News Archive - One voice

Animal experimentation: what our report on laboratory inspections reveals

Animal experimentation: what our report on laboratory inspections reveals
25.06.2025
France
Animal experimentation: what our report on laboratory inspections reveals
Animal testing

One Voice has obtained and carefully analyzed no fewer than 567 inspection reports drawn up between 2013 and 2023 in 67 French departments where animals are experimented on. Massive irregularities, projects implemented before even receiving the necessary authorizations, sanctions not applied… These documents reveal the reality of animal experimentation: in addition to suffering under the scalpels, the animals used are not even adequately protected by the rare safeguards provided by regulations. We are calling for firmer checks on laboratories and greater transparency, as obtaining these documents has been a struggle in its own right*.

In France, laboratories must undergo mandatory prefectoral inspections every three years on average, and even every year for those using primates, dogs or cats. This should enable the identification of any breaches of the regulations governing these practices, and force the offending establishments to rectify them… in theory. The reality is quite different.

Endless irregularities

To gain access to these 567 inspection reports, we had to fight, claiming through the courts what the authorities should have provided on simple request. Faced with the conclusions of these visits, often scheduled in advance, it is easy to understand why the animal experimentation lobby defends its opacity tooth and nail, and rubs its hands at court rulings limiting this transparency.

Quarantine periods not respected when animals arrive in laboratories, cages too small, stress not taken into account… What happens to victims in these establishments, even before they undergo the slightest experiment, clearly deviates from current “welfare” standards. Is this really that surprising? When we know that the staff who work there don’t even meet the meagre obligation of instruction to which they are bound? With years of missed training and out-of-date skills tracking charts, it’s hardly surprising that the suffering of individuals destined for tiled lab benches is also taken lightly…

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Without sanctions, nothing changes for animals

What happens when such violations are detected? The vast majority of the time, absolutely nothing. Animals coming from unapproved farms, without the slightest derogation? No problem. In several cases of non-compliance of this kind, we have not found the slightest trace of a conviction. Some laboratories lock up more than five mice in a plastic box the size of half an A4 sheet? No matter! They won’t be punished for it, just like the Institut Pasteur.

So the illegalities continue… as we denounced, for example, in the case of the monkeys exploited at SILABE. When the certification of the Strasbourg primatology center was cancelled, the unspeakable conditions in which they were held were ignored… It was the procedural error that tipped the scale…

France must finally catch up

With far fewer inspections than other European Union countries, and unannounced visits revealing more violations than planned visits, France confirms its position as one of Europe’s bad pupils. When you consider that many projects are implemented before being validated by the Ministry, and without even having received the opinion of an ethics committee – an entity largely lacking in impartiality and independence – you can only measure the aberration! This cruel farce, for which animals are paying the price, must stop.

We demand:

The introduction of two controls per year, with a minimum of 50% unannounced inspections, and real sanctions.
That the French inspection system be monitored by the European Commission.
A ban on the “euthanasia” of animals by any method other than overdosing with anaesthetic, except in exceptional cases justified on veterinary grounds and strictly in the interest of the animal concerned, with a detailed report.
Prohibition of killing for practical reasons without any experimental interest, except in the case of medical euthanasia, whether the animals are used or born and kept without having been experimented on.
Inspection reports to be made available on request, as already provided for by law.

Sign and share our petitions for animals that are victims of animal experimentation!

* We would like to extend our warmest thanks to Nicolas Marty, our former colleague (from 2022 to 2024), who made available to One Voice numerous documents obtained after procedures he had initiated prior to his employment. He has since founded the Animal Experimentation Observatory.

One Voice, with AVES and other partners, attack the umpteenth ministerial anti-wolf decree

One Voice, with AVES and other partners, attack the umpteenth ministerial anti-wolf decree
25.06.2025
France
One Voice, with AVES and other partners, attack the umpteenth ministerial anti-wolf decree
Wildlife

Yet another ministerial decree published on June 21, making it easier to kill wolves… The French Ministries of Ecological Transition and Agriculture continue to claim that no protection measures are feasible for certain herds, while publishing a list of so-called “measures”… which are precisely that. This crude manipulation calls for a firm response. One Voice, together with AVES and other partners, are once again taking legal action to overturn this unjustifiable text.

