By Yun Suh-young

A farmer who left his cows to starve to death because of high feed prices will be investigated by the agriculture ministry, following calls from animal rights groups alleging he violated the Animal Protection Law.

Forty cows died recently at a farm in North Jeolla Province owned by Moon Dong-yeon, a farmer in his 50s. Following news reports of the cows’ deaths, controversy arose regarding Moon’s intentions as he had refused to accept fodder offered by the government.

Animal rights groups such as the Coexistence of Animal Rights on Earth (CARE) said neglecting to feed the cows to protest government policies should be considered murder.

“Moon killed 40 of his cows and the remaining 40 are also dying due to starvation. He claims he cannot afford to feed them due to financial difficulties but his refusal to do so is an act of protest against the government and should be stopped. This is murder,” the group said through a statement last week.

Moon will be fined up to 500,000 won if he is considered to have violated the protection law and does not take measures to prevent further harm toward the surviving cows.

The farmer claims the death of the cows was “natural” not intentional and that he had no other choice but to reduce the amount of feed since he had no money.

“I refused to accept the fodder offered by the government because I didn’t think it would be a solution to keep my cows alive. It would simply be a temporary measure. So my actions can be seen as a protest to the government for not doing anything about the rising feed costs and plunging cattle prices,” said Moon in an interview with a CBS radio program Friday.

The association of farmers in North Jeolla Province also criticized the government’s plan to investigate the farmer.

“The tragedy at the farm is due to the plummeting cattle prices and rising fodder costs. The government trying to conduct an investigation of the farm instead of taking measures to solve the fundamental problem is ridiculous,” it said.