Animal cruelty trial Thurgau High Court reviews acquittals in the Hefenhofen case

The appeal trial against a farmer from Hefenhofen TG starts on Tuesday at the Thurgau High Court. The public prosecutor's office is under pressure.

The district court ruled that the "evidence" provided by the public prosecutor's office against the former horse dealer could not be used. The animal welfare case gained national notoriety in 2017.

Next Tuesday's hearing will focus on the question of whether the evidence collected during the eviction of the farm at the time can be used in the criminal proceedings against the former horse dealer. The High Court will then decide how to proceed in the appeal proceedings.

In March 2023, the farmer stood before the district court in Arbon. He had to answer to the judges for multiple animal cruelty and numerous other offenses. According to the indictment, between September 2013 and the eviction of his farm in Hefenhofen TG on August 7, 2017, the farmer allegedly provided inadequate care for horses, sheep, goats, dogs, chickens, pigs and cattle, kept them inappropriately, transported them in contravention of regulations and killed them.

Judge criticized the procedure for clearing the farm

However, the court acquitted the farmer of numerous charges. In the oral reasons for the verdict, it criticized the veterinary office and the public prosecutor's office in particular, as well as their approach to documenting the farm eviction.

Most of the "evidence" presented by the authorities, with which the public prosecutor's office wanted to put the previously convicted animal abuser behind bars for more than six years, could not be used, the verdict stated. Even photos of severely neglected horses, which got the case rolling, did not hold up as evidence for the judges.

The proceedings were discontinued on some points due to the statute of limitations. The public prosecutor's office appealed against the district court's ruling.

Horses were auctioned off

The Hefenhofen animal welfare case reached its climax in summer 2017. Photos of emaciated and dead horses lying in the dirt on the farm of the farmer, who had been in dispute with the authorities for years, circulated in the media. The pictures were allegedly taken by a woman who used to work on the farm and reported the farmer to the authorities.

The pressure from animal rights activists and the media on the authorities increased daily. Eventually they cleared the farm. With the help of the army, they confiscated around 90 horses, among other things. Most of them were later auctioned off.

SDA