Authorities in Homyel region imposing fines on hog owners

Twenty-two residents of the Rechytsa district, Homyel region, have been fined for failure to obey authorities' order to slaughter their hogs.

The fines varied in amount from 100,000 rubels ($11) to 1,500,000 rubels ($166) and totaled 8.3 million rubels ($919), Syarhey Stashuk, head of the Rechytsa District Executive Committee's commission that handed down the fines, told BelaPAN.

The hog owners were told to cull all of the animals as a precaution against the spread of African swine fever. According to the district authorities, their houses are located too close to large hog complexes.

When reached by BelaPAN, a representative of the Mazyr District Executive Committee said that several hog owners had already been fined for the same offense in the district.

Representatives of the Homyel and Svetlahorsk district governments said that no fines had been imposed on hog owners so far.

The government directed this past summer that all privately kept hogs should be slaughtered within five kilometers of large state-owned hog complexes.