News Archive - One voice

Constant illegalities and lack of sanctions at Institut Pasteur

Constant illegalities and lack of sanctions at Institut Pasteur
05.12.2024
Paris
Constant illegalities and lack of sanctions at Institut Pasteur
Animal testing

It took a two-year battle to obtain the inspection reports for six Parisian establishments. Although none of them are exemplary, those concerning the Institut Pasteur leave us speechless… Between confinement in overcrowded cages and brutal killings, One Voice reveals the daily life of animals destined to be experimented on.

Illustration of a mouse in a laboratory 2007

Profitability at all costs

In the laboratories of the Institut Pasteur, animal welfare is sacrificed on the altar of productivity. Five quails are crammed into a cage measuring just 50 cm², and up to 25 are squeezed into a 1.5 m² space, even though standards prohibit putting more than five quails there. These birds, reduced to numbers, survive in unbearably overcrowded spaces, exposed to aggressive males, without any stimulation or comfort. The standards supposed to protect these animals ? Forgotten.

In order to pull the wool over one’s eyes, a veterinary surgeon is appointed to be “in charge of animal welfare”. However, rather than seriously train their employees in the principles of the 3Rs (Reduce, Replace, Refine the use of animals), these establishments prefer to falsify appearances. They record unrelated training courses as if they contributed to animal welfare, turning a legal obligation into a mere exercise in deceptive bureaucracy.

Macabre killings

At the time of the inspector’s visit, a researcher was “euthanizing” mice by breaking their necks against the grid of their cages. So we can legitimately wonder what happens outside inspection days…

Mice are the first victims of animal testing. When they are not immediately killed as part of the protocols, they are subjected to cruel experiments. In Paris laboratories, some are kept alone in cages devoid of any form of enrichment. However, internationally renowned scientists such as those at the Institut Pasteur should know that mice are social animals, made to live in groups. And when experiments come to a halt, researchers desert them : every weekend, every holiday, the animals are left unattended, left to their own devices.

Write to Institut Pasteur !

Despite repeated disastrous inspection reports and a temporary suspension of Institut Pasteur’s accreditation, the center continues to carry out controversial experiments on the animals under its responsibility every day.

If, like three quarters of French people, you are in favor of replacing animal experimentation (One Voice/Ipsos April 2023) with alternative methods, write to Institut Pasteur !

This French flagship has a duty to be at the forefront of the moral and scientific developments so eagerly awaited by society.

One Voice files a civil case for Mirsou, a young cat violently killed

One Voice files a civil case for Mirsou, a young cat violently killed
06.12.2024
Seine-Saint-Denis
One Voice files a civil case for Mirsou, a young cat violently killed
Domestic animals

His name was Mirsou. In December 2023, the little white and ginger cat was killed by the now ex-partner of the woman with whom he had been living peacefully in an apartment in the Seine-Saint-Denis region. His life lasted less than two years, cut short by a violence that spares neither humans nor animals. To demand justice on his behalf, we will be present at the trial of his torturer at the Bobigny legal tribunal, on Monday December 9 at 1pm.

On December 24, 2023, Mirsou died violently. That evening, the woman who had been taking care of him had entrusted him to the man who was still her partner. But in the middle of the evening, he called to tell her that Mirsou had escaped. Panicked, she immediately decided to return home without telling him, determined to find her cat. There, she came face to face with the man in the middle of a cleaning operation, with a strong smell of bleach, his gloves stained with blood… Very upset, her first and only thought was to look for Mirsou. Perhaps he was hiding in a corner of the apartment, waiting for her to return ? There was still hope. Suddenly, however, she caught her companion abruptly leaving the apartment with plastic bags and rushing to the elevator. Chasing after him, she managed to stop him before he had disposed of the bags in the trash can area.