Shameless ministerial duplicity

In February, a first decree modified the legal framework surrounding the shooting of wolves, introducing the fiction of the “non-protectability” of cows and horses. This concept, undefined at the time, has now been “clarified” in a decree published six months later. The result: these famous “vulnerability reduction measures” are protection devices, already admitted for sheep and goat farms, for example.

In other words, the ministries have deliberately twisted reality in order to get their project through. The deception is obvious, the intention crystal-clear: to disguise a culling scheme under the guise of “management”.

We denounced this diversionary tactic during the public consultation. We are now fighting it in court, as we did with the previous text. The government cannot continue to manipulate texts with impunity, to better delegitimize any attempt at coexistence between humans and wild animals.

Why not go all the way and finance these new measures, recognizing them as real protection? Because it’s much easier to feed the hatred that breeders have for wolves than to find real solutions for coexistence. Do we need to repeat once again that lethal shooting is not effective? The National Assembly’s report on pastoralism, published last April, demonstrates as much, in line with our own study on the same subject.

A circumvention strategy to better slaughter

Let’s make no mistake: this is not about improving herd protection. These measures will be neither officially recognized nor financed. They serve only one purpose: to provide administrative justification for shooting. Farmers, left to their own devices, will find no concrete help. On the other hand, they will be granted the right to kill.

Since the Council of the European Union approved the downlisting of wolves, the most brutal rhetoric has been unleashed. Some MPs, galvanized by this setback, no longer even try to hide their desire for extermination. Deputy Pierre Cordier put it bluntly in the Assembly: “Fences are useless; we have to shoot!” Not a single voice was raised to contradict this chilling statement.

Towards systematic elimination

These are not mere aberrations: this is a deliberate policy of elimination. The prefect in charge of the national wolf action plan expressed surprise at the “unprecedented number” of wolves killed. Not because she was alarmed, but because she feared that the annual quota would be reached too soon. Her main concern was how much room for manoeuvre there was left to continue bowing to the injunctions of the agro-pastoral lobbies.

We resist

In the face of this methodical offensive against a species native of our part of the world, we will not bend. We call on all those who reject this logic of extermination to mobilize. On July 2, especially for Camille, Milo and Mina, we’ll be in Mâcon and Tulle respectively, where we’ll be speaking out loud and clear for the wolves. If you can’t join us, please sign and share our petition. Together, let’s stop this policy of annihilation.

Stop the pig trifecta at Vabres-l’Abbaye: animal distress is not entertainment

Stop the pig trifecta at Vabres-l’Abbaye: animal distress is not entertainment
24.06.2025
Aveyron
Stop the pig trifecta at Vabres-l’Abbaye: animal distress is not entertainment
Exploitation for shows

Every summer in Vabres-l’Abbaye (Aveyron), young pigs are chased, lifted and manhandled for the amusement of the public in an aberrant “race” known as the “pig trifecta”. This practice, which has been going on for over forty years, is attracting increasing criticism. In 2022, One Voice had already sounded the alarm with an open letter to the local authorities. The festival, which takes place over four days from July 4 – and offers a variety of convivial activities, including pétanque competitions, refreshment stands, catering, concerts, face painting and inflatable games – can do without this disgraceful race. It’s time to put an end to it. It’s possible to have fun without terrorizing animals.

Forced to run and jump over obstacles, pursued by humans who frighten them by clapping their hands and pushing them over metal kegs or haysacks, frightened piglets, pushed to the limit, are treated as objects of entertainment, their cries and distress ignored in the name of an outdated and cruel “activity”.

