Judgment in the Hefenhofen case – Hefenhofen: Bauer partly guilty – acquitted on many counts – News

  • In the Hefenhofen case, the main defendant was acquitted of the main charges.
  • The court finds him partially guilty of animal cruelty. He received a conditional prison sentence of 8 months.
  • Two butchers charged with illegal meat trading in the Hefenhofen case were acquitted.

The farmer from Hefenhofen, who was accused of multiple animal cruelty, multiple violations of the animal welfare and animal disease laws and multiple endangering of life, was acquitted of several main charges. These are points that are related to the clearing of the courtyard in August 2017.

The Arbon (TG) district court found the accused partially guilty of animal cruelty, but the core of the indictment by the public prosecutor’s office collapsed. A conditional prison sentence of eight months was imposed on the man. In addition, the farmer received a fine of 180 daily rates of 10 francs.

The case of Hefenhofen


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The Hefenhofen case started rolling in August 2017 when animal rights activists took the initiative. They waited four days in front of the main defendant’s court and put the canton of Thurgau under pressure. The police finally intervened in large numbers, sealed off the farm and took the horse breeder away from Hefenhofen.

At that time, the farmer had 93 horses and around 200 cows, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens and llamas on his farm. The animals were taken away. The army took care of the emaciated horses, they were later auctioned off.

Prosecutors asked for more than six years in prison

Now, five and a half years later, the case came before the court. According to the indictment, the main suspect was accused of, among other things, multiple animal cruelty, multiple violations of the animal welfare and animal disease laws and multiple endangering of life. According to the indictment, some of the criminally relevant acts date back to 2013.

The prosecutor had asked for a guilty verdict on a number of offenses and a sentence of six years and four months in prison. The defense attorney had pleaded for a comprehensive acquittal. In his view, his client’s misconduct has not been legally proven. He also accused the authorities of shortcomings and errors in their work.

The court did not issue a required ban on activities. He was awarded compensation of 6,000 francs for the slander in the media. The verdict is not yet legally binding. The decision can still be appealed to the higher court of the canton of Thurgau.

No illegal meat trade – butcher acquitted

Also accused of illegal meat trade were two Thurgau butchers – father and son of a family business – and the main defendant in the animal cruelty process. Father and son were acquitted, as was the main defendant in connection with the fattening of sick pigs, so-called sluggers.

The accusation of the public prosecutor’s office was, among other things, illegal meat trade. Specifically: The two butchers are said to have sold sick pigs to the main accused. He fattened the animals and then sold them back to the butchers. The pigs are said to have been slaughtered normally and the Kümmerer meat sold. There was talk of 120 pigs.

Charge “collapses”

The illegal meat trade never existed, there is no evidence for it, said the court president on Tuesday morning. The prosecution misjudged the testimony of those involved. There is also no evidence that sick pigs were fattened and then slaughtered. According to the court, the charges have collapsed.

The court only found the senior boss of the butcher guilty of one point: he was sentenced to 40 daily rates of CHF 120 and a fine of CHF 1,000 for grossly violating traffic rules.

The accused had always insisted on their innocence. The son said he didn’t know anything about the deals, otherwise he would have stopped them. The father admitted to having sold and bought back several animals with minor injuries such as umbilical hernias to the main defendant. He admitted to having acted “in a gray area”. However, he was not aware that this was a punishable offence.

Legend:

In 2017, the main defendant’s yard in Hefenhofen was cleared by the army.

Keystone/Ennio Leanza

Judgment against ex-girlfriend and ex-employee


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The Arbon District Court sentenced the ex-girlfriend of the main defendant on Tuesday to multiple breaches of official confiscation. A former intern was acquitted.

The court issued a conditional fine of 110 daily rates of 10 francs against the ex-girlfriend. There is also an unconditional 300-franc fine.

After the yard was cleared, the farmer’s ex-girlfriend took two horses from an alp in the canton of Graubünden and hired them from a farmer. She later sold them.

Acquittal for former employee

In the case of the former intern, the allegation of breaking the confiscation related to a dog. When the farm was cleared, she had taken four dogs home from the farm. Three of them were given to new owners by the authorities.

A dispute over ownership was pending around the fourth. A few weeks later, the young woman handed the animal over to two strangers, assuming they were officials from the veterinary office. The dog has since disappeared.

Ex-girlfriend called intern

The statements of the accused were very credible, said the judge. According to this, the ex-girlfriend of the main suspect called her and said she had lost the case for the dog’s possession and that he would be picked up.

The ex-girlfriend was also acquitted on this point because she was the dog owner and the animal was not subject to confiscation. (sda)

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