Email correspondence shows how the authorities, including the government’s veterinary department, knew of the existence of Gianni Attard’s illegally held sheep since 2010, two years before the first mass slaughter of sheep took place.

Emails which were shown to The Malta Independent and that date back to July 2010 reveal how the Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Gozo knew about the case. In fact, the emails show how government veterinarian Anthony Gruppetta was informed of the “100 sheep without ear tags.”

The same email which was sent from veterinarian Frank Galea to Anthony Gruppetta from the Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs, refers to Ganni Attard as “a dangerous person, well known by the police and prime suspect of several murders both in Malta and Gozo.”

This newsroom contacted Attard’s lawyer to explain this particularly alarming reference. He said that Attard was tried twice, in a trial by jury, over murder charges but was acquitted on both occasions. “His criminal record is technically clean. He was found innocent twice. In fact we have libel cases against a local newspaper for saying Ganni Attard has a criminal record.”

The lawyer was also asked to clarify why this same email refers to an instance when Attard went to visit Frank Galea. Referring to this visit, Galea writes “he knew he was reported.” The lawyer said that this sentence probably refers to the fact that when Ganni Attard bought the sheep from a certain Mr Portelli from Nadur back in 2010. The law states that owners are obliged to register their sheep before they reach the age of six months. According to Attard’s lawyer, after buying some 70 sheep, the Gozitan farmer went to see Frank Galea from the Gozo Ministry and notified him of the new stock.

A report on Ganni Attard’s sheep was made and Frank Galea was once more approached to have the animals properly registered. “Galea did not do so immediately because, apparently, he had to inform his superiors.”

Now, years after the whole sheep culling saga started back in 2012, Ganni Attard is sending a letter to the Prime Minister to show him this correspondence which, according to the farmer, proves that the authorities did nothing to help him register the sheep. “This correspondence shows that Ganni Attard has informed the Veterinary Department of the sheep and that he wanted to register them,” the lawyer stated.

Attard is currently going through criminal procedures before the criminal court for having unregistered live stock.

The email correspondence which is now being sent to the Prime Minister was presented in before the Constitutional Court. The lawyer is also presenting the Prime Minister with a copy of a letter issued by Anthony Gruppetta back in 2013, which shows how Ganni Attard was ordered to pay a fine of more than €5 million.

“Ganni Attard is perplexed on why these sheep are still not registered, despite the efforts to do so by the farmer himself”, the letter to the Prime Minister states, while adding that seven years after informing the authorities of the new livestock, the Veterinary Department insists that Attard has to pay for someone else’s misgivings.”

The Malta Independent had visited Ganni Attard and his sheep in Gharb. Attard gave a candid description of how the authorities took him away while they slaughtered his sheep. The first sheep culling occurred back in 2012. He had recalled how after being held up at a police station until 4pm, he went back to the farm and found half of his sheep stock gone. Blood stains were still visible against the farm’s walls. More than 200 sheep were killed, most of them pregnant.

Following this event, Gianni Attard’s lawyers had presented the case to appear in front of the Constitutional Court claiming breach in human rights.

The animals were killed because they were not registered and there were fears that they might be sick. It appears that, according to results of samples by the Veterinary Services Department, none of the 216 sheep culled in 2012 were actually sick. In court, veterinary surgeon Frank Galea had testified that the sample from brain stems resulted negative to Mad Cow Disease.

Years later, the Gozitan farmer is still battling the case in court.