Animal suffering denied in the name of entertainment

This practice, even if it may seem harmless at first glance, is in fact a form of animal abuse. It inflicts intense stress and unnecessary torment on these sentient beings, who deserve respect and protection, not to be used as toys to entertain the crowd. It teaches our children that it’s okay to laugh at the suffering of others. Tradition can never justify this kind of degrading treatment.

It’s time to break the silence surrounding this outrageous “game”. More and more voices are denouncing this brutality and calling for an immediate end to this cruel trifecta. What happens to these little pigs after the race? Are they crammed into a truck bound for the slaughterhouse? Are they sent back to an intensive breeding farm to be fattened first?

For a festival that respects and promotes values

The village of Vabres-l’Abbaye, with its rich cultural heritage that should be highlighted, must put behind them this disgraceful practice that tarnishes its image. We call on the festival committee, local councillors and the general public to put an end to this suffering and adopt respectful alternatives, festive activities without violence or animal exploitation.

We must pass on to future generations the values of empathy, respect and compassion. Cruelty has no place in our traditions, festivals or society. The pig trifecta must end, and it’s only together that we can achieve this, in the same way that our collective mobilization has made it possible to put an end to the “goose neck” game in Lesmont in 2025 and Saint-Bonnet-près-Riom in 2024.

Saône-et-Loire: a new wolf, but the same old hatred

Saône-et-Loire: a new wolf, but the same old hatred
19.06.2025
Saône-et-Loire
Saône-et-Loire: a new wolf, but the same old hatred
Wildlife

Since 2019, wolves have been making timid attempts to return to the Saône-et-Loire region. Each time, the same story repeats itself: the animal settles in, triggers the fury of the agricultural lobbies, and is then shot. In 2020, 2021, 2023… all were killed. While we should be investing massively in means of protection, on May 15, the prefect decided to reduce the protection measures that farmers in six villages are required to implement in order to obtain public subsidies. Because cohabitation between humans and wildlife is the only viable option, we are challenging this decree before the Dijon administrative court.

Photo : OFB-SD71

Camille, the latest wolf to have settled in Morey, targeted

In December 2023, in the Saône-et-Loire region, a wolf was shot in the thigh. After surviving for months in excruciating pain, he was found dead in February 2025, in suspicious conditions that prompted us to lodge a complaint. We had offered to transfer him to a sanctuary in Italy. We were met with silence from the authorities.

A few weeks ago, a new individual, Camille, was spotted in Morey, in the same town as his injured predecessor. Images captured by a camera trap were authenticated by the prefecture on May 12. This simple observation was enough to rekindle tensions. In an open letter, the FDSEA and Jeunes Agriculteurs 71 immediately called for the wolf to be purely and solely eliminated.

The prefect gives in to the lobbies’ pressure

For the representatives of intensive agriculture, Camille’s slaughter was not enough. They have only one objective: to eradicate wolves at any cost. They’re not interested in protection measures, and they strongly influenced the prefect with a simple message: fewer protection measures, more money for farmers. In short, they want to have their cake and eat it too.

Welcomed on site on May 13 with sheep carcasses in protest, the prefect gave in two days later. From now on, in the six villages concerned, in order to be subsidized, farmers will no longer have to implement two protection measures (“circle one”), but only one (“circle two”).

Faced with this renunciation, we have made a request with the Dijon administrative court to have the prefectoral decree annulled. Killing Camille won’t solve anything. Rather than give in to retrograde lobbies, it’s high time to invest massively in protection measures, which are the only way to ensure harmonious cohabitation between wolves and humans.

Join us in front of the Mâcon prefecture on July 2 at 10am, for Camille. Sign so that wolves can finally live in peace.

Illegal sale of a lion to a taxidermist: the Gougeon family reoffends

Illegal sale of a lion to a taxidermist: the Gougeon family reoffends
19.06.2025
France
Illegal sale of a lion to a taxidermist: the Gougeon family reoffends
Exploitation for shows

In the spring of 2025, we received documents indicating that a trainer well known to our association had sold a lion to a foreign taxidermist, who in turn sold the stuffed animal to a Parisian company. The only snag in this system, which still allows animals to be “stuffed” on top of their lives of misery, is that the circus had no right to own the animal, and even less to sell him to enrich itself at his expense. Faced with this shameful and illegal transaction, we filed a complaint with the Paris public prosecutor’s office.

