According to a sheep farmer from Beilen, wolf damage should be more generously compensated. That is why he went to the highest administrative court to force the province to pay more generous compensation.
“Last Sunday we counted the 52nd attack by wolves since 2019. It goes on and on. My son’s sheep farm is getting into trouble because the damage procedures take so long and are anything but generous with them,” said the man.
Today’s proceedings concerned the aftermath of an attack on his son’s 2022 Shropshire sheep. According to the man, a special breed from England, which is more expensive to purchase.
“Shropshires are the only sheep species that do not eat the trunk and tree bark. My son had agreements with a large Christmas tree nursery. But because it is impossible to fence off 60 hectares of Christmas tree nursery land with six wires, he could no longer use the sheep there. This caused a significant amount of damage.”
The man also believes that not enough compensation has been paid for the sheep that were killed. “The Shropshires ewes and lambs are worth much more than the province assumes. And in addition, 36 ewes no longer became pregnant due to the stress. The province does not want to reimburse that either.”
According to the spokeswoman for BIJ12, a partnership of provinces, and Drenthe, the additional value of the Shropshires has indeed been taken into account. And the policy is actually generous, said the spokesperson for the province and BIJ12 in The Hague.
After an attack by wolves in 2019, BIJ12 compensated consequential damage, such as sheep not becoming pregnant due to stress. According to the BIJ12 spokeswoman, the sheep farmer has properly demonstrated the consequential damage with scans and other evidence after the 2019 attack and the province has therefore paid out additional compensation.
This certainly does not apply to the consequential damage after the 2022 attack, the spokeswoman believes.
In any case, the Council of State will take a closer look and will make a ruling in a few weeks.