Stalhouderij Heuver from Kallenkote (Overijssel) wants a higher fee for two wolf attacks on their sheep in Drenthe from the province of Drenthe.
Today, the brothers of stable farming, the province of Drenthe and a spokesperson for BIJ12, who coordinates the Dutch wolf population for the provinces and handles wolf damage in court.
The sheep farmers have now had to collect 35 attacks on their sheep. The attacks that it was about dating from June and September 2022. DNA shows that ten ewes and ten lambs in a meadow on the Wapserveense Aa and nineteen pregnant ewes and three decreams in a nature reserve in Hoogeveen were killed by wolves.
The direct costs of the attacks have since been reimbursed, but this is not enough to find the brothers. Earlier, the brothers wanted to recover such costs from the government through the court in Overijssel, without success. The appeal is now running.
The brothers believe that it is being paid richly late. The ewes of the first attack were not pregnant, but could have been pregnant at the time of the payment. This should have been taken into account at that time.
Due to the late payment it was difficult for them to purchase new ewes: “Then we should have had a lot of money ourselves.” Due to the repeated attacks in the past three years, there are still around 10,000 euros in damages.
“We realize that there is time difference between the observation and payment, but the sheep that were killed have been paid,” said a spokeswoman for BIJ12.
In addition, the brothers also claim extra work they have had to do to clean up the dead sheep and collecting wounded animals and taking care of them. Other activities of the company must then wait at that time. “Our time also costs money,” said one of the brothers. Only the direct costs of the attack are reimbursed and they are spacious, the Bij12 spokeswoman said.
It is a political choice that the farmers who experience nuisance from wolves are supported extra, the spokeswoman continued. In addition, the costs for removing the dead animals and the veterinary costs are also for the account of the province. “Nobody asked for the wolf. Opinions are divided on that,” she said.
Other extra work can be seen as an entrepreneurial risk. She noted that there may also be question marks with so many attacks on sheep from one company. Animal organization Animal Rights NL also got involved.
The organization accuses the sheep farmers from the head of Overijssel of negligence by not taking measures to protect their animals. The organization submitted a request for enforcement last year to the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA).
In mid -December, NVWA handed out an official warning to the stable holder, because their sheep were not sufficiently protected against wolves. This is the first time that NVWA handed out an official warning for this.
According to the Dieren Act, the holder has a duty to protect his animals against predators, such as the wolf. This was casually mentioned during the court case. The sheep farmers hinted that action was taken in this area, but did not want to say anything after the hearing to what extent this obligation is being met. The case itself was only about the higher compensation requested by the stable holder.
The judge takes six weeks for a decision.