Wild felines treated as objects even after their death

Teddy Gougeon must really enjoy appearing before the court… In 2024, we already had him convicted for his illegal exploitation of non-domestic animals, for which he had no certificate of competence, and for mistreatment by a professional. The verdict: a six-month suspended prison sentence and a 5-year ban on keeping wild animals for William Zavatta Circus’ trainer.

We now know that the circus trainer didn’t stop there, as he sold to a taxidermist the remains of a lion he had no right to own or sell to anyone. How was this lion killed before being put in a tanning bath, like Dorian before him? Did he even have a name? After a lifetime of exploitation, his tormentors did not hesitate to benefit from him one last time, engaging in a totally prohibited form of trafficking. They have even managed to obtain a permit to export the body to Indonesia from the Direction régionale et interdépartementale de l’environnement, de l’aménagement et des transports (DRIEAT Île-de-France) in December 2024. Everything seems to be going swimmingly for the animals’ enemies…

Towards a botched law… and unbridled traffic?

This isn’t the first time we’ve denounced these actions. In 2021, we had already uncovered the maneuvers of a trainer from the same family, Joseph Gougeon, who had used the services of an unlicensed taxidermist, whom we had investigated. A juicy trade that can bring in over 10,000 euros for each individual whose skin is greedily plucked… and which has enough to entice circus performers. Now that the ban on wild animals in traveling circuses is about to come into force, and the French Ministry of Ecological Transition has definitively given up on funding sanctuary places, what are they going to do with the animals they can no longer whip under their big tops? True to form, it’s a safe bet that they’ll choose the most profitable option, to the detriment of the animals and in defiance of the law… Will the State also wash its hands of the matter, if wildlife trafficking shoots up as a result of its incompetence? We won’t allow it!

On behalf of the lion killed and sold for shipment abroad, we have filed a complaint against Teddy Gougeon and the taxidermy company involved, and are calling for an investigation. Add your voice to ours by signing our petition: Say no to animals in circuses!

The return of the Gartner family’s elephants to Valence d’Agen? We say no, for them

The return of the Gartner family’s elephants to Valence d’Agen? We say no, for them
12.06.2025
Valence d’Agen, Tarn-et-Garonne
The return of the Gartner family’s elephants to Valence d’Agen? We say no, for them
Exploitation for shows

At a time when France has committed to banning wild animals from traveling circuses by 2028, we are dismayed to learn that a show featuring elephants is scheduled to take place in Valence d’Agen from November 29 to December 14, 2025 at Cirque en 2 Rives. Three elderly elephants, their dignity mocked, will be exhibited by the infamous Gartner family. Together, let’s demand the cancellation of their coming to France.

Belinda, Pira and Thai. Three elephants, each around sixty years old, whom we know well. Three lives marked by captivity, coercion and the mechanical repetition of gestures learned in fear. These animals, endowed with exceptional intelligence, are doomed to get back on the road, locked in trucks, moved from town to town in the name of an outdated entertainment -an entertainment built on their suffering.

Our country has committed to banning these shows. The vast majority of the public rejects and shuns them. And yet, in Valence d’Agen, in 2025, a step back in time is coming, orchestrated by trainers known for their brutality.

This show, if it takes place, will be an insult to collective intelligence, to ethics and to the animals themselves.

We will not allow these elephants to grow old on asphalt and under a big top.

A long history of mistreatment

The Gartner family, who perform all over Europe, are not newcomers. Already convicted of animal abuse abroad in the early 2000s, several elephants have already been seized from them, including in France. At the end of 2005, when four of them were to be rescued in Germany following the conviction of their trainer for mistreatment, they “disappeared”. A few days later, One Voice found them, before they were moved again. In early 2006, we managed to rescue Vicky. She had been hidden and abandoned in a closed trailer, without care, chained 24 hours a day, alone, in a critical state of health. Her trunk had been paralyzed by pike blows.

