Cracow. Lecturer at the University of Agriculture accused of abusing carp

The prosecutor's office sent an indictment to the court against a lecturer at the University of Agriculture in Krakow, who killed unaffected carp in class with veterinary students. The veterinarian is punishable by up to three years in prison. However, she still works at the university, because the university did not find anything disturbing in her action.

On March 20, the Kraków-Biały District Prosecutor's Office sent an indictment to the court against Hanna L., a veterinarian and lecturer at the University of Agriculture in Krakow.

– She was accused of an offense under Article 35 para. 1a of the Animal Protection Act and on an offense under Art. 66 of the Act on the protection of animals used for scientific and educational purposes – TVN24 informed Prosecutor Oliwia Bożek -Michalec, spokeswoman for the District Prosecutor's Office in Krakow.

Art. 35 para. 1a of the Animal Protection Act speaks of animal abuse. The second of the cited provisions says, among others about “exposing the animal to unnecessary pain” in connection with scientific or educational activities.

Hanna L. is threatened with up to three years in prison.

Read more: “Cruel killing of carp” during classes at the university. There is disciplinary proceedings

Inhumane killing of carp at the University of Agriculture in Krakow

We described the case publicized by the Viva! Foundation in 2023. Activists published a recording from the classes in which veterinarians participated. The video recorded by one of the students could see how the lecturer drank a carp head with a knife. Half an hour later, the fish – with a massive wound – according to witness accounts, she was still breathing. Everything seemed to indicate that the animal had not been stunned before, which according to Viva activists! It means that the whole was carried out contrary to the scientific guidelines of the European Union and the Animal Protection Act.

– The indictment is based mainly on an expert opinion in the field of veterinary medicine, which stated that both the storage of these animals before their use and depriving them of their lives without their prior stun exposed these animals to suffering and were carried out in an inhumanitarian way – said prosecutor Bożek -Michalec.

The accused is still working at the university

– We will not comment on this matter. This is only an indictment, a court judgment has not yet been passed – UR spokeswoman, Dr. Izabella Majewska, told us.

Read also: Three months of prison for guillotine of carp without stunning

After the case saw the light of day, the university rector initiated disciplinary proceedings against the lecturer. As we read in a statement published in 2023, it started “in connection with the high probability of the occurrence of an act incompatible with the principles of ethics, which was committed by one of the academic teachers of the University Center for Veterinary Medicine.”

– The lecturer was suspended during this procedure. However, no irregularities in her behavior were demonstrated, which is why she was restored to work – Izabella Majewska told us on Wednesday. Hanna L. is still working at the University of Agriculture in Krakow.

However, there is one more thread of this matter. According to the Viva! Foundation, a veterinary student who recorded the lecturer's behavior, after disclosing the case “he did not pass one of the exams and was deleted from the list of students.”

“A few months later, the Provincial Administrative Court in Krakow stated that the student passed the exam, and the university counted the points contrary to the principles that he had established. However, the university did not allow him to catch up, and appealed to this judgment … The judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court will probably wait many years” – emphasized the Viva foundation in the announcement of the prosecutor auxiliary.