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France Begins Culling Ariège Herd Under Police Guard as Vaccination Zone Widens and Protests Escalate

EU rules mandate eradication, pushing France to depopulate infected herds.

Overview

  • Veterinary teams began euthanising 207 cows at the Bordes-sur-Arize farm under gendarmerie protection after overnight clashes and several arrests.
  • The Agriculture Ministry expanded mandatory bovine vaccination to Aude, Haute-Garonne, Gers, Pyrénées-Atlantiques and Landes, with animals barred from leaving the zone except to slaughterhouses.
  • Minister Annie Genevard reaffirmed full-herd culling as the only way to protect the sector and promised compensation covering market value, lost income and disinfection costs with rapid advance payments.
  • The Confédération paysanne called for nationwide blockades as Coordination rurale pressed for generalized vaccination, while the FNSEA backed total culling to safeguard export status.
  • Authorities report roughly 109–110 outbreaks across nine departments with several thousand cattle already culled, and a dispute persists over whether both co-owners of the Ariège herd consented to the cull.