Dutch food safety board NVWA has pledged to take action against duck breeders who mistreat the birds by throwing them into crates, following the publication of new footage showing the practice is still widespread.

Six years ago duck breeders pledged to improve their treatment of the birds which are packed up in crates by specialist crews and taken for slaughter following an  investigation by campaign group Animal Rights.

Undercover images at the time showed the poultry workers throwing the birds into the crates and several were fined €1,500. But new footage of ducks being loaded into lorries by Animal Rights, taking using drones, shows the practice continues. “Throwing ducks appears standard,” spokesman Erwin Vermeulen told broadcaster RTL.

NVWA spokesman Bjorn Elsebrock told RTL that inspectors had regularly visited duck farms to check up on their working practices. “This is not what we see,” Elsebrock said. “So it would seem things go very wrong when the inspectors are not around.”

However, according to Animal Rights, the NVWA has paid just six visits to duck farms since the 2018 report and the last of those was in 2019. “This new footage shows that NVWA policy is ineffective and that the fines and warnings have not led to a change in behaviour,” Vermeulen said.

Farms that are abusing their birds, he said, should have their licences to operate withdrawn.