To: Vytenis Andriukaitis
EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety
and Phil Hogan
EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development
Firstly, please watch the video showing how EU animals continue to suffer at the Turkish border; and have done in this way for at least the last 5 years.
Video Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udReHkAumrY&feature=youtu.be
Live EU animals are very regularly exported from EU member states to Turkey, a non EU state. EU citizens are continually alarmed by the clear and obvious breaches of regulations by some EU member states to protect the welfare of animals during long distance transport.
The so called EU Regulation 1/2005 on the alleged ‘protection of animals during transport’ is a complete and utter joke for which we hold you responsible. It is never enforced as the attached video taken at the Turkish border clearly shows. You are failing animals of the EU.
The EU should commit itself to immediately ending live animal exports from the EU; especially as (EU) animal welfare organisations continue to provide clear evidence of welfare breaches which you personally constantly ignore. If animals are to be slaughtered for meat, then it should be undertaken within the EU to standards enforced by the EU rather than by third world nations such as Turkey who do not care about animal welfare or suffering at slaughter.
As global citizens concerned for the welfare of animals, we ask that the EU introduces an immediate ban on all live animal exports to third countries, including Turkey. Your inaction and continual excuses for non action are yet more reasons why the UK has a referendum to leave the EU in June 2016. Other nations such as the Netherlands will follow in a similar manner very soon. If you continue to disregard all the evidence that is presented to you of the suffering of animals in transport; the EU will eventually disintegrate; and the only people to blame are Commissioners such as yourselves who have been provided with the continual evidence of cruelty and suffering for years, and yet still constantly ignore it. You are not Commissioners, you are simply people that formally approve animal abuse and suffering and to support this, invent phrases about legislation to circumnavigate the reality of animal suffering!
The EU wants no animal suffering; not Commissioners such as yourselves who turn the other way when it happens !
Video Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udReHkAumrY&feature=youtu.be
Photo - Eyes on Animals / AWF.
