Toledo butcher arrested as over 200 sheep and goats seized in illegal slaughter investigation

Animal welfare

Veterinary inspectors discovered unregistered slaughter activity and traceability failures at a farm supplying meat to a butcher's shop

J.M.L.

The owner of a butcher's shop in Toledo has been arrested after allegedly selling lamb meat from a livestock farm where animals were slaughtered ... without sanitary controls and without the traceability required under Spanish law.

Spain's Guardia Civil said the investigation began in March when officers from its nature protection unit, Seprona, and veterinarians from Castile-La Mancha's Directorate General of Public Health inspected the butcher's premises. There, they found several lamb carcasses on sale that lacked the official health stamp and documentation proving their origin.

The butcher was arrested on suspicion of an offence against public health. The meat was seized and later destroyed after being deemed a serious risk to food safety and public health.

At the same time, other Seprona officers and veterinarians from Toledo's provincial agriculture and livestock department inspected a livestock farm in Mazarambroz from which the seized lamb carcasses had originated.

During the inspection, officials discovered a room intended for the slaughter of animals as well as 228 animals, comprising 211 sheep and lambs and 17 goats, that lacked identification and traceability records.

According to investigators, the animals had not undergone mandatory zoonosis controls or infectious disease prevention checks, creating what authorities described as a serious risk to consumers and public health.

Following veterinary reports, officials concluded that the animals, valued at 45,500 euros, were unfit for human consumption. They were subsequently placed under official restriction and later culled.

Two employees of the farm are also under investigation for their alleged involvement in offences against public health.

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