In the 1980s and 1990s, humans were twice killed by Gartner elephants. These tragedies reveal the extreme psychological and physical suffering of these animals, to the point of rupture. And the calamitous management of these trainers.

In 2018, Diana, Vicky’s former companion, died in tragic circumstances. A road accident that should have been avoided, since elephants are not supposed to be in trucks! Do we have to wait for another tragedy before reacting?

2028, an empty promise

Since 2021, the French government has been promising a ban on wild animals in traveling circuses by 2028. In reality, this is nothing of the sort: the government is encouraging trainers to settle down and keep their animals, and is even promising them thousands of euros in order for them to do so!

From now on, it’s the hypocrites’ ball! Is this what we want for the future? Circuses that bring in animals from abroad as they please and send them back once the tour is over? That’s an empty law, easily circumvented, that lets animals suffer in silence…

We must act now!

We call on everyone to mobilize to prevent this disgraceful spectacle from taking place.

Write to your elected representatives: Write today to the Tarn-et-Garonne prefecture and the Valence d’Agen town hall to demand the cancellation of this event (model letters are available by clicking on the links).
Contact the prefect on social networks:
- On X (formerly Twitter): @Prefet_82 In support of One Voice’s action, I ask you to cancel the visit to Valence d’Agen of the Gartner trainers and the three elephants they are holding. Animals are not objects of entertainment. #CirquesSansAnimaux
- On Instagram: @prefet82 Animals are not objects of entertainment! The law will soon ban their presence in circuses, it’s not to bring them in from abroad! With @onevoiceanimal I call for the cancellation of the visit of the Gartner trainers and their three elephants in Valence d’Agen #CirquesSansAnimaux
Sign our petition

Today, Samba, for whom we have been fighting since 2002, is the last elephant held by a circus in France. We will do everything we can to ensure that she spends her retirement in a sanctuary where there is a place for her, and to prevent trainers from importing others from abroad, as if they were merchandise.

Elephants, and animals in general, have no place in circuses. Not in 2025, not in 2028, not ever. Their suffering is not a spectacle.

Lien vers la publication annonçant la venue des éléphantes

Animal experimentation: France buys, locks up and tortures primates -and intends to continue

Animal experimentation: France buys, locks up and tortures primates -and intends to continue
12.06.2025
France
Animal experimentation: France buys, locks up and tortures primates -and intends to continue
Animal testing

In 2025, while public opinion overwhelmingly rejects primate testing (Ipsos/One Voice poll, April 2023), France persists.

Tripling of breeding capacity at Rousset, macaque imports at Silabe, extension of the mouse lemurs breeding farm at Brunoy: behind the hushed words of researchers, the lives of hundreds of individuals are being shattered.

No respite. No alternatives seriously considered. Just a well-oiled machine, turning living beings into laboratory raw material. This policy is a disgrace. One Voice continues to request administrative documents to shed light on what is happening far from the public eye.

Let’s be clear: in France, the future of primate experimentation is being planned, financed and built in the same way as an industry. Nothing is changing. Worse: everything is accelerating.

At a time when millions of citizens are calling for an end to these cruel practices and the real, tangible arrival of animal-free methods, the State is allowing and even encouraging the opposite to happen.

Meanwhile, animals continue to be born to suffer and die on lab benches.

Rousset: triple the confinement, triple the horror

In the Bouches-du-Rhône region, a discreet site in Rousset plans to increase the number of macaques from 600 to 1,740. The aim is to “feed” the needs of French and European laboratories.

These monkeys are not there by chance: they are programmed to serve. From birth, their lives are mapped out: cages, stress, isolation, then syringes, scalpels, invasive tests. They will never see the forest. They will never know freedom. They will be used to exhaustion, then euthanized. A lucrative business, subsidized by the taxpayer.

Is this France’s scientific ambition? To triple suffering?

