Gianni AttardGianni Attard

A Gozitan farmer who is appealing a court decision to stop the slaughter of 220 unregistered sheep has insisted the authorities take criminal action against a government veterinary surgeon whom he claims committed perjury.

Shepherd Gianni Attard filed yet another judicial protest claiming vet Frank Galea swore false oath in a case where the farmer challenged a controversial decision by the veterinary department to cull his flock.

In November 2012, the authorities culled 216 of the sheep while Mr Attard was under arrest at the Victoria police station in connection with the registration issue of the animals. Mr Attard had filed an urgent case for an injunction in an attempt to stop the Department of Veterinary Services from slaughtering the animals. The culled sheep, estimated to cost in the region of €520,000, had been tested and none of them was sick.

But Magistrate Josette Demicoli ruled that the cull was justified to safeguard public health. She said the authorities’ decision was made within the parameters of the law because of an automatic suspicion that unregistered animals were ill.

Mr Attard appealed the ruling and also filed a judicial protest against the President, the Prime Minister, the Justice Minister, the Police Commissioner, the Parliamentary Secretary for Animal Rights, the Gozo Minister and the Attorney General.

In it he called for criminal action to be taken against Dr Galea over what he claimed were “inconsistencies” when he testified, under oath, during the sheep culling case.

In his reply, Dr Galea denied the perjury allegation, saying it was slanderous, criminal and disparaging.

Dr Galea said that, apart from the libellous comments, Mr Attard had sought to have him fired by accusing him of being a criminal.

Mr Attard said he had been pestering the authorities, including Dr Galea, to register his sheep since July 2010 and that they only needed to carry out two tests (tuberculosis and brucellosis) to ascertain that the sheep were not sick.

He called on the authorities to compare court transcripts of Dr Galea’s depositions and investigate him for perjury.

Lawyer Joshua Grech signed the protest.

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