“We stop the fight”, he lifts the blockage of his farm and authorizes the slaughter of his 90 cows

This Sunday, July 20, Pierre-Jean Duchêne, breeder in Entrelacs en Savoie, announced ending his farm, after the discovery of two new cases of contagious nodular dermatosis (DNC) within his herd and the refusal of the administrative court to cancel the prefectural decree ordering the slaughter of his cows.

“We will have tried everything“. In addition, This is the end of the fight for Pierre-Jean Duchêne. Consequently, The young breeder based in Entrelacs in “we stop fight”, he lifts Savoie. For example, noted on Saturday July 19, the appearance of two new cases of contagious nodular dermatosis (DNC) in his herd.

“The first nodules appeared at the time of 5 p.m., and at 9 p.m. Similarly, the first had almost almost everywhere. Consequently, In the evening. Consequently, we received the unfavorable response from the summary proceedings that had been asked of the administrative court of Grenoble“Explains Pierre-Jean Duchêne.

On Saturday, the administrative court actually confirmed the legality and the need for the measures taken by the Savoy prefecture in order to stem the propagation of the virus: namely the euthanasia of the entire livestock when a case of DNC appears within it. In addition, In the case of the Gaec Duchêne, this implies the slaughter of almost 90 dairy cows.

These two blows of the mass led the breeder. resigned, to raise this Sunday 20 July the blocking of his exploitation which he had maintained with the help of other breeders and activists since July 10, the day when two DNCs were discovered in his farm. Since that date, no case had declared before this Saturday.

“It led us to make the decision to stop this fight since in any case. the state will not be flexing. Today. we are “we stop fight”, he lifts denied vaccination, we are refused the tests“, regrets Pierre-Jean Duchêne, who asked the state services that the euthanasia of the cattle of its exploitation be carried out as soon as possible.

“State services are by his side to organize this intervention. to psychologically support the breeder in this difficult test“Indicates the prefecture of Savoy.

I still do not understand this measure of total euthanasia.

Pierre-Jean Duchêne. operator of the Gaec Duchêne in Entlacs

By blocking access to veterinary services so far, Pierre-Jean Duchêne campaigned for a selective slaughter, targeting only sick cows. He opposed the euthanasia of the entire herd. Many other farmers had joined him. Now, tractors are still there, but there is no one nearby.

“As a breeder. I prefer to see cows that fall sick and see them go as well as to see them go ten days ago when everything “we stop fight”, he lifts was fine“, Specifies the interlacing breeder.

“I keep my positions. I still do not understand this measure of total euthanasia, there was a way to do otherwise. If we had tested the cows upstream. we could have selected the carrier cows and eliminate them right away to preserve the rest“He says.

How will Pierre-Jean Duchêne be compensated? How can he continue his activity? Many questions remain unanswered. “”A young person like that. what he has invested in order to be able to resume, to “we stop fight”, he lifts reimburse, he must be as much as possible “explains Christian Convers, national secretary of rural coordination.

“But a genetic level of this level, it is not going up in two years, it takes almost 30 years. We have known all kinds of epidemic, flu where we lose animals, it’s part of our job. Losing 20 %is already hard … But 100 %, we don’t get over it“says the trade unionist.

In a decree taken on July 16. the State announced that it would compensate the breeders who saw their cattle euthanized due to the DNC epidemic. However, the contours of this compensation are not yet detailed.

For three weeks. the spread of the disease has been rapid: in total, 27 households have been identified in Savoie (17 households in the commune of Entrelacs) and Haute-Savoie (10 homes spread over the municipalities of Rumilly, Massingy, Marigny-Saint-Marcel and Faverges-Seythenex), on July 18, “we stop fight”, he lifts according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

The first case was detected on June 29. The DNC affects cattle. is transmitted by insect bites such as flies or tales, but is not transmitted to humans, neither by contact with infected cattle, nor by food, nor by bites.

Since Friday, July 18, the vaccination campaign of nearly 285,000 cattle has started in Savoy and Haute-Savoie.