Cattle heads sold without controls and veterinary drugs: seizures in the Catania area

Last Updated: November 29, 2023

Several abusive livestock farms located in various areas of the Etna foothills have been discovered and seized by the Carabinieri of Nas in Catania as part of checks on farms and the meat supply chain, intensified as the Christmas holidays approach. The first seizure was made as part of services for the prevention of African swine fever following a check on a farm where there was an unauthorized pig farm. The animals were placed under health constraint by the Asp because they had never been subjected to any health prophylaxis, nor were they registered in the prescribed databases, and were therefore considered potentially infected. Another illegal pig farm was discovered within a regularly authorized livestock company. In this case, unidentified pigs were seized, whose health status was completely unknown and therefore considered potentially infected. Another seizure was made against a sheep farmer who had illegally moved hundreds of sheep and lambs from their farm and confined them in an abandoned rural building on someone else’s farm, probably to evade checks. The animals are considered potentially infected because they have never been subjected to any health prophylaxis. During checks in a private veterinary clinic, an underground sale of pharmaceutical specialties for veterinary use for livestock was discovered.