For several months now, there has been a raiders’ seizure of the State Farm “Rykhalske” in the village of Rykhalske, Zvyahelsky district in Zhytomyr region. Animal rights activists and journalists have repeatedly appealed to law enforcement to pay attention to the defenseless animals suffering as a result of the raiders’ actions. Since then, the condition of the livestock and their living conditions has only worsened. This was reported by the publication “Suspilnyi Korespondent”.
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According to journalists, some cows can barely stand on their feet, there is ice in their troughs instead of water, and the water supply system, which should provide water, has completely malfunctioned due to freezing. A cow should drink at least forty liters of liquid per day, and at the State Farm “Rykhalske” a terrible thing is happening: due to the lack of water, the animals drink urine, which is excreted by another cow nearby.
“A calf born an hour before our arrival (as a farm worker told us) is lying on the cement floor and is already chained to a short chain. According to veterinarians, the cows have internal organ atrophy and complete dystrophy. This was confirmed by the veterinarian of the Experimental Farm “Rykhalske” Yuriy Leshchenko, who has been working since 1992 and was dismissed along with other employees by the new so-called owners,” the report says.
Moreover, as emphasized by the publication, recently experts from the Emelchynsky branch of the State Consumer Protection Service visited the farms of the Rykhalske enterprise, but allegedly did not notice the terrible condition of the livestock.
“They stated in their written conclusion that the cows are in proper condition. This indicates one thing – the so-called experts from the above-mentioned institution could have made such a conclusion not just like that, because the real situation is completely different. And if these experts were honest and objective, they would have stated the truth. The cows are not only in a critical dystrophic condition, but some of them have small sores on their skin. Specialists say that this may be due to the presence of parasites, such as lice,” the journalists emphasize.
One of the farm workers says that about a week or two ago, the cows started to be fed “a little better.” And until recently, the cattle were milked “as needed” – sometimes once a day, and sometimes not at all.
“The dairy herd of elite breed cows resembles prisoners of a concentration camp. As the dismissed workers said, they are almost living corpses. On the bodies of those cows that are in a summer barn at twenty-five degrees below zero, bright reddish stripes are clearly visible. According to veterinarians, this is the result of the cows being exposed to the cold for a long time,” writes “Suspilnyi Korespondent”.
And a local resident saw a few days ago how dead calves were just lying near the manure.
After journalists recorded all these events on video, the acting director of the State Farm “Rykhalske” Viktor Bobrov and his security guard tried to prevent them from carrying out their professional activities, and even attacked one of the local residents who accompanied the media workers. But when Bobrov was warned about criminal liability for such actions, the incident was stopped.
“On the day when we arrived in the village of Rykhalske, a commission as part of a criminal investigation into the cruel treatment of animals visited one of the farms, where they were shown cows that are in slightly better, if you can say so, conditions than in other farm buildings. In addition to a lawyer and representatives of the local authorities, a specialist from the district center of Zvyahel was also included in the commission. But the workers who worked directly at the enterprise until recently were not allowed to participate, although people themselves asked for it,” the material states.
And now these cows are also in such a state. Out of fifty such cows that were brought here at one time, forty-six remain. By the way, these are breeding heifers of the Simmental breed, which were bought for 250-300 thousand hryvnias each, all were pregnant. And now there are only two calves left from them. The chips and tags that were on each cow have disappeared. They were removed to hide the accounting and prevent the standardization of animals in order to avoid responsibility for mismanagement and concealment of illegal actions,” the material states.
Journalists remind that the district and regional authorities of Zhytomyr region not only turn a blind eye to all these cases but also contribute to them: “The lawlessness at the enterprise is happening with the tacit consent or even approval of the regional leadership. In particular, the head of the Zhytomyr Regional State Administration Vitaliy Bunechko and the head of the National Police Department Oleksandr Kovtun gave permission to place armed security from one of the military units on the enterprise’s territory. It is likely that they used automatic weapons against villagers in December of last year. Of course, without the approval of the regional authorities, the new owners would not have carried out such actions, because the villagers of Rykhalske themselves would not have allowed such lawlessness.”
In addition, the acting director of the State Farm “Rykhalske” Viktor Bobrov is already mocking the villagers and offering them to take the cows – but not for free.
“So it turns out that these raiders are not interested in cows or farms, but in the territory and destruction of the enterprise? Perhaps, if you consider some important nuances. The raiding in the State Farm “Rykhalske” is associated with the interests of the forest mafia, which is interested in accessing the 800 hectares of dense forest that is on the balance sheet of the State Farm. Its value is estimated at 40 million US dollars. In this case, who needs those cows?” the journalists conclude.
