After investigating the reports of serious animal cruelty at Finnish farms, the police have decided to hand three cases to the prosecutor for consideration of charges. The prosecutor will decide within a few days whether or not the owners of the three pig farms will have to face charges over violation of the animal welfare legislation.
The investigations were launched last November after the Oikeutta Eläimille (”Justice for Animals”) organisation had released photographs and videos taken at 101 Finnish pig and chicken farms indicating widespread mistreatment of animals.
Some of the videos were televised on a current affairs programme of the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE at the end of November.
The material collected by the activists was very persuasive. Pig pens and chicken cages were dirty, and many of the animals appeared to be tired and sick. Injured and even dead animals could be seen in some of the videos.
One of the farms that was inspected got off with a warning as the offence detected at the farm was regarded as mild.
At four farms the police noted that there were no signs of crime or that the suspicions were minor and there was no reason to continue the investigations.
When conducting its own investigations, the Finnish Food Safety Authority (EVIRA) discovered some offences at one in four farms.
Detective Inspector Ari-Pekka Lehtinen reports that not a single one of the farms mistreated the animals deliberately. Even at the three pig farms, suspected offences were related to several minor failures.
According to the Oikeutta Eläimille organisation, the decision proves that the mistreatment of pigs and chickens is not illegal in Finland.
”This is exactly what we wanted to bring out in the first place”, says Sari Komulainen from the organisation.
At the same time, 54 owners of farms mainly from Western Finland have filed a report of an offence to the police in order to find out whether or not the organisation broke the law while intruding into the buildings to take photographs and videos of the allegedly mistreated animals.
