A Norwegian farmer has been jailed for 12 months after he was found guilty of leaving over 400 pigs to die of thirst and hunger.
Toensberg court in southern Norway, which gave the accused a 12-month term instead of the seven months the prosecutor demanded, found the farmer guilty of animal cruelty, saying it was incomprehensible in the court’s view that the farmer knew the condition the animals were in and yet failed to do anything to prevent the tragedy.
The court went on to state that in terms of the sheer number of pigs and the level of suffering they had to endure, it was thankfully the kind of animal tragedy that is extremely rare in Norway.
In February last year, food safety authorities travelled to the man’s farm to investigate an accusation of neglect. They found over 400 pigs had been left to die. Sixty more were close to death and were ultimately put down.
The farmer explained during the trial that he had found it difficult to run the business and was struggling to combine his responsibilities of the farm and of looking after a sick family member. He admitted he was aware the pigs were in a poor condition, but said he was too terrified to go to the pen and see their exact state.
His lawyer had hoped for an acquittal or a milder sentence.