And… And then came the shock : the woman discovered the inert body of her little protégé, completely soaked. In tears, she nevertheless managed to find a veterinary surgeon on duty to entrust him with his remains in the middle of the night. The autopsy carried out a few days later revealed that the torture Mirsou had undergone could only have been fatal : two broken fangs, dislocated upper jaw, haematoma and blood clots in the throat…

Recognizing the link between violence against animals and violence against humans : a vital emergency

Devastated by Mirsou’s death and the torture he endured, his human companion filed a complaint for acts of cruelty and serious abuse resulting in the death of an animal, and asked us to help her obtain justice. We said yes immediately. For Mirsou and all the other abused animals, we will continue to fight so that such acts are recognized in the light of their atrocity. To defend our companions, abjectly beaten and sometimes killed by individuals of whom they are rarely the only victim, and to recognize the link between acts committed against humans and animals, sign our petition.

On Monday December 9, at 1pm, we’ll be at the Bobigny legal tribunal to support the plaintiff after filing a civil case and speak out on behalf of Mirsou and all animals who are victims of human violence.

Whether Marineland closes or not, the orcas stay and the assessment continues

Whether Marineland closes or not, the orcas stay and the assessment continues
05.12.2024
Antibes
Whether Marineland closes or not, the orcas stay and the assessment continues
Dolphinariums
Press release

Closure of Marineland or not, the announcement made by the dolphinarium on the eve of the expected decision by the Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal – a pitiful attempt to influence the judge’s opinion – won’t change a thing. The judicial assessment for Wikie and Keijo, which the marine park has always tried to obstruct, will indeed go ahead to its conclusion, as confirmed by the Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal today. This is the third setback in a row for the dolphinarium, which has never been willing to accept One Voice’s offer to discuss a solution that would benefit the marine mammals and other animals in its establishment.

We could be delighted that Marineland is closing its doors… The announcement on December 4, 2024, and set for January 5, 2025, had the effect of a bombshell. Indeed, the public’s disaffection for shows displaying animal distress has only been confirmed over the years, thanks to studies on the sensitivity and intelligence of the giants of the seas, and the assiduous work of associations who have never ceased to communicate this information to as many people as possible. But this closure also means announced tragedies for all captive animals, fish, sea lions, seals, dolphins, orcas… We can neither applaud nor stop fighting for them. The media hype around the 2021 law, then the announcements of the marine parks, Asterix then Marineland, cannot hide the reality of the life experiences of those who are most concerned.

Marineland wanted to send the exploited orcas wherever and whenever the dolphinarium decided…

The Minister of Ecological Transition has announced it, and her decision will stand : Wikie and Keijo will not be sent to a hotel complex in Kōbé, Japan. A recent resounding victory for the association, and a slap in the face for Asia’s captivity industry, the world’s only developing one.

The park fought tooth and nail to avoid an expert assessment it did not want under any circumstances.

The other breakthrough was that on November 15, 2024, our request to extend the expert assessment to the two surviving orcas, Wikie and Keijo, was accepted by the Grasse court. It was essential for us to guarantee that the findings on the orcas’ state of health would be maintained, despite the disappearance of Inouk and Moana. What was self-evident in principle had to be confirmed in law, at the risk of the expert assessment coming to an end as it became irrelevant from the death of these two males of the family, for whom we were alerting the whole world long before 2019, even before the vote on the law against animal abuse !

As things stand, Wikie and Keijo cannot be shipped abroad

On December 5, in yet another setback for the captivity industry – and a magnificent victory for One Voice – the orcas will not be moved until the veterinary experts appointed by the legal tribunal in Grasse issue their report, whether or not the doors are open to spectators. This confirms that the judicial assessment is central in this case to assess the health of the two animals and the place they’re being held at.

Once again, what seemed self-evident (a high-risk transfer is not carried out if there is a suspicion of ill-being) is confirmed by the voice of the judges. Otherwise, the operators would have stepped into the breach.

Brought to light, the park’s hypocrisy is no longer in doubt

It’s written in black and white in the report commissioned by the French Ministry of Ecology, and underlined at the hearing on October 29, 2024 in Aix-en-Provence : Marineland had thought of evading the court ruling ! We had to take absolutely all the necessary measures to guarantee that the orcas would remain on site.

