A last ditch attempt by Gozitan shepherd Ganni Attard to save his 300 sheep from being culled was described by the Attorney General as a form of “procedural abuse” to delay the killing.

The argument was made during the hearing of a Constitutional application filed by the 55-year-old shepherd from San Lawrenz.  

Last week the Veterinary Service stepped in to start the cull in the wake of an Appeals Court decision which upheld a previous rulings that Mr Attard had failed to tag his sheep and they therefore had to be slaughtered.

The culling was stopped after fresh court action by Mr Attard.

The case has been dragging on since 2010. The shepherd has also filed Constitutional proceedings claiming a breach of his human rights. The case is still pending.

Lawyer Joshua Grech, who is appearing for Mr Attard this morning argued against the decision to kill the sheep saying this was an irreversible action .

“As far as I know no sheep has been ever resurrected,” he told the court. 

The lawyer insisted that even though there had been two court decisions against his client, this should not automatically trigger the culling.  

Lawyer Victoria Buttigieg on behalf of the Attorney General, said Mr Attard was simply trying to “abuse procedure” in an attempt to delay the execution of another court decision which had been upheld on appeal.  

“These sheep are not traceable and should not be allowed to enter the food chain,” she argued.

In a passing comment Madam Justice Anna Felice who is presiding the case said that Mr Attard should have taken measures to prevent the sheep from procreating by sterilising them, so as not to allow the problem to grow further. Her comment was made in the wake of the fact that Mr Attard exhibited photos of a number of lambs in his bid to save his sheep. 

In separate proceedings Mr Attard is claiming breach of human rights when he was arrested and detained for no reason. The case dates back to November 2012, when Mr Attard took court action against the Department of Veterinary Services in an attempt to stop it from slaughtering more of his sheep after the culling had started. In court, he argued that the culled sheep, which were estimated to cost in the region of €520,000, had been tested and none of them were found to be sick.

Pending the court action, the rest of the herd were confined to his farm in Għarb where two police officers have been stationed for years to ensure none of the animals would be removed and that their produce would not be sold. The 24-hour police surveillance has so far cost taxpayers more than €600,000.

Mr Attard had insisted in court that he had been telling the authorities since July 2010 to register the sheep and tag them. 

However, the Appeals Court ruled that Mr Attard had shirked his responsibility to register the sheep and that he had done nothing to get them registered for two whole years. It also threw out his complaint that he had not been given the opportunity to prove the sheep were not sick before the first batch was culled. The court said he should have done that before.

The case continues in April.