Memmingen court imposes prison terms and ban on keeping animals

Created: 11/29/2022, 3:32 p.m

The verdicts in the trial against two dairy farmers from Bad Grönenbach were pronounced today.

The Memmingen district court sentenced the older defendant to two years in prison with a five-year suspended sentence, and his son was sentenced to two years and ten months in prison.

© Faith

Memmingen/Bad Grönenbach - Since September two farmers from Bad Grönenbach have been tried in the district court of Memmingen for violations of the Animal Welfare Act.

The verdict was announced today: Johann H. (68) was sentenced to two years in prison, his son Florian H. (25) to two years and ten months in prison.

The court suspended the older defendant's sentence for a period of five years.

He also has to donate 12,000 euros to the Engelshof and his probation includes a ban on keeping animals.

The court also imposed a five-year ban on keeping and caring for animals against the younger man.

In the justification for the verdict, the presiding judge in the district court, Christian Liebhart, addressed some of the numerous violations as examples.

It once again became very clear that the two accused had inflicted considerable pain over a long period of time on many of their cows and calves, which they kept in degrading conditions.

54 of them died.

If the defendants had recognized the suffering of the animals in good time and taken care of them immediately, ideally by calling in a veterinarian, the agony could have been significantly reduced.

Your behavior contradicts the right of a farmer to passionately practice his profession.

They had ignored the relevant requirements of the district office and had not lived up to their responsibility overall.

The court comprehensively assessed all incriminating and exculpatory factors and came to the terms of imprisonment mentioned at the beginning.

The large number of people listening to the verdict as well as the strong presence of the media testified to the great national significance of the so-called animal scandal trial.

However, this was only the first trial in the Allgäu animal scandal, which became known nationwide, and which started rolling in 2019 due to revelations by an animal welfare organization.

Two other large dairy farmers who are also based in Bad Grönenbach are affected by the revelations.

According to a court spokesman, the lawsuits against these farmers are likely to take place over the course of the next year.