The Danish People’s Party is advocating for new powers for the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration, allowing them to shut down animal farms found to be neglecting their animals. This announcement follows recent media revelations about a specific case.

Mette Thiesen, legal spokesperson for the Danish People’s Party, communicated the proposal, emphasizing the need for the agency to have the authority to take decisive action.

The impetus for this proposal stems from revelations reported by TV 2 concerning Jørgen Popp Petersen, the mayor of Tønder. His pig farm has been subject to 14 inspection visits by the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration since 2019.

Disturbingly, in 8 of those 14 visits, the agency deemed it necessary to file a police report against Petersen. The Danish People’s Party believes these instances of reported neglect warrant the proposed expanded powers for the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration.

The party highlights the situation involving the mayor’s farm as a prime example of why such authority is necessary. “We fully support the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration being able to shut down such a pig farm,” stated Mette Thiesen, referencing the multiple police reports filed since 2019.

TV 2 possesses video footage recorded by the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration during one of their inspection visits. The footage allegedly shows evidence of animal neglect.

According to veterinarian Lena Rangstrup-Christensen, the conditions observed in the video are unacceptable. She specifically pointed out a pig with severely blackened ears, indicating a critical state of neglect. “They are simply about to be rejected…If that pig is allowed to live, the ears will fall off,” Rangstrup-Christensen said.