Breeders under surveillance: Seizure at the repeat offenders

7.00 am in the morning. The shutters are closed. The house remains in dilapidated and sad state. It looks as though it is growing out of the mud that surrounds it; the area is strewn with rubbish. The gendarmes come in first, followed by the DDPP veterinarians and then One Voice. 

In the field: there are dozens of dwarf goats left to their own devices and some with babies. The condition of their hooves indicates a lack of care. And then a goat, in a box of dirty concrete, exposed to the wind and rain, without water or food. Another frightened in a muddy mesh enclosure, tries to shelter as best it can under some planks of wood. An old plastic pet's bed is filled with urine.
Cats are also there, some roaming free others kept in enclosures on the ground covered with excrement. The smell is unbearable. Their makeshift and filthy shelters do not even protect them from the cold. They do not trust humans and hide in the corners, out of sight. How are they fed? Bones hang there, as well as a bowl filled with pasta.
Behind a door, we discover a cat's corpse, abandoned long ago.
In the house everything is dirty, very dirty. The images from the first seizure 6 years ago come flooding back to us. Fewer dogs this time though, "only" 4 French Bulldogs. A bitch underwent a caesarean section, apparently without the intervention of a professional vet. And again more cats, then a hen, at least what remains of it. Its poor body, already dry, lies in a transport box in the kitchen, since when?Our partner sanctuaries are there. Some took several hours driving to be there and then to put these animals into shelter and safety.

Since 2004, we have been investigating this couple who call themselves breeders. In 2011, they were given a final ban on keeping animals, as well as imprisonment for serious offenses and acts of cruelty. We had brought out 46 dogs from their home. Luckily today, thanks to the surveillance that we had maintained, they were placed in custody and the animals that were at their home were seized. A legal procedure is now in progress. We will do everything we can to ensure that the punishment they receive will be an exemplary one.

One Voice would particularly like to thank the gendarmes and the DDPP who have been working on this case since it began.