FILMOGRAPHY/REUTERS/MADRID/FILE A vetco clinic in southern Italy has been banned from offering euthanasia after a video showing animals being forced to lick their lips was uploaded to social media.
The video showed animals lying on a floor covered in feces and covered in red paint.
“In the video we saw animals lying in the street covered in dirty, red paint, some of them with their mouths open,” a witness told local news outlet Corriere della Sera.
“The vetco doctors told us that we had to stop the animal, and that we were not allowed to do so.”
The video, which has since been removed, was posted on YouTube on Friday.
The centre, known by the Spanish word for vetco, has a clinic in the city of Padua and has been closed since March, with no explanation given for the suspension.
But it has not been the only centre to be shut down.
Last month, a vetco in the southern town of Bari was also banned from operating.
The Italian Government said the clinic’s “practice of euthanasia is against the rules and regulations of the European Union”, and called for an investigation.
In a statement, the Ministry of Health said the veterinary centre had been accredited by the European Veterinary Association and that it would be closed for five days if the vetco failed to comply with the law.
