Contributed by Alina Lilova

Countless farm animals are subjected to long journeys across countries and even continents. To them, this is no small matter but a very unpleasant and sometimes even painful experience. The physiological evidence for this is plentiful. Stress hormones like cortisol rise steeply in sheep during transport, and ewes may skip or delay their estrus (heat) cycle. The immune systems of pigs become weaker. Chickens may overheat and die, even on cold days. Many animals also suffer injuries from bumping into each other and falling on the ground, and from poor handling when they are loaded or unloaded from the vehicles. Just the vibration and noise of a lorry can feel uncomfortable and scary to the animal, especially if he has been raised in a barren environment with little chance to explore new things. In fact, pigs who were placed in a transport simulator and shown how to turn it off quickly learnt to press the switch panel, choosing to keep the apparatus off most of the time.

As long as physical injuries and deaths are kept to a low percentage (and “low” is defined by purely economic considerations), the industry has little interest in shortening journey lengths or improving standards, and laws are often inadequate even in the EU – hence the large amount of undercover investigations, campaigns and petitions against long-distance transport.

At times the industry may argue that what seems to be a cruel practice is actually better for the animals. For example, currently in the European Union adult sheep may be transported for up to 14 hours, then given a single hour for rest, water and perhaps food, then travel for another 14 hours straight. During that time, they are usually packed like sardines in a box, with only a third of a square metre per sheep. Imagine travelling for 28 hours squeezed inside a dark, crowded bus and having no idea of what’s going to happen to you. It must be worse than being stranded in an airport because a volcano erupted in Iceland – and yet it’s daily reality for millions of animals. Nevertheless, some will have you believe that the crowding is necessary to keep the sheep from falling and hurting themselves on rough roads.

A group of scientists challenged this view in a recently published experiment. They put sheep in a double-decker livestock lorry and had a commercial driver give them a 6-hour ride along a variety of roads (from motorways to minor country roads). The sheep – ewes and lambs – were grouped into five categories with different space allowances, from the minimum set out by the European Regulation, to more than 1 sq. m per animal. Sheep with their fleece on had more room than shorn sheep. Cameras captured the movement of the animals and sent live video to the scientists.

Sheep packed in lorry according to the European minimum - which is often what the industry uses. Photo: CCTV by Jones et al.

The sheep who had more space tended to lose balance, slip and fall far less than the sheep who were tightly packed. The effect was particularly pronounced when the road was bad. Like people, sheep sought to maintain balance not by pressing onto their companions, but simply by spreading their legs or taking small steps back and forth so the inertia doesn’t rock them off their feet. No matter how social sheep are and how much they like to flock together, a crowded lorry would not be their idea of time well spent. Furthermore, the sheep were much more likely to be trampled by their neighbours when they had little space, and in one case it took a sheep over an hour to stand again after being forced to the floor. Also, after four hours of travel, many of the sheep got obviously very tired and wanted to lie down – but those ‘enjoying’ “the European minimum” didn’t have much opportunity for such rest.

If you would like to do something for the sheep and other species that commonly endure long journeys in awful conditions, check out NGO’s like Compassion in World Farming and Animals’ Angels.

Sources:

Appleby, M. and Hughes, B., eds. Animal Welfare. CABI Publishing, 2007.

Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 of 22 December 2004 on the protection of animals during transport and related operations and amending Directives 64/432/EEC and 93/119/EC and Regulation (EC) No 1255/97, http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/oj/2005/l_003/l_00320050105en00010044.pdf

Jones, T., Waitt, C. and Dawkins, M. “Sheep lose balance, slip and fall less when loosely packed in transit where they stand close to but not touching their neighbours.” Applied Animal Behaviour Science 123 (2010) 16-23.