Public activists demanded to understand the mass death of animals at agricultural enterprises

Problems at agricultural enterprises are increasingly leading to the death of animals. And this is really happening in nightmarish conditions.

In December, in the Malmyzhsky district of the Kirov region, hundreds of horses and cows became hostages of the situation. Due to bankruptcy, the owner of the Kalinino agricultural company left them to die a slow death. The regional Ministry of Agriculture confirmed that the animals (878 cows and 48 horses) are not provided with feed and water and are severely malnourished, while 120 have already died.

In January, the governor of the Kirov region intervened in the situation. His press service reported a "successful end to the story": a new buyer for the farm was found, the animals were saved. However, deputy Alexandra Karimullina, who wrote appeals to the prosecutor's office and the investigative committee on this issue, said that in fact the issue had not been resolved.

Alexandra Karimullina, deputy of the Vyatskopolyansky District Duma of the Kirov Region:

“After appeals to the prosecutor's office and the investigative committee, the governor intervened. But he was shown not the farm where we were, but before the visit, the animals, still alive, but no longer getting up, were taken to the field. The new owners did not take away all the animals, and so far no one has been punished for those who died. The situation in "Kalinino" did not arise in one day. Everyone knew about it - the district administration, deputies of the Legislative Assembly, the Ministry of Agriculture of the Kirov Region - but they pretended that nothing was happening. People living nearby wanted to help, but they were not allowed to feed or water the animals. The previous owners of the farm were interested in the death of all animals, because. dreamed of getting good money from insurance.

In February, it became known about the death of 1470 pigs on a farm in the village of Shelanger, Zvenigovsky district of the Republic of Mari El. They suffocated due to a technical malfunction of ventilation, the regional department of ROSSELKHOZNADZOR reported . In March, more than 600 cows died due to lack of feed in the Novosibirsk region. The animals were transferred through bankruptcy proceedings to the Pokrovskoye enterprise, the owners of which do not get in touch, they write in the media.

In Udmurtia, a manure conveyor broke down at the Zarechny agricultural cooperative, which was not repaired on time. The animals did not die, but ended up knee-deep in feces. Eyewitnesses reported that the cows were kept in terrible conditions for a long time and were severely malnourished.

Deputy Prime Minister of the Udmurt Republic Olga Abramova called it “animal abuse,” but admitted that the executive authorities are powerless in such situations:

“Due to the fact that this is a private business, we are not able to remove the animals and move them somewhere else. We say that this is bad, we invite supervisory authorities, but we can’t do anything else.”

Lawyers of the Voices for Animals organization sent statements on all incidents to the regional departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Rosselkhoznadzor with a demand to conduct checks under Art. 245 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (cruel treatment of animals) and for violations of veterinary and sanitary rules.

Dinara Ageeva, chairman of the public organization "Voices for Animals":

“Such stories happen regularly and very rarely lead to the prosecution of the perpetrators of animal cruelty. Not always such cases fall under Art. 245 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, and veterinary and sanitary standards are focused only on safety for humans. Animals in agriculture, especially in industrial plants, are already severely restricted and killed. But unnecessary suffering can be prevented. This requires a law that will protect them from the irresponsibility and arbitrariness of the owners and guarantee well-being throughout life. We are just working to ensure that such a law is adopted.”