The Gozitan farmer trying to save his herd of sheep from the cull has claimed that another three farmers had their unregistered animals tested and tagged.

In a judicial protest filed before the Gozo Courts, Ġanni Attard asked why the authorities were resisting the idea of testing his sheep for illnesses and he again held them responsible for damages.

Mr Attard said that his sheep, just like the animals of the other farmers – whom he named as Eucharisto Grech, Michelangelo Zammit and Francis Buttigieg – deserved to be tested and tagged.

Mr Attard said the Department of Veterinary Services conducted an inspection on his farm on Tuesday.

The judicial protest was filed against the Director General for Veterinary Services, Marika Gatt, Parliamentary Secretary Roderick Galdes and ministry consultant George Carbone.

The shepherd has gone to the Constitutional Court in a bid to save his sheep. He failed to comply with a legal requirement to register the sheep, and an Appeals Court recently upheld a previous ruling delivered by a magistrate, paving the way for his 300 animals to be culled.

Before the Constitutional Court, Mr Attard is claiming a breach of his human rights when he was arrested and detained for no reason at the Victoria police station until the veterinary authority moved into his farm to cull 216 of his sheep.

Lawyer Joshua Grech signed the protest.

In a reply, the VPRD responsible for Veterinary Services said that Mr Attard’s claims that animals belonging to other farmers who faced a similar case were ‘tested and tagged’, are false.

As exhibited in the ministerial statement made in Parliament by Parliamentary Secretary Roderick Galdes and published by the Department of Information, all the farmers mentioned by Mr Attard were in fact taken to court.

"Their case is awaiting judgement. The Veterinary Services Department followed the established procedures in all cases in order to safeguard the public health from any diseases originating from lack of traceability."