To prevent the spread of African Swine Fever, veterinary services of the local health authorities in Novara, Italy, have ordered the killing of Tina the pig after inspecting her on 23rd January 2023. Tina is a crossbreed between a pot-bellied pig and a wild boar who was adopted by Gabriele about a year and a half ago, by responding to a post on Facebook seeking adoptions for an unexpected birth. After the adoption, Tina was raised at a home in Castelletto Ticino.
Because Tina tested negative for swine fever, is healthy, and cannot come into contact with wild boars that could transmit the disease, Gabriele sought support from the animal sanctuary Rifugio Miletta OdV located in northern Italy, which has now engaged the services of the lawyer Angelita Caruoccioloand filed a complaint about the order at the Regional Administrative Tribunal of the Piedmont area. The court has suspended the killing order for now and a hearing will take place on 29th March 2023 for this case.
Alessandra Motta, president of Rifugio Miletta, said to La Republiuca that she is “bewildered by the lack of sense in this whole affair, Tina is an animal raised to be loved and not consumed. A healthy animal as shown by the investigations that the ASL itself carried out, an animal held in biosafety conditions, as attested by the photographic documents sent to the ASL in the days following that fateful January 23rd. We believe it is absolutely unjustified, as well as morally unacceptable, the imposition of culling”. If you want to help there is now a petition asking the authorities not to kill Tina.