Silabe: ordered, delivered, broken

At Silabe, near Strasbourg, despite our revelations, despite the withdrawal of approval for opacity, the infernal machine continues.

A new invitation to tender has been published to import macaques from Mauritius.

Behind the postcards of paradisiacal landscapes, our on-site investigations revealed the scandalous capture and breeding conditions of these individuals. Torn away from their world, from their own, they spend hours locked in crates, tossed about, stressed, the weakest dying before they arrive. Once in France, the survivors become objects of experimentation.

It’s as easy as ordering pens. A budget line, an order form.

Their intelligence, their sensitivity? Denied by the logic of the protocols.

Brunoy: behind the bars of excellence, maximum suffering for mouse lemurs

In Brunoy, in the Essonne region, the National Museum of Natural History is home to the world’s largest breeding facility for mouse lemurs, with 470 mouse-sized primates.

Behind this institution’s image of respectability lies a harsh reality: captivity, isolation, repeated use for experimental purposes.

It’s said to be a “science campus”. It is praised for its “French excellence”. According to the town’s mayor, “the extraordinary work carried out on lemurs deserves to be developed and studied further on our territory”.

Our investigations reveal negligence, grey areas and silences. Once again, our cousins are paying the price. In silence.

Politics and science without conscience

What the State and laboratories are building today is not cutting-edge research: it’s a production line of suffering.

France remains Europe’s biggest user of primates, and clearly has no intention of changing course. Substitute methods? Barely mentioned. Financing ideas? Swept under the carpet. The European directive calling for a reduction? Ignored.

We say it loud and clear: animals are not laboratory material. We remain mobilized and continue to request further documentation on these projects. If, like eight out of ten French people, you are against the breeding of primates in France (Ipsos/One Voice poll), sign and share our petition!

The Millevaches plateau deserves better than a deadly face-off

The Millevaches plateau deserves better than a deadly face-off
12.06.2025
Corrèze
The Millevaches plateau deserves better than a deadly face-off
Wildlife

In the spring, nine predations were recorded on the Millevaches plateau, possibly caused by wolves, angering livestock farmers. In response, the Corrèze prefecture deployed a Wolf Brigade to shoot them. Our associations for the protection of nature and the environment are proposing a different approach.

On March 4, the Carduelis association revealed the presence of two wolves with extremely rare genetic capital on the Millevaches plateau, a male of German-Polish lineage and a young female of Italian-Alpine lineage, a unique event in France. This duo was – and still is – threatened by lethal shootings authorized by the Corrèze prefecture.

Since then, the Prefect of Corrèze has remained deaf to requests from Carduelis and One Voice for a meeting. The aim was to open a dialogue in an attempt to establish measures for coexistence between human activities and the presence of wolves.

All the more so as Carduelis monitoring indicates that other wolves are currently present and/or passing through the Millevaches plateau.

Today, all the associations* are concerned about the situation. We question the delay in classifying certain villages as “circle 1”, a status allowing the opening of specific protection aids such as shepherding… which the FDSEA initially refused – and which we believe could have prevented the damage suffered. In this respect, we deplore the prefecture’s lack of foresight.

We also contest the systematic lethal approach adopted by this very prefecture, and call for the application of alternative measures, such as the scaring measures put in place by the Ardennes prefect under a prefectoral decree published on May 21.

On May 24, the Prefect of Corrèze openly declared to the press: “I don’t think we should learn to live with the wolf”. And his successive decisions – as well as those of the Minister of Agriculture – only serve to inflame tensions and radicalize positions. We recall that the National Action Plan to ensure coexistence between the wolf and livestock farming activities also applies in Corrèze, and we call on the Prefect of Corrèze to show restraint in his comments as a representative of the State, and courage in his dealings with livestock farmers’ unions, in order to initiate a constructive dialogue that will help preserve our biodiversity and human activities.

Rather than fuelling confrontation, we wish to offer a sincere listening ear and concrete help, particularly in terms of prevention, cohabitation and support for the implementation of protection measures adapted to local realities. This is why our national and local animal and nature protection associations (*see below) are mobilizing to propose a way out of this crisis.

