Angry French farmers are calling for more protests over the government-backed slaughter of cattle herds affected by so-called Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD).
On Thursday, there were clashes between riot police and demonstrators in the southern Ariège department, after veterinarians were called in to destroy potentially contaminated cattle at a farm.
Elsewhere in the south, farmers have dumped manure outside government buildings and blocked roads. The offices of several environmentalist groups were ransacked in the Charente-Maritime department.
LSD is a highly contagious bovine disease transmitted mainly by fly-bites. Symptoms include fever, mucal discharge, and nodules on the skin, although it is mostly non-fatal.
Since June, there have been approximately 110 outbreaks of LSD in France, initially seen in the east but increasingly reported in the south-west, with about 3,000 animals slaughtered in total.
The government's policy of culling entire herds has been met with opposition from farmers' unions, who argue that selective culling and vaccination could be a better solution. However, veterinarians stress that they cannot differentiate between healthy and symptomless carriers of the virus.
Concerns over the broader implications of EU competition and regulations are mounting within the agricultural community, with a significant protest anticipated in Brussels next week during an EU summit.
