25. September 2019

Poland | Voivodship Swietokrzyskie | Monthly Report September: Farm Animal Service

Brody. An abscess was the reason for the lameness. We disinfect the wound and protect it with a special dressing.

Niedospielin. We are unable to help this limping mare. The injury needs to be treated by a veterinarian.

Lesna Stara Wies. We are inspecting a problematic farm together with the veterinary inspection.

Grabkow. We sign a new contract with the owner who decided to join our FAS programme.

First, our Farm Animal Service (FAS) team is called to a limping mare in Brody. During trimming we find an abscess in the hoof. It looks serious. We disinfect the abscess and put a special dressing on to protect the wound. Afterwards, the owner shows us that he has started to modernise the paddock for his horses. During our next visit, we are treating another limping animal. The owner of the farm in Niedospielin has recently bought a mare with a foal. The mare is limping since she has been transported. We notice a bump on the pastern bone. Unfortunately, we are not able to help this time. We advise the owner to contact a good veterinarian.

Later, our team is visiting a farm in Zlotniki. The owner is not at home, but we are talking to his relative who lives next door. He is complaining about the way his neighbour is providing his animals with food and water. We are also concerned about the dog who is locked away in the barn again. We notice that the doghouse that our team has delivered a while ago is not in use. We are planning to come back very soon to speak the owner about these issues and we will inform him about the consequences if he is not willing to change his behaviour.  

Next, we are going to a farm in Grabkow. The owner on this farm decided to join to our FAS programme. Our programme is aiming to improve the living conditions of farm animals in Poland. The owner of this new farm is keeping dairy cows of which two of them need trimming. The farm is generally in a good condition: the dogs are running around freely, and the cows are outside on the pasture. However, we notice a few things that should be improved before our next visit. The stable needs cleaning, the walls inside should be whitened and the mess on the yard should be removed as well.

On our last visit for this month, we are accompanying the veterinary inspector who is controlling the farm in Lesna Stara Wies. Two years ago, 15 cattle and one mare were confiscated from this farm due to serious neglection. The owner did not feed the animals properly and was not cooperative at all. The cattle were moved to another farm and the mare is still in our care. The case was sent to court. The sentence has been conditionally suspended for two years due mental problems of defendant. Today, we want to see if the conditions of the suspension are met. During the inspection together with the veterinary authorities, we notice three cows standing in a dark stable full of manure. One young cow does not have an ear tag.  The others turn out not to be registered. The animals are not emaciated but they are kept in an unacceptable condition. The veterinary inspector is going to inform the court and prosecutor about the findings. The case may be resumed.

Our team visited twelve farms in total this month - A couple of them severally. They trimmed the hooves of six horses and two cows. One additional farm joined to our FAS programme.