The Animal Rights organisation is calling for a ban on livestock transport on days with high temperatures.
Under European rules, such transports may not take place at maximum temperatures of 30 degrees or more, with a tolerance of five degrees. In Flanders, the limit is 35 degrees. Animal Rights wants the Flemish authorities to set a ceiling of at least 30 degrees.
On Monday and Tuesday, when the mercury rose to well over 30 degrees throughout the country, Animal Rights footage showed pigs still being transported to the slaughterhouse at such highs. "Putting animals in transport vehicles in this unbearable heat is real torture," commented Animal Rights campaign coordinator Els Van Campenhout.
The animal rights organisation is thus calling for at least a ban on livestock transport on days when temperatures rise above 30 degrees. It would be even better, it says, to take the maximum temperatures for heat stress into account, even if they differ from one animal species to the next.
The current Flemish heat protocol states that animals may not be transported between 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM if temperatures rise above 35 degrees. In such circumstances, the number of animals transported must be reduced by 10% and an appropriate climate provided in holding stalls.
