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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Passengers on a high-speed train in Poland were taken by surprise when a sheep wearing a nappy began wandering through the carriages.
The incident occurred on a premium Pendolino train running between Kraków and Warsaw, the country’s two largest cities. Among those on board was a member of parliament, Mariusz Krystian, who published recordings of the animal on social media and criticised the transport of livestock on public trains.
PKP Intercity, Poland’s main long-distance train operator, allows the transport of “cats, dogs and other pets…provided they do not cause a nuisance to other travellers”.
However, the company’s rules indicate that pets should be kept in a carrier. The only animals mentioned that do not have to be in a carrier are larger dogs. The company’s policy does not explicitly mention farm animals.
Krystian told local news website Wadowice24.pl that he had contacted an expert in the field, who confirmed to him that this kind of journey can be traumatic to a sheep.
“A sheep is a herd animal. It suffers in solitude. Moreover, such conditions are extremely stressful for it,” said the MP.
Krystian later responded on Facebook to comments claiming that the animal “was taken care of”, publishing another video that showed the sheep bleating and appearing disoriented as passengers filmed the scene.
“It was scared and stressed. This is what ‘modern’ animal abuse looks like,” Krystian said in a follow-up post, adding that, despite wearing a nappy, the animal soiled the compartment.
The incident has drawn attention online, with social media users debating whether the passenger’s actions amounted to animal mistreatment or simply a misguided interpretation of PKP’s pet policy.
PKP Intercity has not commented on the incident. Earlier this year, the company celebrated transporting a record number of pets in the first half of 2025, with nearly 238,500 animals travelling on its trains.
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Mariusz Krystian/Facebook; Chris Olszewski/Wikimedia Commons (under CC BY-SA 4.0)
Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.
