The One Voice, AVES, and PAZ Associations are rallying so that Valentin the bear will not be exhibited in Troyes this summer

Bears are wild animals who cannot in any case be fulfilled in captivity. Some of them, like Valentin, are taken away from their mothers from a very early age in order to create a dependence between the animal and their trainer who keeps them in captivity. Through unnecessarily violent training, the bear ‘shower’ gets blind submission from their animal. These bears are enclosed for their whole lives and transported, sometimes over long distances, to places to be showed. Their living conditions are intolerable; we also very often see behavioural problems (such as stereotypies) and states of chronic anxiety. The fact that Valentin travels in an air-conditioned trailer from town to town to be exploited is in no way a guarantee of his well-being. It is just a diversion to make the public and organisers believe that this bear is treated well, while his simple participation in shows is against all of the needs of his species.

In accordance with the law of 30 November 2021 against animal mistreatment, keeping wild animals in travelling performance establishments will be banned from now until 1 December 2028, while acquiring them, commercialising them, and breeding them will be banned as of 1 December 2023. Regarding the bears and wolves, showing them to the public for travelling shows will become illegal from the end of the year.

While waiting for this law to be implemented, the AVES France, One Voice, and PAZ Associations are worried about the fate reserved for Valentin, and are asking that he urgently be put into retirement and be placed in a sanctuary as soon as possible. For this to happen, him being exploited for shows showing his complete submission must stop!

Furthermore, during the festival, many activities using animals have been offered to the public. To cite a few examples:

• large game exhibition in one of the castle’s rooms;

• presentation on foot of digging hunting dogs and packs of running hounds;

• equestrian show – dressage;

• falconry display;

• big show of underground hound hunting.

Others could also be carried out, primarily aimed at children, such as visits to a puppy park, pony promenades, or even being pulled in a carriage.

On one hand, these demonstrations are not educational. What example do they give to young generations? The animals are considered as simple objects for entertainment that we can manipulate, exploit, and use without any consideration for their wants or needs. This reification of animals conflicts with the education of future generations to be more respectful of their environment and the individuals with which they share it.

On the other, this environment is totally unsuitable for the animals. Voluntarily subjecting them to such levels of stress for a purely recreational purpose is cruel and unethical. Dogs, horses, and birds, who incidentally have extraordinary cognitive and sentient capabilities, are reduced to numbers here.

We are also extremely concerned about the conditions that the animals are being kept in during the festival. In fact, the festival was organised right in the middle of August, when outdoor temperatures are often higher at that time of year. In these conditions, the individuals could suffer from the heat, in particular during their shows, and would also be subjected to the stress of visitors passing by and the noise, with no possibility of getting away from it.

As it stands, this festival and the displaying of animals certainly will tarnish Château de Vaux’s image, which also has an undeniable cultural interest.

For all of these reasons, we are urging the authorities (Prefecture and town council) and organisers to act in favour of the animals being shown during the ‘Hunting and countryside’ festival and to, from now on, stop the two scheduled performances of Valentin the bear, in order to favour more ethical shows instead. Our associations are willing to provide their expertise on this subject and remain at the disposition of anyone for any request for further information.

We are inviting the public to sign our petition !

Translated from the French by Joely Justice