The company which was found to have dumped a number of dead pigs near the Nicosia district village of Meniko was ordered to remove them, state veterinary services director Christodoulos Pipis said on Friday.

The pigs had been found on Friday morning in an open area near the village, with Pipis telling the Cyprus News Agency that some of them were “partially covered with soil” – a fact which he said “indicates an intention to cover up the entire act”.

He added that when the veterinary services were informed of the incident, workers from the services and the environment department visited the area to conduct an on-site investigation and found the dead pigs.

“This constitutes a violation of the legislation in relation to the obligation of a person responsible for the livestock unit to ensure that animal by-products, including animal carcasses and animal waste, from its premises, be properly managed in accordance with the regulations,” he said.

He added that the company which had dumped the pigs “has a contract with the state and collects animal by-products”, and that this company had been called by the veterinary services to remove them.

“A company with an excavator with an extending arm went there to uncover the remaining carcasses, which were covered in soil, and to transport them to its premises so they can be properly managed, as provided for by European Union legislation,” he said.

Asked how long the dead pigs had been there, he said the environment department had visited the area 20 days ago and had not found any dead pigs, and that this means the pigs had been dumped within the last 20 days.

“This leads us to the conclusion that this is not an animal disease, and the number of animal corpses has not increased. At the same time, the facilities’ management, instead of dealing with this as they should based on the law, decided to proceed with illegal actions,” he said.

With this in mind, he said the government will charge the company’s management for the cost of removing the dead pigs, and said further legal action including fines and possible court proceedings will go ahead following consultation with the environment department.

“Administrative fines will be imposed. From there, depending on what is decided, the potential legal case will also proceed through court,” he said.

The finding of the pigs had outraged Agriculture Minister Maria Panayiotou earlier in the day. She had described the incident as “repulsive”.