Staphorst · Cows
A cattle transport company for transport to Dutch slaughterhouses and for export. Claims not to engage in long-distance transport, but does transport breeding cattle for worldwide export.
In Staphorst, Ongehoord filmed the arrival and departure of cattle, including many lame animals, for 18 days. Stens Transport transports cattle daily for various livestock traders to virtually all slaughterhouses in the Netherlands. Stens states on its website that it "does not engage in long-distance transport." For animal welfare reasons, their trucks are on the road for a maximum of eight hours.
That Stens' concern for animal welfare should not be taken too seriously is evident from another of the company's "specializations." Commissioned by various livestock traders, Stens transports breeding cattle for export to other collectors, who do transport the animals over long distances. Breeding cattle are transported from the Netherlands worldwide, with the total journey time sometimes running into several days. Along the way, the animals are repeatedly loaded and unloaded at collection pens and checkpoints, meaning they experience the stressful conditions of being herded multiple times.
A cow that can no longer stand up. The cattle trader kicks her, yanks at her legs, and delivers more than forty electric shocks. When that has no effect, the cow, fully conscious, is dragged away with a shovel. Using hidden cameras, Ongehoord documented the loading and unloading of cows at five locations in the Netherlands. At these facilities, mother cows and their calves are kicked, beaten with sticks, or driven forward with electric shock devices.