Discussion

Aims: Animal transport; horse transport; official controls; statistics; animal welfare. Methods: In the Austrian province of Carinthia all veterinary officers are nominated as inspectors of animal transports. They do the preloading animal health examinations according to the legislation concerning intra- Community trade in animals and monitor the loading itself. Apart from this, the author, a veterinary practitioner, is appointed as an animal transport inspector ('official vet') in Carinthia, doing nondiscriminatory controls during transport according to art. 27 (1) of Regulation (EC) 1/2005 (Anon 2004). The inspections are carried out as a sample survey on streets of all categories with the focus on highways. All vehicles looking like animal transporters are checked, making no difference in local or international routes and no difference in loaded or unloaded vehicles. In this way nondicriminatory checks are done and the 'Tiertransportgesetz 2007' (Anon 2007), the Austrian law implementing the Regulation, and the Austrian law concerning epidemic diseases are enforced. Results: Major European routes of animal transportation cross Carinthia, the southernmost province of Austria. Within the period of 13 years of animal transport controls (1998 - 2011) a big variety of shortcomings was found, which led to inquiring physical measures, for instance drinking, bedding or unloading, and imposing legal measures including warnings, fines and reports. The majority of animals transported in connection with an economic activity were livestock, pigs, poultry and fish (trout), only one in 20 - 30 was a transport of horses. When horses designated for slaughter were transported nearly none of the consignments was in full compliance with the provisions of the Regulation. Several examples of such infringements are shown in the presentation. The situation of live animal transports through Austria dramatically changed when Art. 15 and 27 of the Regulation (EC) 1/2005 was implemented in Austria (Web-link 1). Nowadays all 9 provinces carry out checks of transports at the places of dispatch and destination and, most important, during the forwarding, in order to verify or falsify their compliance with this Regulation. Whereas an average of more than 60% noncompliance was found in Carinthia from 1998 to 2007 (Rabitsch 2002, 2003, 2005a,b, 2007a,b) the amount of shortcomings in inspections on the roads in the whole of Austria was 17% in 2008, 14% in 2009 and 15% in 2010 (Web-links 2,
3 and 4), respectively. Nowadays especially long distance transports passing Austria still compromise animal welfare. But the number of transports through Austria has significantly declined, too. Discussion: Despite all punishments of infringements and despite notifying the competent authorities of dispatch, the amount of shortcomings could not be reduced by controls on a provincial level. Only the joint federal efforts of nationwide inspections led to a considerable reduction of complaints. But another and not surprising outcome occurred, initiated by these stringent inspections: we see also a significant reduction in long distance transports trespassing through Austria. The author states that a multitude of consignments originating from the new north-eastern member states of the European Union and destined for Italy deviate around Austria, thus not respecting the provisions of Art 3 (a) of the Regulation (EC) 1/2005, which stipulates that 'all necessary arrangements have been made in advance to minimise the length of the journey'. These detours are performed on worse streets and last longer than through Austria (Rabitsch 2010). There is plenty of evidence for this assertion, because many of these means of transport can be seen on Austrian highways on their way back, empty and unloaded. Sometimes trucks and semitrailers for slaughter horses are amongst them, mostly with inadequate partitions and insufficient technical drinking facilities, but still approved. Whereas these defective means of transport are still approved, the author asks the Commission to enforce a unique interpretation of the present transport law by all competent authorities throughout Europe, thus re-evaluating and withdrawing existing approvals, and preventing transporters from detours. Moreover, the long promised reduction of loading densities has to be transposed. For the sake of the animals, the 3 principle, nowadays in force in animal testing, should be implemented in live animal transports, including Refinement (EFSA), Reduction (balanced self-sufficiency in meat, decentralised abattoirs) and Replacement (products instead of animals). Conclusions: Though a significant reduction of complaints in cross-border live animal transports can be seen in Austria, this factum shown in its true colours is according to a reduction in the number of transports on the one hand. But second, there is a significant and alarming detouring of Austria, owned to its strict controls. As long as no unique enforcement is implemented within the European Union there will be attempts to circumvent laws, thus using unsuitable means of transport and deviations, which can be detrimental to animal welfare.