Bielefeld (dpa / lnw) - The Bielefeld public prosecutor's office has brought charges against an agricultural helper and a farmer from the Minden-Lübbecke district for violating the Animal Welfare Act. There are 62 cases in which injured sows have not received veterinary care or have starved to death. The hearing is before the district court in Rahden on the state border with Lower Saxony, as the public prosecutor announced on Thursday.
In the period between November 2021 and March 2022, the farmer operated several pigsties in Stemwede and Preussisch Oldendorf. The 22-year-old helper is said to have been exclusively responsible for an operation. In December 2021, the district veterinarians removed 46 dead sows from the barn. The animals were extremely emaciated and partly skeletonized. The 36-year-old farmer is said to have left the care of the animals to his employees alone.
It was only when he became unable to work due to an accident that the 36-year-old was said to have been back in the stable himself. The animals were already dead and, as the subsequent autopsy revealed, starved. Other animals were in such poor health that some had to be killed on the spot. Checks in March 2022 at other sites did not paint a better picture. The veterinarians also found lame, emaciated and wounded pigs there.
Violations of the Animal Welfare Act can be punished with a fine or imprisonment of up to three years.