In support of the work carried out over the years by the Millevaches Regional Nature Park (PNR), the PastoraLoup program can be deployed on an emergency basis, thanks to volunteers already trained in the Alps in herd surveillance and construction site assistance. Every year, this assistance proves its effectiveness in drastically limiting predation on sheep and cattle herds.

In 2024, with 1171 nights and days of surveillance carried out by more than 150 volunteers, only the loss of one baby goat and one lamb are to be deplored on the 30 farms benefiting from the program in the Alps, Jura and Doubs.

Finally, the presence of a large predator such as the wolf, in addition to the benefits it brings to ecosystems, could ultimately be the source of an eco-agro-touristic activity bringing numerous economic spin-offs to the area. Breeders/producers would be the primary beneficiaries, through the promotion and direct sale of quality products in a wild and protected area.

Tony Zavatta circus: the same suffering for “domestic” and wild animals

Tony Zavatta circus: the same suffering for “domestic” and wild animals
05.06.2025
France
Tony Zavatta circus: the same suffering for “domestic” and wild animals
Exploitation for shows

After receiving several reports in April of the very worrying condition of a camel at Tony Zavatta Circus (Gougeon production), and dispatching investigators to the site in May, One Voice lodged a complaint of mistreatment, which was closed almost immediately, which is a disgrace. These practices involving animals considered domestic will continue for a long time to come, as they are not affected by the legal ban on traveling circuses scheduled for December 2028. And yet, as their suffering is the same, we defend them too.

On May 7, we posted images from a whistle-blower showing a camel held by Tony Zavatta Circus, then based in Luçon (85). Constrained to three meters of chain as its only radius of movement, without water or shelter, with humps in very poor condition, he moved on the spot, displaying abnormal and stereotyped behavior, a clear sign of malaise among captive animals. But he’s not the only one affected by the deleterious conditions of detention in this circus.

Endless detention with appalling consequences

A few days later, in La Chaize-le-Vicomte (85), we filmed the same camelid, still tethered. Lacking sufficient freedom of movement, he tramples aimlessly for hours on end, as if lost in a mirage where he’s crossing vast lands, as his nature predestined him to do, or circling his post, reproducing his training routine ad nauseam. At times, he explodes, struggles, desperately trying to free himself.

A little further on, a younger camel is restless, clearly having nervous breakdowns. Full of the energy peculiar to his age, he would certainly prefer to leap and gambol, but that’s impossible for him as it is, as his makeshift cage isn’t twice his size. His only possible stimuli: licking a knotted cord or chewing on a billboard, hung on one of his prison’s metal gates.

Surrounding him on this construction site are llamas, ponies and dromedaries, kept in scandalously similar conditions. These other companions are also chained very tightly, confined among stocks of materials or along a path accessible to anyone. When some of these captives have the “luxury” of having a household bucket as a water source, their tie, the length of which is decided by the circus workers, systematically prevents them from drinking from it!

How difficult it is to have such suffering legally recorded…

On May 16, One Voice filed a complaint for mistreatment of animals by professionals, which constitutes an aggravating circumstance. We have also requested an urgent inspection by the local authorities of the owner of Tony Zavatta Circus, one of the members of the indescribable Gougeon family.

This is not the first time (far from it!) that the brothers and cousins, who are also at the head of the circuses Italiano and Idéal, as well as of Nouveau Cirque Triomphe – the list goes on – have found themselves concerned by our complaints. Among the most recent cases to date, we’ve already had those of the Paris Circus convicted of abusing Jon as well as Patty, Céleste, Marly and Hannah.

Following up on our alert, the Vendée prefecture replied, assuring us of their “vigilance in this matter”. While we were pleasantly surprised that the gendarmerie and municipal police were dispatched to the site for “administrative checks and an inspection of the animals”, we regret that no institutional service trained to analyze animal behavior was also asked to carry out ethological observations. What immediate corrective actions were ordered on site? A veterinary inspection? The seizure of camelids in poor health? No, the circus owners were simply asked to increase the length of their ties!