Marineland can’t just walk away. Should Marineland nevertheless fail to comply, the court also confirmed the dissuasive fine imposed by the Grasse court.

[The content of the IGEDD report] sheds a particular light on its counterclaim for a reduction in the fine. Extract from the ruling of the Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal (on the amount of the penalty)

The court also had a few particularly touching words to say about the nature of animals, which cannot be considered as objects. The industry cannot consider them as part of a whole to be liquidated :

If it amounts to hindering SAS Marineland’s right of ownership, which must, as a matter of principle, be relativized when it concerns living beings. Extract from the ruling of the Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal

These two orcas are now the only thing that matters, and everything must be done in their best interests and with regard to their health.

This delay, obtained in spite of the pseudo-Cassandras and sparing no effort, allows us to look to the future with a little more hope. We reiterate our call and our invitation to the authorities and to the company that owns Marineland, Parques Reunidos, to discuss together the best possible future for this mother and her son, who have seen their whole family decimated : a marine sanctuary, despite the risks that this project entails. For another dolphinarium would guarantee immeasurable suffering until death. It’s worth it every time.

Waterfowl illegally bred for hunting : One Voice takes up the cause

Waterfowl illegally bred for hunting : One Voice takes up the cause
04.12.2024
Somme
Waterfowl illegally bred for hunting : One Voice takes up the cause
Hunting

In Ponthoile, in the Somme region, an illegal waterfowl farm operated for over ten years. The owner of the establishment, who sold these animals to hunters, flouted regulations and multiplied mistreatment the whole time. On December 5, we will be at the Amiens magistrates’ court as part of a civil case to defend the victims.

The list of facts uncovered by the French National Forest Office (OFB) investigators is as long as your arm. Since at least 2011, the farmer – a chemical products operator by profession – has not only trampled over the regulatory procedures to run his parallel business : he has also inflicted the worst forms of cruelty on the birds he has kept, amputating several phalanges of their wings to prevent them from flying, even though wing clipping is forbidden. Stuck on the ground, some of the geese and ducks mutilated by him (and intended to serve as decoy-birds to attract wild waterfowl for the benefit of hunters) sometimes died, overcome by suffering, abandoned on the ground. It didn’t matter : their torturer disposed of the bodies by throwing them straight into the household garbage can… or into a park to hide them from inspections.

Animals mistreated and regulations flouted

In fact, the man didn’t give a damn about them. His operation, which he ran for a long time without the slightest authorization, never ceased to be illegal, even after a supposed “regularization” in 2014. He kept 3,011 birds locked up, instead of the 1,300 authorized. Some of them belonged to species he shouldn’t have even kept. Some others had been captured in their natural environment with a view to being sold to clandestine structures, resulting in under-the-counter transactions. Finally, all of them were exposed to the risk of disease, as their jailer, who had no training in biosecurity, had obviously not implemented any preventive measures or serological monitoring. Failure to keep breeding registers, falsification of animal traceability documents, water pollution… complete this charming picture.

On Thursday December 5, at 2pm, we’ll be the voice of the waterfowl victims of this unscrupulous operator in the Amiens magistrates’ court.

Illustration photo from a One Voice investigation in a decoy-ducks farm.

One Voice takes legal action to preserve nature in a town in the Indre-et-Loire region

One Voice takes legal action to preserve nature in a town in the Indre-et-Loire region
27.11.2024
Indre-et-Loire
One Voice takes legal action to preserve nature in a town in the Indre-et-Loire region
Nature

In Luynes, environmental damage is multiplying. The Indre-et-Loire town knowingly allows everyone from businesses to circus performers to damage its territory, increasing the risk of flooding, polluting the soil, destroying the flora, endangering animals… In the face of such acts, and thanks to Anticor 41, our partner on this case and provider of the original information, we are filing a complaint against those responsible, starting with the mayor.

