get the impression that economic interests mean there's no inclination to change that goes for it. so the transports continue. for the ball caps that are exploited be under cern in german states and 3rd countries transported for fattening up before being packed into boats and shipped off to the middle east.

and the breeding cattle many of which end up in arabian are to ours where fully conscious will have their throats cut under inhumane conditions. these kind of animal transports must stop. and residents can finally party again in china where things are almost back to normal it was from this city that the corona virus spread over around the world. now just consider defeated here china's crisis management seem to perform well. but the only tail has many flaws and many losers global 3000 and. 90 minutes on w. . it's about billions. it's about power.

it's about the foundation of the world order the silk road. china wants to expand its influence with this trade network and so in europe conflicts are inevitable the consequences contradicted the guinness book of the shaking of the chinese state has a lot of money at its disposal to push it. and that's how it's expanding kind of asserting its status and position in the world to be fair to the bowling league he's promising it's her 1st rich profits but in europe there's a morning you are never accept money from the new superpower it will become. china's gateway to europe. starts feb 19th on.

the bag. play . this is c w news life for land u.s. lawmakers laid the groundwork to remove the president from office house speaker nancy pelosi urges vice president mike pence to declare trump unfit for office after trump supporters frantic inched through the u.s. capitol otherwise democrats pledged to impeach strom.