A truckload of 300 Irish calves destined to be veal crashed in the Netherlands killing more than 100 of the animals.
The haulage lorry carrying them flipped over, after colliding with another vehicle on Thursday, on a stretch of road close to Hazeldonk, near the Dutch-Belgian border.
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The calves were being transported by Trevor Logan Transport from County Kilkenny, to Groningen, Netherlands.
Agriland reported Barry Logan, of the company, confirmed that around 108 calves had been killed.
He said: ‘We don’t know what happened yet. The lorry crashed and fell over on its side. I have spoken to the driver and he is okay.
‘They are our own calves; we bought them in the south. We transport over there every year. The calves were going to be reared for veal. Nothing like this has ever happened to us before.’
The road had to be closed for several hours as a veterinarian, a forester and other helpers tried to round up the surviving calves.
The accident shone a light on the controversial practice of transporting baby cows across Europe so they can be reared as veal.
Elsina Bayrach posted pictures of the aftermath of the crash on Facebook.
She said: ‘These calves came from Ireland. Meaning, not only were these babies stolen from their mothers but also had been many hours on the road already.’
Caroline Ironside on Facebook commented: This is horrific, they should not be transporting these babies from Ireland to Holland. Total cruelty! Disgusting!’
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