Three livestock traders in the Netherlands have been convicted after undercover footage showed the abuse of a sick cow at a cow collection center in Oud-Alblas.
The court in Rotterdam gave the men community service sentences of 120 to 150 hours and one-month suspended prison sentences. They will only go to prison if they reoffend within two years. A fourth suspect was acquitted.
The case is directly linked to footage released in December 2025 by the Dutch investigation group Ongehoord. The group documented violence against cows and calves in several collection centers across the country.
Collection centres are facilities where animals from different farms are brought together before being transported to breeding farms, fattening operations, or slaughterhouses.
At the Oud-Alblas location, images showed a cow who could no longer stand. The animal received dozens of electric shocks and was later dragged outside by her back legs using a vehicle. According to investigators, the cow had been left overnight in severe distress.
The footage was part of a wider investigation carried out between April and November 2025 at five cow collection centers in the Netherlands. The videos showed animals being hit, pushed with electric prods and dragged while still conscious.
At the time, the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) called the images “deeply shocking”.
Animal groups say the case is not an isolated incident, but part of a wider system. Cows in the dairy industry are repeatedly made pregnant for milk production. Many are killed when their bodies are exhausted.
Weak or sick animals are not allowed to be transported under EU rules, but the video showed that it still happens.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: theanimalreader.com