The town of Luynes is inhabited by many animals who gather there: skylarks, great cormorants, squirrels, badgers… and so many others, like the many birds that theoretically find refuge in this Natura 2000 Zone – known as the Special Protection Area (SPA) of the Loire Valley in the Indre-et-Loire region – a haven of peace. You’d be tempted to think that they’d be living in peace and quiet, surrounded by greenery. Not so. Since 2012, the Georget circus has settled close to the SPA thanks to an agreement signed with the town council. At the end of 2022, it even used its good relations with the mayor to obtain an unauthorized cleaning of the Petite Bresme stream… significantly increasing the risk of flooding. A crime that should never have gone unpunished. And yet: in July 2024, the circus performers saw their partnership with the town renewed. As if nothing had happened…

Luynes launches an attack on… biodiversity

Not far away, from September 12 to 15, the ninth edition of the “Luynes à l’assaut de l’Amérique” festival did even better. For four days, no fewer than 50,000 people trampled happily on a natural area. To accommodate them, trees had been illegally cut down to create paths and sites for tents and other activities, completely destroying ecosystems and bird habitats. To get there, the organizers had thought of everything: all the 4×4s and other military vehicles had to do was cross the ford of the Petite Bresme. And so much the worse if this flouted the Environmental Code, damaging the banks of the river and the shelter of the animals. Added to all this was an illegal electrical connection at the heart of nature and, icing on the cake, the disposal of festival-goers’ waste water… in a ditch.

Destruction everywhere, in the woods…

In the Les Pins industrial zone, this time it was a wood that had been completely destroyed, even though it was protected by the town local urban masterplan (PLU). No matter: the owner of the site set fire to his plot and got rid of the vegetation that bothered him, without any authorization whatsoever. To avoid any problems, the town council was quick to accommodate the perpetrator, retroactively “regularizing” the situation and revising its PLU to lift the zone’s protection. Once again, out of sight, out of mind.

… and in wetlands

Last but not least, a pond has been wiped off the map and replaced by a land destined for landfill, for the love of the Dérichebourg company. Here, wooden pallets that should be recycled are abandoned in the wild without authorization, to the detriment of the water tables and the flora and fauna of this wetland turned landfill, without any controls ever being carried out.

In the name of the damaged ecosystems in Luynes, and of all the animals that find refuge there and are systematically sacrificed on the altar of human interests, we are lodging a complaint against the town’s mayor, the managers of the Georget circus, those in charge of the “Luynes à l’assaut de l’Amérique” festival and the Dérichebourg company.

For wolves threatened by the European Union : vote on December 3 at the Council of Europe

For wolves threatened by the European Union: vote on December 3 at the Council of Europe
28.11.2024
Strasbourg
For wolves threatened by the European Union : vote on December 3 at the Council of Europe
Wildlife
Press release

On September 25, the European Union accepted European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s proposal to downgrade the protection status of wolves from « strictly protected » to « protected ». This decision will be put to the vote of the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention on Tuesday December 3. Time is running out for these vulnerable animals, which have their rightful place in the wild.

One Voice is calling for a general mobilization to defend them, as the next few days will be crucial !

Wolves are decidedly the « pet peeves » to be slaughtered. The farming and hunting lobbies – over-powerful in our country – have put enough pressure on the European Union to demand that they be downgraded from the list of strictly protected species in the Bern Convention, in order to kill them more and more. This decision, which is likely to be adopted on December 3, is both ethically and scientifically scandalous.

The European Commission has provided no arguments to « justify » such a relentless attack on animals that are the guarantors of biodiversity, and whose numbers remain extremely fragile. There are only political reasons at work : the aim is to buy peace with farmers. Nothing else.

Scapegoats

Constantly targeted by livestock farmers, wolves have become their punching bags, as if they were the main culprits behind economic difficulties beyond their control. Yet farmers can benefit from financial support in many ways to coexist peacefully with wolves. But few professionals take the trouble to implement these measures. They prefer to cry or rant when some of their ewes are attacked when unprotected and… destined for the slaughterhouse.

