Countermand: Stop the culling of healthy cattle on farms where lumpy skin disease has appeared.
For now, the herds have been saved by a decree from the Council of State, which has frozen the TAR verdict according to which the mass culling of at-risk animals would be the only way to stem the spread of the disease .
The Administrative Court of Appeals ruled on the appeal filed by lawyers Gianmichele Canio and Raffaele Soddu on behalf of the owner of a livestock farm between Sarule and Orani: the presence of several infected animals had prompted the Nuoro Local Health Authority to order the culling of all the animals present, even the healthy ones. While the health authority's decision had stood up to scrutiny by the Regional Administrative Court (TAR), the situation has now been reversed.
"The enforcement of the contested provision, scheduled for immediate effect," therefore very soon, "affects the lives of animals, which are now expressly protected by the Constitution," and "among other things, is elevated to an independent legal right protected by law." Furthermore, "the prospect of possible financial compensation to the farmers cannot be considered to mitigate the damage to the animals' lives."
Furthermore, "the implementation of the contested provision would certainly result in harm to the lives of dozens of animals, with the consequent destruction of the corresponding constitutionally relevant legal asset."
Massive culling has therefore been halted, pending the ruling on the merits, expected in September.
