Prosecutors have filed an indictment against a Polish veterinarian and university lecturer who, during classes with students, was alleged to have killed carp without stunning it first.
The educator from the Kraków University of Agriculture, who cannot be named under Polish law unless convicted, was accused of animal cruelty and could face up to three years in prison.
The charge was based on video footage taken by a student at her class in 2022 that was made public by animal welfare group Viva in 2023, the same organisation that, on April 3, revealed that the indictment was going ahead.
‼️UWAGA! Materiał filmowy jest drastyczny‼️
Jest akt oskarżenia w głośnej sprawie zabijania karpi na Uniwersytecie Rolniczym w Krakowie! Czytaj do końca, bo ta sprawa ma wiele wątków!Hanna L., wykładowczyni, która podczas zajęć ze studentami zabijała karpie bez ogłuszenia,… pic.twitter.com/FVRQjViJw6
— Fundacja Viva! (@Fundacja_Viva) April 2, 2025
According to State prosecutors in Kraków who on March 20 filed a charge against the lecturer: “The indictment is mainly based on the opinion of a veterinary expert, who concluded that both the storage of carp prior to their use and the deprivation of their lives without stunning them first exposed them to suffering and were carried out in an inhumane manner.”
The University of Agriculture in Kraków refused to comment on the case before any court hearing.
Some of its students have been more forthcoming in local media and have alleged that during practical dissection class the indicted lecturer cut off the head of the carp with a knife and the fish struggled vigorously, thrashing its tail.
Many have said that would not have happened had the carp been stunned, a legal requirement under Polish and European legislation.
The Agriculture university’s rector in 2023 had initiated disciplinary proceedings against the lecturer on ethical grounds during which the educator was suspended.
The inquiry accepted the lecturer’s argument that during and after the cutting of the spinal cord the fish can move because spinal reflexes become triggered.
Since the inquiry did not uncover any irregularities, the lecturer was reinstated and has since remained an employee of the institution.
Viva has claimed the student whose testimony led to the action against the lecturer failed a university exam and was removed from the facility.
The student took legal action against the university and a court ruled that he had in fact passed the exam. The university is appealing that verdict in a higher court.
Viva has campaigned actively for banning of the sale of live carp, which is still allowed in Poland, under certain conditions.
Public opinion has shifted against the practice, with almost 70 per cent of those surveyed in a recent poll carried out for Compassion in World Farming supporting the view that the sale of live fish should be banned.
