Report: Russian veterinary official who oversaw livestock seizures found dead

The head of a department at the Novosibirsk regional veterinary authority has been found dead, the Novosibirsk-based news outlet “Sibirsky Express” reported, citing a source. His wife, Yelena Tur, confirmed the death.

Sergei Tur, 43, headed the department for organizing anti-epizootic and quarantine measures at the Novosibirsk regional veterinary authority. A source cited by Sibirsky Express said he was found in his own car with a gunshot wound; one version under consideration is suicide. Inspections of the department had begun shortly before his death.

His wife, Yelena, said he had suffered a heart attack. He had gone on sick leave shortly before he died.

“This is connected to work — directly connected. An enormous moral and physical burden, enormous responsibility. He went on sick leave and this is what happened. Yesterday both investigators and a local police officer came by,” she told the NGS news outlet.

The Russian news agency Interfax, citing law enforcement, reports that an inquiry into the circumstances of Tur’s death is underway.

Both Interfax and Sibirsky Express note that Tur’s department was responsible for, among other things, organizing quarantine measures and seizing livestock in districts of the Novosibirsk Region where authorities declared an outbreak of pasteurellosis.

Beginning in February, farmers in the Novosibirsk Region began having their livestock seized and slaughtered. Authorities said they were acting to contain outbreaks of rabies and pasteurellosis, a bacterial infection. Farmers said they received no documentation when their animals were taken and could not get a clear explanation for the seizures. In protest, residents of several villages blocked roads and recorded a video address to Vladimir Putin. By March 20, Novosibirsk officials announced that the seizure of livestock in connection with the pasteurellosis outbreak was coming to an end. Russia’s Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance later reported that the mass outbreak of disease among livestock had been caused by errors on the part of the authorities, atypical forms of pasteurellosis, and weather conditions.