In 2018, inspections of 382 commercial animal transports and about 830 000 animals were undertaken. Of the inspected animals 97 % were poultry. Most of the inspections were carried out by official veterinarians in conjunction with the unloading of the animals at the abattoirs. Regional and municipal veterinary officers inspected transports on the road and at the point of departure and other places of destination, for example.
Most of the inspections were targeted at cattle, poultry and pig transports. A total of 25 transports lasting over eight hours were inspected. Non-compliances with the animal transport regulations were observed in 23 animal transports, which is about 6 % of the inspected transports. The number of non-compliances had dropped further compared to the previous year (7 % in 2017). There were 32 separate non-compliances in total, as several breaches were observed during the same inspection of some of the transports.
The nature of the breaches have remained the same
The breaches were mainly the same as in previous years, even if the share of inadequate documentation had decreased compared to previous years. Most of the individual breaches were related to the requirements for transport documentation, the driver’s certificate of competence and transporter authorisation (16 breaches, which is 50 % of all the breaches observed). The second most common non-compliances were related to the condition and safety of the vehicle and adherence to the additional requirements for long-distance transports (10 in total). The third most common deficiencies were related to transport practices and space requirements for the animals (5 in total). In one turkey transport a bird that was unfit for travel was discovered.
Cattle transports underwent a total of 96 inspections, and 6 of these were transports of animals being transferred to another farm. As to cattle transports, breaches related to documentation, drinking equipment for the animals, separation of the animals and additional requirements for long transports were noted amongst other things.
Poultry transports underwent 127 inspections, and one of these involved inadequate documentation and another carried an animal unfit for transport.
Pig transports underwent a total of 121 inspections, and non-compliances were noted in five of these. Inadequate documentation was noted in two cases. In the other cases the condition of the vehicle or the requirements for space were not fulfilled.
Horse transports underwent a total of 18 inspections, and non-compliances were noted in three of these. All of the three breaches were due to missing authorisation, certificate of competence or transport documents.
Reindeer transports underwent 15 inspections, and breaches were noted in three of these. The vehicle did not have the required signage indicating animal transport, the operator did not have authorisation or the ramp of the transport vehicle was unsafe.
Sheep transports underwent a total of 8 inspections, and no breaches were noted.