Wild animal farming in France: a disastrous situation

There are hundreds of them. The wild animal breeding farms (excluding birds and lagomorphs) is corrupting our country. Following our investigation in mid-December, we have listed them along with their eventual purpose: either for hunting or to the butchers. (1)

Born to be killed

The map that we are revealing is the result of work undertaken in 2019 and is spine-chilling: tens of thousands of ungulates, mainly wild boars and deer, are being kept in captivity to satisfy wildlife amateurs’ need to kill or their taste buds by transforming them into meat pies. In fact, whether they are released in a ‘natural space’ or sent to the abattoir, these animals meet the same morbid destiny: bleeding to death. The only variation to their fate is the time preceding their agony and the methods used to persecute them. After hours of being hunted or transported, some perish by being shot, others by being hit with hunting spears, or even being ripped to shreds by the dogs.

A power struggle with the management

The census of these breeding farms that are officially exploiting wild animals and making them suffer these kinds of horrors is not an easy job. Despite the Environmental Code ensuring that everyone has the right to access this information, we have had to fight hard with the Prefectoral services to get it. Letters and reminders have however not been sufficient to incite some departments to break their radio silence. We very often have to involve the Committee for Access to Administrative Documents for them to do something. But, despite their favourable opinion, the administration still refuses to respond to us. The map that we are publishing today at the moment only gives a glimpse into the reality, which is likely much worse. We intend to fully shed light on the extent of the problem by following our investigations and by fighting to gather the information. And if we have to go through justice to reach our goal, we will go up against the prefectures who do not want to cooperate!

Note

(1) According to Article R. 413-24 of the Environmental Code (https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article_lc/LEGIARTI000006837792), the establishments engaged in the farming, sale, or transit of game species that can be hunted are divided into two categories:

• Category A: The establishments in which all or some animals detained are directly or by way of their lineage destined to be released into the wild.
• Category B: The establishments in which all of the animals detained have another eventual purpose, namely meat production.

Translated from the French by Joely Justice