In France, prefects are already granting illegal authorizations to shoot wolves with their eyes closed, without even looking to see if any means of protection have actually been implemented. The laissez-faire attitude is such that the Coordination rurale de Haute-Vienne syndicate is even inciting to poach wild canids. Hatred is no longer even concealed : on the contrary, it’s claimed ! When you think about it, wolves are responsible for only 0.15% of sheep losses, while losses due to other factors (transport accidents, falls, disease, etc.) are ten times higher.

In addition to the unfounded hatred of breeders, there is that of hunters who have no qualms about accusing wolves of stealing « their » prey! It’s well known that there’s no better guardian of nature than a human with a gun…

Downgrading decried by the scientific community and public opinion

While more than 4 out of 5 French people believe that the return of wolves to our country represents a real benefit for biodiversity (according to our just-published Ipsos/One Voice survey – November 2024), a global scientific consensus is emerging on the dangers and illegitimacy of reducing their protection. Over 500 European researchers and academics from a wide range of disciplines have signed two declarations opposing their downgrading by the Bern Convention. The Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe is also opposed to it, expressing its concern that no significant increase in either wolf numbers or damage to livestock has yet been observed.

At the same time, an article written by a specialist in cohabitation with wolves has been signed by numerous scientists, academics and eminent personalities, and distributed and supported by the CAP Loup collective, of which we are a member.

Believing the absurdities hammered home by the farming lobby, the decision to downgrade wolf protection under the Bern Convention would also flout public opinion by ignoring the many alerts issued by civil society, including that of three hundred associations, including One Voice, sent out at the initiative of the European Environmental Bureau in September. According to our survey, nearly 70% of French people do not want the European Union to downgrade the status of wolves from « strictly protected » to « protected ».

Several actions are planned next week to defend wolves : join us !

After co-signing with several European NGOs an open letter to the Secretary of the Bern Convention and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, and independently sending letters to Monaco and Andorra urging them not to accept the downgrading, One Voice will be present in front of the Council of Europe on December 3 from 2pm to 4pm with its French and international partners^1.

We have set up a coordinated national action by our volunteers « Will wolf protection soon be lifted ? Stop the massacre ! » from November 23 to December 7. Rallies are planned in a dozen towns across France.

If you can’t join us in Strasbourg or any of the other French towns where our campaigners will be present, you can of course sign our petition for the wolves.

We also invite you to take part in the #RespectPourLoups campaign on X, by sharing a daily tweet setting the record straight on French people’s opinion on wolves:

The majority of French people say that tales and legends have influenced their perception of wolves, and 65% are aware that these representations don’t really coincide with reality. #RespectPourLoups @IpsosFrance https://one-voice.fr/news/enquete-sur-lopinion-des-francais-a-legard-des-loups/
More than 8 out of 10 French people consider that the presence of wolves in France does not represent a risk to themselves and their families. #RespectPourLoups @IpsosFrance https://one-voice.fr/news/enquete-sur-lopinion-des-francais-a-legard-des-loups/
Wolves are essential to ecosystems: 81% of French people think that the return of wolves to France represents a real benefit for biodiversity. #RespectPourLoups @IpsosFrance https://one-voice.fr/news/enquete-sur-lopinion-des-francais-a-legard-des-loups/
Respondents are fiercely opposed to measures jeopardizing the conservation of wolves in France: 83% of French people are against the total eradication of wolves in France. #RespectPourLoups @IpsosFrance https://one-voice.fr/news/enquete-sur-lopinion-des-francais-a-legard-des-loups/
84% of French people deplore the fact that wolf attacks happen against unprotected flocks or flocks that lack effective protection. #RespectPourLesLoups @IpsosFrance https://one-voice.fr/news/enquete-sur-lopinion-des-francais-a-legard-des-loups/
AGAINST the downgrading of wolves : 86% of French people do not want the European Union to downgrade the protection status of wolves, as this would lead to a relaxation of regulations for killing them #RespectPourLoups @IpsosFrance https://one-voice.fr/news/enquete-sur-lopinion-des-francais-a-legard-des-loups/