To add insult to injury, while dismissing our complaint, State officials confirmed the stereotypical behavior of certain captives. Worse still, this suffering is trivialized by invoking their fatal destiny, doomed to “circus exploitation”. An admission of insufficient human resources and institutional complacency towards abusive circus practices. The real distress of these sentient individuals is negated by lacunary legislation.

Even if our complaint was unsuccessful this time, we won’t give in!

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Non-wild animals, the great forgotten of the law

Let’s not forget that these living beings are, in the eyes of the legislation dated November 30, 2021, considered as domestic and will therefore not be affected by the forthcoming ban of December 1, 2028. So many lofty ambitions had taken seed, and now this law is missing its initial objectives, leaving room for a variety of interpretations to the detriment of those first concerned, many of whom will continue to be trained, exploited… or others simply forgotten, as here, due to a general lack of controls, or which are clearly only in name. Meanwhile, circus owners will even be compensated with public money to continue subjugating sentient individuals over and over again!

There’s only one solution: a total ban on animals in circuses. Help us change the law by signing our petition.

Traumatic flashball scare shots on wolves

Traumatic flashball scare shots on wolves
02.06.2025
Haute-Savoie
Traumatic flashball scare shots on wolves
Wildlife

We thought we’d seen it all, but now we’re stunned. Wolves are about to undergo a terrifying experiment. A pack in the Haute-Savoie region is to be disturbed and its individuals captured. And for what? To test the effects of a variant of shooting: “traumatic” scaring shots (TEFT) [sic]. Although this initiative is an attempt to find answers to the incessant culling of canids, questions remain as to the real interest of this experiment and its considerable impact.

In September 2024, a public consultation was opened on an experimental project to test a new, non-lethal method of scaring off wolves.

Spearheaded by two recognized organizations, Asters – Haute-Savoie Conservatory of Natural Spaces (CEN74) and the Institute for the Promotion and Research on Protection Animals (IPRA), the project involves capturing up to five individuals, fitting them with GPS collars and, once released, studying their reactions to flashball discharges when attempting to predate flocks. The captures were authorized by two orders issued by the Prefect of Haute-Savoie on March 17, 2025.

A good idea to combat lethal shooting… but nothing new

What’s hard to understand is that breeders can already carry out scare shots, so why inflict further trauma on wolves?

Is the aim to inflict further pain and fear? This remains unclear, all the more so as the project’s leads themselves acknowledge that this method is “promising but as yet poorly documented”. In other words, we’re about to test a form of increased violence on wolves, with no real guarantee of its effects or effectiveness.

Further persecution

In Passy, after the escaped goats in the prefect’s sights, the wolves are about to be subjected to severe psychological and physical shocks. Is it really necessary to capture five of them, who are already being hunted down relentlessly, in order to verify that these shots are more effective when they prove to be “traumatic”?

High-risk capture, trapping and sequestration for protected animals

The terms of the project’s non-technical summary (RNT) are unambiguous: this is a “non-lethal but painful scaring method”.

The TEFT project presents significant risks for wolves, both during capture and shooting. Trapping and anaesthetizing can lead to stress, motor disorders, injuries of varying degrees of severity, and disruption of social dynamics within the pack. The flashball shots themselves, although qualified as non-lethal, can nevertheless cause pain, behavioral alterations and, in the event of poor execution, potential handicaps. In fact, the aim of the project is to “subject [the wolf] to a painful experience, so that it learns to avoid herds as a result of this bad experience”. Serious consequences for members of a protected species…

The animals will – fortunately – be “returned to their natural habitat”, but at what cost to their lives and those of their families? A member of the Blaitière pack targeted by these measures was captured on April 6. Who is it? The father or the mother? Did the cubs witness it? The stability and equilibrium of the group help to channel and educate the youngsters.

To put an end to the persecution of wolves in all their forms, sign our petition.