…What does a major industrial group like Gruppo Veronesi (AIA)—at the head of farming operations such as La Pellegrina and those in Bondeno, which have come under investigation over carcasses, rats and serious hygiene and sanitary shortcomings—actually risk? From a criminal-law standpoint, essentially nothing, except in exceptional cases where top management is directly implicated. Liability remains confined to the lowest levels of the supply chain, while the lead companies continue to operate without structural consequences—neither in terms of sanctions nor in reputational terms.
As long as penalties remain this modest and responsibility continues to stop at the last links in the chain, convictions for animal mistreatment in intensive farming will remain isolated episodes, incapable of bringing about real change in the practices of a sector that still presents itself as an “excellence”, even when the images tell a very different story.
Il Fatto Alimentare
