A sheep and its lamb (illustration).
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Peter MacDiarmid // SIPA
The gendarmes made a terrible discovery in Lozère.
More than a hundred sheep were found dead, deprived of water and food, abandoned by their breeder, in an isolated farm in Causse Méjean, we learned Monday evening from a judicial source.
The public prosecutor of Mende, Vincent Blériot, opened a judicial investigation for ill-treatment of animals, an offense punishable by one year of imprisonment.
According to the magistrate, however, it would not be willful abuse: the farmer, in his forties, was apparently "in great psychological suffering, alone, without much support", and it is because of these difficulties that he left his abandoned animals.
Sheep still alive
Installed on site for ten years, above the gorges of the Tarn, at a place called La Maxanne, the breeder would have left for at least a few days, hence the "state of decomposition" of several animals.
He is said to have found refuge with his family and was hospitalized.
According to the prosecutor, between 150 to 200 sheep were found in this way, locked in their sheepfold.
A few are said to be still alive, but in a very poor condition.
The veterinary services were alerted and dispatched to the site.
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