Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-12-16-Speech-4-026"
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"en.20041216.5.4-026"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, terrible things occur during the transport of animals. Animals suffer from human callousness and thoughtlessness, and improving their fate is a challenge to our humanity. It is not merely sensitivity to the harm done to animals that makes action necessary, but also the awareness that it is only a small step from cruelty to animals to cruelty to humans.
The regulation under discussion moves in the right direction. It introduces higher standards for the protection of animals in transport, although these standards are still inadequate, and it leads one to hope that animals will suffer less. As an MEP whose voters include Polish farmers, I am delighted at this. In Polish family-owned farms, which are mainly small, animals are treated with great affection, and even as individuals. It breaks farmers’ hearts when the animals they cared for are treated brutally after being sold.
The regulation we are discussing will bring progress, but it is not a solution to the problem. Legal regulations must be accompanied by effective implementation, which can be fraught with difficulty. Poland, for example, is a large transit country and it experiences problems with the transport of horses. Legal standards have been put in place, but the monitoring bodies, police and veterinary inspectors are often helpless when faced with the problem of what to do with illegal transports, carrying injured animals for instance. There is a need for a network of stopover points where transported animals could be provided with food and drink or given necessary veterinary care. In urgent cases, the animals could be put down at these points if necessary. The European Union should provide financial support for the setting up of such a network, and Poland at any rate requires such assistance.
Ladies and gentlemen, a genuine breakthrough in the transport of animals will only come about when long-distance transports are fully abolished. Animals should be slaughtered close to where they have been bred. Humanitarian considerations are not the sole reason for this. Sanitary considerations are also at issue. I would remind you that as shown by the recent report of the Court of Auditors, control is practically lost over animals transported abroad. Ladies and gentlemen..."@en1
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