Stop the Forbidden Journeys
After years of standing on barren floors, this cow finds it difficult to stand and walk
Downer cows
Downer cows are illegally transported to slaughter across Europe. Too sick or infertile to produce milk, these dairy cows enter the food chain as low-grade beef.
Ill or injured animals slaughtered for food is a widespread problem across Europe, despite EU legislation.
EU law states that if an animal is 'unable to move independently without pain or to walk unassisted' it is unfit for transport.
The Forbidden Journeys petition has come to an end
5,231 people signed the petition asking Commissioner Androula Vassiliou to press the EU Member States to properly enforce the law that prohibits the transport of unfit animals.
We have forwarded all the petitions and will let you know the outcome as soon as we can.
Thank you to all of you who have assisted our urgent work so far by supporting our appeal.
A digger pushes this cow – too lame to walk or too exhausted to get up – into the abbatoir
About these photos
These shocking still images from Forbidden Journeys – an undercover film by Compassion in World Farming, Animals' Angels and Eurogroup for Animals – reveal that EU policies are being ignored.
Downers in the news
Slaughter of sick and injured animals threatens US and Europe's food chains:
Watch the video
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We receive no government funding so relyentirely on the generosity of our supporters to prevent cruelty to farmanimals all over the world.