Farmer assaults Bulgarian Food Safety Agency inspector during pig euthanasia
A pig farmer was arrested after assaulting a Bulgarian Food Safety Agency inspector who was part of a team who came to euthanise his pigs, which were found to have been concealed illegally, according to statements by the agency and police in Bourgas.
The food safety agency team euthanised 99 pigs in Strolata in the Aheloy area after a tip-off about pigs being kept illegally.
The pigs, which had no ear tags and were of unknown origin, were owned by six farmers, the agency said.
The owners were fined and the agency, in co-operation with police and prosecutors, began euthanising the pigs.
The regional directorate of the Interior Ministry in Bourgas said that during the operation, a 36-year-old farmer began hitting a 44-year-old agency employee with a stick. The farmer was taken into 24-hour custody and pre-trial proceedings have been initiated.
In the second half of 2019, many thousands of pigs at industrial and “back yard” farms in Bulgaria have been culled as a response to the outbreaks of African Swine Fever in the country.
Bulgarian authorities have insisted that given that there is no vaccine for African Swine Fever, the only method of combating the disease is killing pigs in areas where there have been outbreaks.
(Photo: Juan Carlos Garavito)