1 – Action partners :

269 Life France
AAC – Animal Activism Collective
AJAS
Alliance Ethique
Animal Alliance Network
Animal Cross
Animal Friends Croatia
Animal Liberation Malta
Animal Save Colmar
Animal Save France
Animal Save Global
Animal Save Sète
Animaux et Humains
ASPA Vosges
ASPAS
AVES France
Casa Vegana
Collectif Renard et Blaireau
CRAC Europe
Diffusion V Luxembourg
Dominion Australie
Dominion France
DxE Ciudad de Mexico
Education Ethique Animale
Ethics for animal
Eurogroup for Animals
FAADA
Férus
Focale pour le sauvage
Free life
Gaia
Galop
HSI
IFAW
La voix des loups
LAEO France (Association TERRE Lawrence Anthony)
Legambiente
Luontoliiton susiryhmä – The Wolf Action Group
PACCT
PAZ
Plant Based Treatment France
Plant Based Treatment Global
Pôle Grand Prédateur
SIPE
Un jour un chasseur
Vegan Life Athen
VSL – Vegan Society Luxembourg

Survey on French opinion on wolves

Survey on French opinion on wolves
28.11.2024
France
Survey on French opinion on wolves
Wildlife An Ipsos study for One Voice (November 2024)

On December 3, 2024, the day the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention votes on the European Commission’s proposal to lower protection for wolves throughout the Union (the species would thus lose its “strictly protected” status), One Voice is organizing an international unitary event with a number of its partners abroad and at home. This gathering is part of a coordinated national campaign to raise public awareness of these animals in a dozen towns and cities across metropolitan France. Indeed, there are many common preconceptions about wolves, and calls to poach them are now even commonplace among certain farming unions…

French people are not so worried about wolves, which they see as essential to French biodiversity…

A minority of French people are anxious about wolves. Only 32% fear their presence in France, and 8% say they are very worried. This figure is stable overall, depending on the respondent’s gender and area of residence.

Logically, the French respondents also significantly affirm that the presence of wolves in France does not represent a risk to themselves and their families (82%). Men are slightly more fearful of wolves (21% vs. 15% for women). This lack of fear can be explained by the fact that most French people are aware that wolves tend to avoid humans (80%).

Wolves are useful animals in the eyes of the French. They agree that these wild animals play an important role in the balance of the ecosystem (82%), and that they have a rightful place in France’s natural environment (86%). Convinced of the usefulness of wolves, the majority of French people (81%) consider that the return of wolves to France represents a real benefit for biodiversity.

Respondents are fiercely opposed to measures that would jeopardize the conservation of wolves in France…

The findings are clear: 83% of French people are against the total eradication of wolves in France. Only 6% are completely in favor. 83% are in favor of banning the shooting of species in a poor state of conservation, and 69% want to ban exemptions allowing lethal shooting of wolves.

On a national scale, 73% of those questioned consider it unacceptable for the French State to shoot animals from protected species such as wolves, simply because they may represent a risk to livestock farming.

On a European scale, 68% of French people do not want the status of wolves to be changed from “strictly protected” to “protected” by the European Union, as this would lead to a relaxation of regulations for culling them.

The majority of French people claim that wolves are not aggressive and that they prey on unprotected flocks

The majority of French people agree that wolves are not aggressive animals (56%). In the absence of effective protection of livestock herds by their breeders, 84% of French people deplore wolf attacks on unprotected flocks.

In order to protect the flocks as much as possible from wolf attacks, the French would like to see breeders take greater responsibility. They are largely in favor of farmers being more obliged to implement protection measures for their flocks (87%). In the same vein, 85% of French people want farmers to be compensated by public funds if, and only if, they implement measures to protect their herds (human presence, enclosures, dogs, etc.).

