French PM urged to intervene over cow slaughter protests

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu was urged on Sunday by local officials to intervene to avoid an escalation as French farmers protested the use of police force and the culling of cows due to a skin disease.

Farmers in southern France have been incensed by what they see as the government's heavy-handed response to an outbreak of nodular dermatitis, widely known as lumpy skin disease.

They have blocked roads and dumped manure in protest after veterinarians this week slaughtered a herd of more than 200 cows in a village near the Spanish border after discovering a single case of the disease. Police had used tear gas to clear away angry demonstrators protecting the cattle.

"With each passing hour, indignation and anger are rising inexorably in the face of people's despair," said Carole Delga, head of the southern region of Occitanie, which has emerged as the epicentre of the outbreak.

"It is time for you to intervene to ensure, as soon as possible, a frank and sincere dialogue with the farmers," she said in an open letter to Lecornu.

Delga said that many French people were "shocked" by the images of animals being slaughtered.

"They do not understand the massive use of force by the police," she said, referring to the culling of the entire herd in the village of Les Bordes-sur-Arize.

"We must do everything we can to avoid escalation and confrontation."

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Since Friday evening, activists have set up roadblocks, particularly in the southwest of the country.

Not far from Spain, the A64 motorway was still closed for more than 100 kilometres. 

Between the southwestern towns of Briscous and Urt, farmers have set up two marquees, a grill, and a Christmas tree, an AFP journalist saw. 

According to local officials, dozens of tractors and trucks were also parked near the town of Carbonne southwest of Toulouse.

"We're here to spend the holidays," Cedric Baron, a cattle farmer, told AFP. 

Near the southern town of Albi, around 50 farmers blocked the N88 freeway, dumping manure at the entrance to the town's ring road.

Lumpy skin disease, which cannot be passed to humans but can be fatal for cattle, first appeared in France in June. 

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