Suche
Customs stops van with 70 animals – pigeon smuggling uncovered!
At Blumberg, customs stopped a Romanian transporter with 70 breeding pigeons from Switzerland that were being transported without documents.
Customs stops van with 70 animals – pigeon smuggling uncovered!
In a remarkable incident, the Singen main customs office stopped a Romanian van loaded with 70 breeding pigeons. The driver, a Romanian citizen, was stopped near Blumberg on the border with Switzerland and reported that he had loaded 53 pigeons from a Swiss breeder in Stühlingen with the aim of bringing them to Hamburg. In addition, he had invited 17 pigeons from Great Britain in France to be transported to Romania. The problem? Valid import documents could not be presented for any of the animals, as reported by schwaebische.de.
The driver was also unable to provide any proof of the value of the birds. He estimated their prices at a maximum of two euros per animal. But there is a huge price difference here: standard industry sales prices for breeding pigeons are between 100 and 300 euros. This gave rise to customs officials to initiate criminal tax proceedings and levy import duties of over 1,800 euros. Ultimately, the driver was unable to pay the taxes.
The next steps
Since there was no species-appropriate accommodation for the animals on site, the driver was given permission to transport the pigeons to Hamburg. However, there were strict conditions: Until the outstanding duties have been paid in full, the pigeons may not be sold or used for breeding programs or competitions. Customs is committed to monitoring compliance with these regulations. At the same time, the procedure was forwarded to the penalty and fines office of the main customs office in Karlsruhe, as detailed in bild.de. describes.
In Germany, the Animal Protection Act protects animals during transport. The customs administration is responsible for ensuring the regulations set out in Regulation (EC) No. 1/2005 and the Animal Welfare Transport Ordinance (TierSchTrV). These laws are intended to ensure that animals are protected from pain, suffering or harm during their transport. The requirements are high and customs authorities have the right to stop and inspect animal transport at any time. The transporter or importer of the animals is responsible for compliance with these regulations, as zoll.de states.
This customs action is an important signal for animal protection - and at the same time shows how carefully customs takes the cross-border transport of animals. You could say that this is an example that shows the importance of compliance not only to the driver, but also to everyone involved.