The fate of the rest of a Gozitan herd of sheep which were culled in November 2012 will be determined next month.

Magistrate Josette Demicoli must decide whether the culling should stop after yesterday hearing final submissions from lawyers representing the farmer and the Department of Veterinary Services.

The case was instituted against the department by farmer Gianni Attard in an attempt to stop it from slaughtering the rest of his sheep.

The 216 animals culled while Mr Attard was under arrest at Victoria police station cost more than €520,000 and tests afterwards revealed none of them were sick.

The rest, about another 220, are confined to their farm in Għarb and are under the surveillance of two police officers 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This has cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of euros.

There was an illegal commercial activity going on

Mr Attard’s lawyer, Joseph Mifsud, insisted that the culling of sheep simply because they had not been registered “did not make sense” and the practice, going back decades, had to stop.

Dr Mifsud said his client’s intention to observe the law was there as he had been telling the authorities since July 2010 to register the sheep and tag them.

The law, he said, did not give the department’s director the power to cull any animals, even on suspicion of sickness, as this fell squarely under the remit of the Director of Agriculture.

“When he ordered the culling, the Director of Veterinary Services was acting outside his powers. This a crucial point and the law is very clear, so the court should stop any more culling,” he said. But another lawyer representing the department, Victoria Buttigieg, said the sheep had been culled because there was no traceability of where they came from.

“It was done in the interest of public safety because we cannot allow what is produced by these sheep to enter the food chain,” she said.

Although the law refers to the Director of Agriculture for the culling of animals, this cannot be seen in isolation because the Public Administration Act says this fell under the remit of the Director of Veterinary Services, she added.

She denied any abuse of power, saying the law was clear on this: the farmer, the farm and the animals all have to be licensed and registered.

She also denied that Mr Attard did not have the opportunity to give his version, adding that it was when this explanation was not forthcoming that the decision to cull was taken.

“There was an illegal commercial activity going on and the department could not allow it to continue,” she said.

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