Arche de Noël: children subjected to the spectacle of animal abuse

Zoe Cell

18.11.2023

At Arche de Noël, rats are tortured, and children participate in the abuse.

As well as pet animals, Arche de Noël also abuses rats who are disliked but just as sensitive. Considered by the bosses to be ‘pests’, these little rodents are victims of unspeakably cruel abuse and, to make matters worse, children are exposed to it and are themselves pushed into being perpetrators. We have filed a complaint and are asking that these animals be rescued. For this, we need your help.

Our investigation, led from October 2022 to February 2023 at Arche de Noël, revealed that the rats were everywhere: in the false ceiling of the miserable nursery, digging underground tunnels underneath the outside kennels, walking around the edge of the swimming pool and even close to the enclosures. They are victims of terrible abuse, just like the dogs who are abused, beaten, and enclosed all the time to be used for breeding.

Death by drowning

Cage-traps are placed around the entire property. They are then immersed like that into the swimming pool, with the rats trapped inside, after several days of agony prey to hunger and thirst, and are drowned without a second thought.

Killing dogs by making them eat poisoned rats

For the rodents that are too suspicious to go into the traps, poison is scattered around the farm. One day in November, in front of a kennel, a rat was found immobile and lethargic. One of the volunteers stated that “he has been poisoned and is not well” and offered to finish him off with a shovel before changing her mind, feeling that she could not kill an animal (at least in front of a witness). She then set out to find someone to kill it for her, without success. Then she tried to encourage Ola, a Belgian Shepherd, to devour the rodent. In context, an abominable death and an astounding idea when we know that the rat has certainly ingested poison and that the dog will inevitably be poisoned in turn. Several months later, we learnt that unfortunately this is what ended up happening to Ola. One more death in this breeding farm of horrors.

Encouraging children to throw stones at rats

Seconds afterwards, a child of about 7 or 8 years old appeared who eventually grabbed a stone and threw it at the lifeless animal, under the amused gaze of the adults around him. The little boy stayed there for a while, impassive, staring at this little animal convulsing, before turning around, smiling, and shouting: “I got it!”. This is the sordid atmosphere that prevails over Arche de Noël, for a little boy to commit an act of such cruelty of his own accord and be so proud of it… Children are not violent towards animals by nature but can become so by reproducing behaviours that they have witnessed. At this age, their psyche is in full development. Being exposed to such an atmosphere seriously calls into question their learning of good and bad and the development of their capacity for empathy. Many studies have shown that there is a link between violence inflicted on animals and violence inflicted on humans.

Rats are intelligent, social animals, themselves gifted with sensitivity in the same way as a dog or rabbit. To get rid of them, they are tortured when the only solution to resolve this ‘problem’ would be to implement basic hygiene measures and stick to them.

One Voice is filing a complaint against the owner in order to put an end to these animals’ ordeals.

Sign our petition to ask for the closure of this breeding farm.

To find out more about Arche de Noël

Translated from the French by Joely Justice