The survey was carried out by the Ipsos Institute from October 30 to November 4, 2024 among 1,000 people, constituting a representative national sample of the French population aged 18 to 75. The sample was surveyed online via the Ipsos Access Panel Online (Quota method: gender, age, profession of respondent, area of residence category, region).

Read the full survey Read the full survey Read the full survey Read the full survey Read the full survey Read the full survey Read the full survey Read the full survey Read the full survey Read the full survey

Nantes University : silence on the fate of baboons held in its labs

Nantes University : silence on the fate of baboons held in its labs
28.11.2024
Nantes
Nantes University : silence on the fate of baboons held in its labs
Animal testing

The battle against the Large Animal Laboratory (LGA) at the University of Nantes is far from over. It has taken a year of procedure to receive only part of the documents it is legally obliged to provide. Despite regular speeches advocating transparency in terms of animal testing, the Nantes university remains opaque as to the fate of the primates at the heart of its labs…

Nevertheless, the files we have obtained reveal the appalling fate of seven young baboons… One Voice remains mobilized to gather answers and put an end to this silence !

Photo credit: Cruelty Free International

Satiric, Sheila, Simio and the others arrived between September 2022 and April 2023 at the Large Animal Laboratory (LGA) at the University of Nantes. However, the establishment refuses to reveal what happens to them inside. All we know is that the LGA is renowned for specializing in experimental surgery, particularly in the field of organ transplantation… We can only imagine what they go through every day…

Young and already broken by experimentation

Subjected to grueling experiments from an early age, baboons endure forced feeding, respiratory arrest and other tests provoking extreme levels of distress. Young “Stabilotte” even vomits during experiments, while others panic and try to escape the testing machines in which their bodies are trapped. They are so desperate to escape that four-month-old Shade has already tried to escape through the drainpipes. It was only after the weekend that this attempt was discovered by the employees. Proof, if proof were needed, that animals are left to their fate for days on end.

At just 2 years of age, the animal the experimenters thought amusing to name Satiric is already showing worrying signs of physical deterioration. All of them, physically weakened by repeated experimentation, are suffering from rickets, limping or losing their hair to the point of baldness.

Help us find out what the University of Nantes is doing to them !

Despite all these alarming signs, and as if the ordeal they have already endured were not enough, the seven young baboons have been purchased by the University of Nantes to be subjected to further experiments…

Pending receipt of the additional documents we have requested in order to learn more about their fate at the Laboratoire des Grands Animaux in Nantes, we remain mobilized on their behalf.

If, like one in five French people, you are shocked by experiments on primates, join us : sign our petition for more ethical and transparent science. Together, let’s demand increased funding for alternative methods, and ultimately, an end to primate testing.

Illegal fishing in the Alpes-Maritimes region : One Voice defends injured birds in court

Illegal fishing in the Alpes-Maritimes region : One Voice defends injured birds in court
28.11.2024
Alpes-Maritimes
Illegal fishing in the Alpes-Maritimes region : One Voice defends injured birds in court
Wildlife

In Cagnes-sur-Mer, Saint-Laurent-du-Var and Villeneuve-Loubet in the Alpes-Maritimes region, birds are falling victim to fishermen. Every day, in environments where it is forbidden to attack fish, gulls, swans, flamingos and black-headed gulls are injured by abandoned nets and hooks, sometimes causing the death of these protected animals. On their behalf, we are filing a complaint against a person unknown with the Grasse legal tribunal.

On the Côte d’Azur coastline, biodiversity is theoretically kept safe in many areas, starting with the large birds who populate these lands. Some, such as gulls, swans, flamingos and black-headed gulls, are particularly vulnerable and protected by European and national legislation. Clearly visible signs indicate the rules to be respected. But fishermen don’t care. Whether in the protected areas of Saint-Laurent-du-Var and Cagnes-sur-Mer, or on the coastline of Villeneuve-Loubet, where their deadly pastime is forbidden, they never hesitate to take out their rods. Not content with being outside the law and taking fish’s lives, they also litter nature with waste. Nets, hooks… everything is left behind. And the birds pay a high price.

