08/29/08 Who is Responsible for the Suffering of Cows?
Animal Friends will file charges for torturing pregnant cows
On Thursday, August 28, at 9:00 P.M., the cows were unloaded after 70 hours on truck, 30 of which were spent waiting at the border crossing. Being in state of advanced pregnancy and completely exhausted, they would have died on the truck had they spent another day at the border.
Members of Animal Friends accompanied the truck to the unloading point, but were not allowed to monitor or cover the unloading on video, probably because, owing to the exhaustion of the cows, the process included lots of blows and dragging on chains, which only increased the whole tragedy. A terrible fact is also that, after the rest that was long overdue, the cows continued on their way to Sarajevo.
Animal Friends and Association of Animal Friends "Dr. Ivan Rostas" will file criminal charges for animal abuse and demand that the incident should be thoroughly investigated. Since it is not an isolated case, we will also demand from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fishery, and Rural Development to make a statement about non-compliance to the Regulation on the Live Animals Transport, the lack of necessary facilities at border crossings, and the changes that should be introduced regarding the transit of animals through Croatian territory, which Animal Friends thinks should be banned altogether.
Live animals transport is among the cruellest practices in the process of breeding animals for commercial purposes, resulting in millions of suffering, wounded, and dead animals. The agony suffered by these animals during long hours of transport without food or water, on overcrowded trucks, is by itself a sufficient reason for banning this practice altogether. By changing to a meatless nutrition, each and every person can refuse to participate in this cruelty.
Animal Friends in Bosnia and Herzegovina will take similar steps in their country.