A vet who carried out an inspection at a farm in Għarb admitted in court he was impressed with the quantity of unregistered sheep he saw that day.

Duncan Chetcuti Ganado said that as he approached the farm he saw “a carpet of sheep” which he then realised were all unregistered.

The owner, Gianni Attard, was not registered on the system as a producer either.

Dr Chetcuti Ganado was testifying in a case which Mr Attard, a Gozitan farmer, instituted against the Veterinary Services Department in an attempt to stop it from culling his sheep.

The court had ordered the department to halt the slaughter in November last year but only after 217 of more than 400 sheep had been put down. Those still alive are now confined to their farm under the surveillance of two police officers, 24 hours a day. This round-the-clock security has cost taxpayers thousands of euros.

Mr Attard was recently fined almost €1.7 million for failing to register them but has appealed.

He told the court in a previous sitting that the culled sheep, most of which were pregnant and in their prime, were worth up to €520,000.

The court had heard that none of the culled sheep were actually sick, according to the results of samples taken.

Mr Attard is claiming he had been telling the authorities since July 2010 to register the sheep and tag them.

I had never seen so many unregistered sheep all at once and on one site

Dr Chetcuti Ganado said he carried out an inspection on another farm close to the San Dimitri chapel on November 2 last year where everything was in order and all the animals were registered.

On his way out, he saw sheep in another farm, 200 metres away.

When he went on site, he realised the animals had no ear tags and so he informed Mr Attard about it. Mr Attard told him: “I know.”

Dr Chetcuti Ganado said he called his superiors and following a search in the department’s database it was discovered that the sheep, Mr Attard and the site itself were not registered.

The department could not form a team to start the culling immediately, so the exercise was postponed and the culling was carried out the following day.

“I was impressed because I’d never seen so many unregistered sheep all at once and on one site,” he told Magistrate Josette Demicoli.

He said all livestock, irrespective of the age, had to be tagged before being transferred from one farm to another and this for traceability purposes.

Mr Attard had explained in court that he had informed former Gozo Minister Giovanna Debono about the sheep and she had told him to register them. She had also helped him get planning permits for his farm. He said he informed the department but no one ever went to tag his sheep.

Testifying yesterday, Ms Debono said Mr Attard had called her while his sheep were being culled but she knew nothing about it. That was the first time she had heard of the sheep, she said.

Mr Attard had also said he had met former Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino and complained about the long time it was taking the department to tag his sheep.

Mr Attard’s lawyer, Joseph Mifsud, said he was considering asking the court to appoint an expert to test the remaining sheep to find out whether they were sick.

The case was put off to January when the department is expected to produce all its witnesses. Lawyer Kevin Mompalao also appeared for Mr Attard.

Lawyer Victoria Buttigieg appeared for the Director of Veterinary Services.

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