Authorities deny failure after hundreds of pigs found dead
Wednesday 12th August 2026 on 20:15 in
Austria
Authorities have rejected claims of official failure after hundreds of dead and neglected pigs were found at a fattening farm in the Mostviertel region, ORF reported. The farm had already been known to officials, raising questions about why the problems went undetected for so long.
Last year, 55 pigs died at the farm in Amstetten because of a faulty ventilation system. The figure was initially reported as 150 but was corrected on Wednesday.
A government veterinarian visited the farm on May 13, 2025. State Veterinary Director Christina Riedl told ORF that the ventilation system had already been repaired at the time, so there had been no reason to carry out another inspection.
Riedl rejected claims that the veterinary authorities had failed. She said the farmer had fixed the defect and the farm was therefore no longer considered a concern. Authorities could not constantly inspect every farm that had experienced a single defect, she said.
Official veterinarians use a checklist during farm inspections, working through it with the farmer. If they identify shortcomings, the farmer is given a deadline to correct them and follow-up inspections are carried out, Riedl said.
The authorities plan to review the current case internally. Riedl said she had never visited the farm herself and had received information about it from the Amstetten district authority. Official veterinarians report to that authority, which declined to comment despite repeated requests from ORF and referred questions to the state veterinary directorate.
Riedl said members of the public should report anything suspicious because spot checks and routine inspections were unlikely to uncover cases such as this one. Reports should preferably be made to the district authority, after which official veterinarians can carry out targeted inspections.
Another trigger for such an inspection could be a report from an animal carcass disposal facility after it collects an unusually high number of dead animals from a farm. Official veterinarians are always present at the facility, Riedl said.