Several ducks have died on a farm in Baden-Württemberg. Although many of them were seriously ill, the owner had not taken them to the vet. Now she’s expecting a fine.
Oberstenfeld – Anyone who does not help sick animals in need is liable to prosecution according to the Animal Welfare Act. Because she did not adequately care for her sick Peking ducks, a 57-year-old farm owner from Oberstenfeld (Baden-Württemberg *) had to answer to the court. As the Marbacher Zeitung reports, in March 2020 witnesses documented with photos how some dead ducks were lying around in the woman’s farm in the Ludwigsburg * district. The photos also showed a duck that had broken its left foot and was in very poor condition.
The public prosecutor’s office took action after the witness was given. Since the woman apparently did not take her sick ducks to the vet for weeks, the public prosecutor sentenced her to a fine of 50 daily rates of 30 euros each. Instead of accepting the sentence, the farm owner appealed. The case was therefore heard again before the district court in Marbach. But the defendant apparently showed no remorse.
Duck owner protests loudly in court – judge knows no mercy
“I feel discriminated against, as a foreigner they cause me particular trouble,” said the woman in the courtroom, according to the Marbacher Zeitung. While with this statement she probably wanted to distract from the facts, she also denied any guilt with regard to the violation of animal welfare. She tried to help the duck with its broken foot. However, she “always pecked at it with her beak”. She said of the dead ducks that they had frozen to death in a sudden cold snap. “That’s the way it is: the strong survive, the weaker don’t,” she argued.
Despite numerous attempts by the defendants to plead their innocence, the court showed no mercy. According to the Marbacher Zeitung , the public prosecutor found the judge’s final verdict on a fine to be “comparatively mild”. The defendant herself apparently did not feel that way and protested loudly. In the end, however, she withdrew her objection.
Defendants made themselves liable to prosecution – even if they did not actively torture ducks
By not helping her animals, the defendant made herself a criminal offense – even if she did not actively torture the ducks. Unfortunately, there are also cases of conscious cruelty to animals. A few months ago, animals were mutilated * and tortured to death in a game reserve in Trossingen. In Mannheim, a badly abused nutria recently had to be euthanized * after unknown perpetrators smashed her jaw and spine. * BW24 is an offer from Ippen.Media.
