Animal cruelty in St Veit district: Carinthia state issues directive for immediate prosecution
Two farmers from St Veit district were convicted of animal cruelty this year. Animal welfare officer Beate Prettner ordered proceedings to be continued without delay.
Carinthia acts: directive to St Veit district authority following animal cruelty convictions
The state of Carinthia has issued a formal directive to the St Veit district authority to continue ongoing administrative criminal proceedings for animal cruelty without delay. According to the Kleine Zeitung, the order comes from animal welfare commissioner and state councillor Beate Prettner (SPÖ): "The directive was issued immediately following the guilty verdict. Any further abuses that have come to light up to the present time are to be pursued."
The trigger is two convictions of farmers from the district this year. A horse keeper failed in his appeal before the Graz Court of Appeal – the verdict against him is therefore final. A second farmer, convicted in early November, has filed an appeal at Klagenfurt Regional Court; the Court of Appeal will deal with the case shortly. In both cases, the animals were severely malnourished, some in a life-threatening, so-called cachectic condition. In the second case, at least three animals died as a result of malnutrition.
Authority inspected – and failed to act
Both farms were repeatedly inspected by the St Veit district authority. However, despite obvious abuses, no administrative criminal proceedings were initiated under animal protection law. Instead, only so-called defect remediation orders were issued. An expert witness described this approach before court as "inexplicable" and emphasised that the scope of these orders would not have been sufficient to alleviate the animals' suffering anyway. Particularly serious is the finding that the assessments made by the St Veit district authority "stood in stark contradiction to the photographs available".
Transfer of an inconvenient state veterinarian
Insiders are convinced that the cases only came to light because a second state veterinarian was temporarily working at the St Veit district authority. In the concrete case, she also arranged for the animals to be removed. After some time, she was transferred. When testifying in court, she said in essence that this happened because she had become inconvenient.
As part of the directive now issued, the St Veit district authority must also consider animal removal. A statement from the district authority was not available by press time.
Source: Kleine Zeitung