Supported by the peasant Confederation, she had not complied with the injunctions of the health services.

Three months in prison suspended were required Monday by the Criminal Court of Pau against a breeder of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. She refused the preventive slaughter of her ducks against bird flu in April 2017.

Fines for a total of 8,000 euros were also required against Cathy Chabalgoity, manager of an operation in Barcus, while a fine of 10,000 euros was required against the agricultural trade union ELB (Euskal Laborarien Batasuna) - Confédération paysanne.

events

At the initiative of the union, 300 people gathered in front of the courthouse, including Laurent Pinatel, spokesman of the Confederation Paysanne, came to support the defendants and "the fight against the industrialization of agriculture" .

On the 14th and 21st of April 2017, 250 people gathered in front of the farmer's farm to block access to the sanitary services that were to carry out the preventive slaughter of the ducks. They thought the animals were "healthy" .

"Spectator of the situation"

Cathy Chabalgoity assured the court that she had "tried to find solutions with the services of the Departmental Directorate for the Protection of Populations" because she was "not in agreement with the systematic preventive slaughter measures" .

She stated that she had made her animals available to the DDPP agents, adding that the blockage was not her responsibility. "I was a spectator of the situation," she said at the helm.

A "public health issue" for the prosecutor

Director of Health Services Alain Mesplède said that she had "done nothing to unblock the situation" .

Panpi Sainte-Marie, general secretary of ELB, for its part claimed to be "responsible" for these blockages: "A union is there to defend the peasants," he said.

For the prosecutor Pau Cécile Gensac, "the issue of debate today is public health . " Arguing the "dangerousness of the virus" , she pointed to the "selfishness" of such actions, "we are talking about a topic with global repercussions" .

The defense lawyers pleaded the acquittal. Convictions would be "a pledge given to the agri-food industry that puts the weight on small farmers," said Anne-Marie Mendiboure.

Millions of birds slaughtered

To put an end to the bird flu epidemic in the South-West, the government had imposed in the spring of 2017 a "mandatory" crawl space in the farms of palmipeds of 1,134 communes in five departments. Millions of birds had been slaughtered.

The three farms, including Barcus, where the slaughter had been blocked, were then simply placed under "health surveillance" but the prefecture had seized the floor for "obstruction of a regulatory provision . "

The judgment was reserved on December 10th.