Farm manager and vet convicted of brutally killing 200 pigs in Poland

The Supreme Court of Poland has handed down suspended prison sentences to the manager of a pig farm and a veterinarian who brutally killed 200 pigs. Both were also banned from working on livestock farms and from breeding any animals.

The court ruling states that the two farm workers used a pharmacological preparation intended for euthanising dogs and cats to stun the pigs at doses lower than recommended“. In some animals, only a small dose of the anaesthetic was administered.

The convicts killed the animals simply by hitting them on the head with a hammer.

Interestingly, the farm manager and the vet were found guilty by a court in Szczecin last year, but were acquitted by a regional court.

The Prosecutor General appealed the decision and the Polish Supreme Court issued a final ruling.