An Ardennes breeder was sentenced on Thursday March 25 to a suspended fine of 1,500 euros and the confiscation of his herd, after the seizure of dozens of undernourished or dead cattle on his farm, the defense emphasizing the "
distress
" of a farmer exceeded.
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The Charleville-Mézières correctional court condemned the forty-year-old breeder for "
possession of corpses
" and "
failure to report the loss
" of identification tags (markers affixed to the ears allowing the traceability of the animals, note), but however released him on the count of “
ill-treatment
” for which he was prosecuted, the court noting the lack of intentionality.
On March 8, the veterinary services had discovered, in its farm in Mouzon, 13 animal corpses, some of which had been decomposing for several months, 176 undernourished cows and 21 animals devoid of identification tags and needing to be euthanized.
The farmer, in great difficulty, had been followed by the State services since 2016 and had already received two formal notices.
"
I have never seen so many animals with such a reduced body mass (...) 94% were in poor condition
" testified at the bar an inspector.
"There is a whole context"
The deputy prosecutor Alban Gesbert spoke to him of "
dying animals
", which "
waded in their excrement
" in "
places cluttered with scrap metal
".
"
There is a whole context
", defended the breeder, highlighting the serious difficulties of the beef industry and in particular the accumulation, since 2016, of periods of drought which have reduced the production of fodder.
He also mentioned "
big
family
problems
": the suicide of his father in 1998 and then of his sister in 2016. Some days, "
it affects the ability to work,
" he explained, his eyes cloudy with tears.
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“
He took care of the herd alone (...) His day is work, work.
He did what he could,
”pleaded his lawyer, Me Quentin Mayolet.
"
There is a real questioning (...) I would like to continue breeding but with fewer animals
", whispered the breeder, asking for the return of his "
old cows
" and telling how some calves "
fed bottle
"followed him"
like a dog
".
"To
remove his herd, it is to remove all the work carried out for 17 years (...) It is to withdraw the assets of his exploitation
" pleaded his lawyer.
"
The victims are the animals, not
" the defendant, protested Me Olivia Symniacos, lawyer of the Work of Aid to the Beasts of Slaughterhouse (OABA), brought civil party.
The association was finally entrusted with the management of the seized herd.
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