Facts
The appellant [Y.] is accused, among other things, of having sold mislabeled slaughter pigs between January 2007 and May 2009. In doing so, he is said to have instructed [X.] to falsely certify on the accompanying documents that the slaughter animals had been produced in accordance with the production guidelines of the Swiss Farmers' Union (QM-Schweizer Fleisch). Furthermore, he is said to have mistreated and/or neglected sick and injured pigs from his operations. The District Court of See-Gaster initially acquitted [Y.] in part. The Cantonal Court of St. Gallen convicted him, partially upholding the public prosecutor's appeal, of commercial fraud and incitement to repeated document forgery. He was also found guilty of multiple counts of animal cruelty through neglect.Considerations
The lower court found that [Y.] had instructed [X.] to make false statements about the origin of the pigs on the accompanying documents. Thus, at least 9,713 pigs were incorrectly declared as coming from QM meat production, although they did not meet the QM guidelines. Through this fraudulent deception of the slaughterhouses about the origin and quality of the pigs, [Y.] obtained an unlawful financial advantage, as QM pigs fetched a higher price. The lower court therefore affirmed the…