The Higher Administrative Court in Magdeburg has decided that the owners of an industrial pig farm in Binde, in the Altmarkt Salzwedel district in Saxony-Anhalt, must reduce the number of pigs they keep. The stocking density of 30,000 sows is to be reduced to a maximum of 8,000 sows. In addition, the court ordered the operator to demolish part of the pigsty and other facilities that had previously been built without the required permits, Agrarheute reports.
Thousands of pigs were burned
The farm in Binde belongs to LFD Holding. In April this year a huge fire broke out there and 20,000 pigs burned. The fire caused a huge wave of criticism against both the company and local offices, which allegedly turned a blind eye to irregularities at the farm. Importantly, both activists from animal rights organizations and ordinary residents, including farmers, were behind the protests.
The criticism was justified in two ways – the same LFD Holding company owns a burned farm in Alt Tellin (also in Saxony-Anhalt), where in 2021 over 55,000 sows and piglets burned.
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Germany: 20,000 pigs burned in a fire at an industrial farm in Saxony-Anhalt
Piggeries without permits
During the investigation conducted after the fire in Binde, it was revealed that the company since 2006 she gradually expanded the farm with more pigsties and increased the number of pigs kept. However, the investments were carried out without the required building permits and environmental decisions.
It decided to legalize the expansion only in 2013, after residents began to complain about the noxious neighborhood and the supervisory authorities began to send inspections and impose fines. However, the local authority gave the company the required construction and environmental permits.
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Great fire in a pigsty in Alt Tellin – the investigation did not identify the culprits
A ten-year process
Residents opposed to the giant farm had already gone to court, but the case dragged on for years. It accelerated only after the fire in Alt-Tellin, as a result of pressure from activists and social criticism of LFD Holding. The city of Arendsee even officially joined the group of opponents of the farm, demanding a reduction in the scale of production on the farm.
As a result, already last year The Administrative Court in Magdeburg revoked the permits that officials had issued to the company in 2013. The verdict on the demolition of illegally built pigsty and reducing the number of pigs is a continuation of this case and the final finale of a court battle that lasted a whole decade.
Disservice
It is also worth mentioning that the fires on farms in Alt-Tellin and Binde became a strong argument for activists and led to a change in welfare and construction regulations in Germany. As a result, the construction of a pigsty became a much more expensive, less profitable and more difficult investment. LFD Holding has therefore dishonored all German pig producers. Worse still, the same tightening of regulations is to be expected across the EU.
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A fire in several pig farms in Germany – thousands of pigs died 
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After the fire in Alt Tellin: limits on the number of animals on farms?
