clashes between farmers and police

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Equipped with shields and tear gas bombs, dozens of gendarmes attempt to invade this Doubs farm. Facing them, several hundred farmers and neighbors came to prevent the slaughter of a herd. Quickly, the face-to-face situation escalates. The demonstrators are dispersed, kept at a distance by the 175 mobilized gendarmes. The police managed to enter the premises under the disillusioned gaze of the owners. This morning, these demonstrators gathered in support of this cattle farm where a case of lumpy skin disease was detected. The 82 cows, although vaccinated against the disease, must be slaughtered.“It’s a lifetime’s work, in fact. This is my husband’s job. It’s the lives of my husband and my four children that are being ruined. I can’t stand by and do nothing“, deplores Céline Lhomme, wife of the operator.

Upon their arrival, the veterinary services are greeted by jets of cow dung. Insufficient to prevent the euthanasia of animals. A radical measure to fight against lumpy skin disease, a very contagious bovine disease which continues to gain ground in France. For the prefecture, the slaughter of this herd was inevitable. “There, we have an animal which, 36 days after the vaccine, developed symptoms of the disease. And there is no doubt about it, he is indeed a carrier of the disease“, declares Bruno Vincent, departmental director of employment, solidarity, work and population protection at the Doubs prefecture. Since the outbreak began in June, more than 2,700 animals have been euthanized. For each animal lost, farmers are compensated and the missing income compensated by the State.