Unloading a huge bull at the Vion slaughterhouse in Tilburg went horribly wrong a few years ago. The driver was surprised by the 1,200 kilo beast that suddenly ran after him and impaled him twice with its horns. The man died and on Thursday the transport company was fined 100,000 euros by the court in Den Bosch, of which 25,000 euros was conditional.
The court had nothing good to say about how the transport company handled the transport of bulls. It is generally known that bulls are extremely dangerous, but the company from Staphorst had no rules for this. Everything was done verbally over the telephone or over coffee, but nothing was written down on paper.
Driver Peter (37) from the transport company from Staphorst went to the Vion slaughterhouse on Enschotsestraat in Tilburg on June 10, 2022. 23 cows were unloaded without any problems and led into the slaughterhouse. Then it was time to unload a huge, horned Piedmontese bull weighing about 2,500 pounds.
Peter entered the wagon and opened the partition that separated the cows from the bull. Vion employees saw that the bull was faster than Peter and ran towards him and impaled him twice with his horns. Peter didn’t stand a chance against the power of this enormous animal and died.
The two directors of the family business, which has been transporting cattle for more than a hundred years, did not understand why Peter did not stand behind the bulkhead when opening the bulkhead. That partition is actually a large fence that is pushed to the side like a door, where employees must remain behind. But Peter stood in front of it, allowing the bull to grab him.
But the court dismissed that defense. Even behind that shot, Peter could have been crushed by the enormous force of such a bull. The risks had not been properly inventoried by the company and the sharing of risks had also not been properly arranged, the court noted, calling this ‘incomprehensible’ in the judgment.
The safety of the driver was not sufficiently guaranteed, the court saw. And so danger to life was to be expected, is the harsh judgment. The court calls the transport company ‘careless and negligent’. According to the judgment, the company ‘should have foreseen this and acted differently’.
During the hearing, Peter’s widow demanded that something be changed about the transport of such dangerous animals, so that the same thing does not happen to other families. After the accident, the transport company adjusted the trucks and created a safer space behind the bulkhead, but the widow does not think that is enough. According to her, more measures need to be taken. The public prosecutor advocated, among other things, a possibility to unload animals from outside.
The transport company now has to pay a 75,000 euro fine. If the company from Staphorst makes the mistake again in the next two years, the conditional fine of 25,000 euros must also be paid.
Here you can read all the stories from Omroep Brabant about crime and criminality.
