Melle shaken: 580 pigs die with a devastating stable fire

Melle shaken: 580 pigs die with a devastating stable fire

A devastating stable fire in Melle, district of Osnabrück, numerous pigs cost their lives early on Friday morning. At around 4:45 a.m., a driver noticed the thick smoke and alerted a family in the adjacent house. The fire brigade was on site within ten minutes, but the stable was already on fire when the emergency services arrived. Of the approximately 600 pigs that were in the barn, around 580 animals, including almost 550 piglets, tragically had their lives. Only 20 animals could be saved, while the extinguishing work took several hours and should continue until the evening, since the straw stored in the stable made it difficult to extinguish href = "https://www.ndr.de/niederrichtung/osnabrueck_emsland/stall-in-melle-briess-580-schweine-verenden-darunter-fache-melle-108.html" Class = "source_1"> ndr .

The fire not only led to a terrible loss of animals, but also caused considerable damage to the stable building. According to the first estimates, the property damage amounts to around 700,000 euros. The adjacent apartment was spared the flames, but has become uninhabitable due to water damage. Fortunately, the residents, a 60-year-old man and his 57-year-old woman, remained unharmed, such as n-tv reported.

the cause of the fire further unclear

The investigation into the cause of the fire has started after completing the extinguishing work. The fire brigade and police exclude a connection to previous stable fires in Melle, where no people were also injured. These fires could have been triggered by technical defects, as experts suspect. Dealing with technical devices in modern animal husbandry has often pushed into the background in recent years, which in many cases turns out to be dangerous, according to the Albert Schweitzer Stiftung .

stable fires often occur in Germany. Over a hundred thousand animals burn every year, and the causes are diverse: technical defects, short circuits or simply serious grievances in fire prevention. Modern animal husbandry, which often relies on cost -effective mass husbandry, has often granted fire protection only low priority. This should urgently be improved here, because the damage could be reduced by regular maintenance and secure storage of inflammatory materials.

necessary reforms for animal welfare

As the incidents show in Melle, animal welfare in livestock farming is often confronted with inadequate safety precautions. Many animals that are bred for mast are in tight stables without sufficient escape options. According to animal rights activists, many animals have not only lost their lives in this fire, but in recent years thousands of animals have died in Germany. Political measures to improve fire protection have started, but often contradicts the interests of factory farming.

The tragedy in Melle is an urgent wake -up call. The protection of the animals must finally be a priority and must no longer be subordinated to the economic considerations. Farewell to the animal husbandry, which focused on cost-use, would be a necessary step to improve the chances of survival of the animals in emergencies such as this.