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Veterinarians arrived at a French farm Friday under police escort to slaughter a herd of cows suffering from a potentially deadly disease, an AFP reporter said, after police used tear gas to clear away angry protesters trying to protect the animals.
Farmers have staged protests in several parts of France in recent days, accusing the authorities of not doing enough to support them.
Hundreds of agricultural workers have demonstrated for two days outside the farm in the southern area of Ariege near the Spanish border.
They set up a cordon around the farm after the authorities on Wednesday said that more than 200 Blonde d'Aquitaine cows at the farm had nodular dermatitis – widely known as lumpy skin disease – and would have to be euthanised.
Gendarmes used tear gas late Thursday to fight their way past dozens of farmers who stayed after nightfall to blockade the farm in the village of Les Bordes-sur-Arize, while protesters hurled stones, branches and other makeshift missiles as hay bales burnt in the background.
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Four people were arrested, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said.
Several farmers and supporters had earlier chopped down trees and set up barricades to stop veterinary staff from entering to carry out the slaughter.
Regional prefect Herve Brabant said that the brothers who owned the farm had agreed to have the herd slaughtered in line with precautions against the disease.
But Pierre-Guillaume Mercadal, of the local Rural Confederation union leading the protest, said one brother had agreed and one was opposed.
"They are tearing this family apart," he said.
Several unions have called that approach ineffective, with the left-wing Confédération paysanne on Friday saying it was "more scary than the illness itself", urging an end to the culls and more vaccinations. "Confédération paysanne is calling for blockades everywhere! Farmers, agricultural workers, unionised and non-unionised workers, pensioners, citizens... Agriculture and food are everyone's business," said the union on X.
But the authorities have stood by their plan.
"To save the entire industry, slaughter is the only solution," Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard on Friday told Le Parisien newspaper.
Farmers also plan to drive tractors to Brussels on Thursday next week to vent, as the European Union decides whether to authorise a free-trade agreement with South American trade bloc Mercosur. The so-called Mercosur deal has been two decades in the making.
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The pact will allow the European Union to export more vehicles, machinery, wines and spirits to Latin America, while facilitating the entry of South American beef, sugar, rice, honey and soybeans into Europe.
'In shock'
Marina Verge, 33, the daughter of one of the owners, on Wednesday said that killing the cows amounted to destroying "almost 40 years" of their life's work.
"They're in shock, it's unimaginable. They didn't expect it," she said.
"You don't imagine finding yourself without livestock overnight."
Other cases have also been detected in the region and some 3,000 of the 33,000 cattle in Ariege have already been vaccinated.
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Lumpy skin disease, which cannot be passed to humans but can be fatal for cattle, first appeared in France in June. French authorities insist the outbreak is under control and that they are preparing a mass vaccination programme.
The World Organisation for Animal Health says that cases have also been reported in Italy this year.
According to the European Food Safety Authority, the disease is present in many African countries.
In 2012, it spread from the Middle East to Greece, Bulgaria and the Balkans. A vaccination programme halted that epidemic.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)