Just over six months ago, Assignment Review was able to report that a handful of elected representatives within LRF had received injunctions in accordance with the Animal Welfare Act from the County Administrative Board or been convicted in the district court.  

Chairman Palle Borgström then went out and said that those who are elected to the trust within LRF should lead by example.

- We will now start work with a set of values ​​and have an internal discussion on how we ensure that those who are elected and represent Sweden's farmers are also a role model when it comes to good animal care.

Assignment review can now reveal that a total of 70 elected representatives within LRF have violated the Animal Welfare Act.

It shows a review of orders from county administrative boards and rulings on, for example, animal cruelty. 

17 have been banned from animals

Of the 70 elected representatives, 17 have also been banned from animals because they have neglected their animals so severely that they have been banned by the county administrative board from owning and caring for animals.

In addition, three of these have been convicted because, despite the animal ban, they still got or had animals.

- It is of course not acceptable, says Palle Borgström after having taken part in the review.

He says that LRF has 138,000 members around Sweden and that elected representatives are elected from below.

He also says that Sweden has good animal care and that there is a strong norm that you should take care of your animals every day, all year round.

- Those who can not do it, it is actually a great shame, which makes it difficult to admit it.

You may not talk about it, even if you are convicted, to friends and neighbors and others. 

Palle Borgström says that it makes it difficult for neighbors to see or suspect that it is on its way down to a neighbor

- So that I think it is part of the explanation, he says.

"Then you do not live up to that trust"

Among the 70 elected representatives, 15 of them are elected chairman or vice chairman of boards in various local groups.

Some have also been given special areas of responsibility, such as consumer manager on the board of a municipal group, school contact and animal care manager. 

Palle Borgström says that LRF has 12,000 elected representatives around Sweden and that the 70 who have violated the Animal Welfare Act make up half a percent of all elected representatives.

Where is the limit for when it starts to become a problem for you?  

- I think that if you are convicted of serious violations of the Animal Welfare Act then you do not live up to that trust.

There are some of these cases where you have not been convicted but you have received an injunction from the county administrative board.

Then I think that before making such a decision, you need to get a bigger picture of the animal husbandry on the farm than just this individual case.