“Protected” areas turned into places of death

Every day, the gulls, swans, flamingos and black-headed gulls of the Alpes-Maritimes region struggle to feed themselves, due to the pressure exerted on their environment by fishermen. Every day, they are seen caught in nets that sever their legs, with lures stuck in their beaks or with hooks piercing their flesh, when they don’t swallow them… And all this with total indifference on the part of the fishermen, who don’t bother to rescue them, leaving them to struggle desperately in the meshes they have left adrift. Rescues are carried out without them. Veterinarians take care of animals in distress, sometimes in agony. The severity of their injuries means they cannot always be kept alive. Some succumb in excruciating pain, eaten away by infection or gangrene, or strangled by thread, like this young swan who didn’t have time to grow.

For all the fish and birds illegally killed by lovers of this cruel pastime, we are filing a complaint with the legal tribunal in Grasse and calling for the rules that are supposed to allow animals to live in peace to be respected.

Mandral case: five years later, the abusive breeder is brought to justice

Mandral case: five years later, the abusive breeder is brought to justice
26.11.2024
Mandral case: five years later, the abusive breeder is brought to justice
Domestic animals

After years of mobilization, investigations and legal proceedings, breeder-hunter Richard Mandral will finally face the judges. From the Dordogne to the Haute-Vienne region, our investigations have documented the horror he inflicted on his dogs for years. Today, we expect to see a fitting punishment meted out to the man who for too long has benefited from the complacency of the State and the justice system. Hearing on November 29, 2024 at 8:45 a.m. at the Limoges legal tribunal, where we will be as plaintiff.

In the Dordogne region: horror for dogs and carelessness on the part of State services

It was in 2019 that we first came across the dogs kept by Richard Mandral in the Dordogne region: tied up in chains or left to their own devices in muddy enclosures, locked in carcasses of vehicles or cages. At the time, over a hundred of them lay amidst bones, the weakest devoured by the others, starving, injured or sick. Despite an immediate complaint, the breeder-hunter received only a suspended fine for failing to reduce the size of his pack after a formal notice to limit it to 45 dogs.

Subsequently, the Dordogne authorities consistently refused to seize the dogs, despite their own findings as well as our images and the evidence gathered during the rescue of 16 of them. Faced with our numerous complaints and requests, until 2023, the authorities passed the buck, some considering that it was up to the legal tribunal to act, others believing that the situation of the dogs was the responsibility of the administration and therefore of the administrative court.

Richard Mandral, for his part, didn’t wait for everyone to come to an agreement: he had left the area a long time ago!

In the Haute-Vienne region, to flee and start again: for an exemplary sentence!

We tracked him down in October 2021 in the Haute-Vienne region and immediately alerted the authorities. With a new region, a new prefecture and a new court, the whole procedure had to start from scratch. It took two and a half years before the Haute-Vienne prefecture finally ordered a seizure. We worked hand in hand with them to find placement solutions for all the dogs mistreated by Richard Mandral.

On March 4, 2024, we were on the spot to get them out of there (nearly seventy). Thirty-five were entrusted to us and placed in partner shelters, while the others were taken in by various organizations. The frightening veterinary findings revealed a lack of care for all the dogs: dirty coats, scabs, alopecia, infestation by numerous parasites: fleas, ticks, ear mange, thinness, bloody diarrhea, sagging teats, loose, worn or broken teeth…

After getting them back on their feet, most of the dogs were adopted. They discover the warmth of a home, the softness of a sofa, the tenderness of kind-hearted humans, the joy of walks and full bowls. “Hunting” dogs are dogs just like the others. Sign our petition so they can finally enjoy the same protection.

To ensure that Richard Mandral never re-offends, we will be present at his trial on November 29, 2024 at 8:45 am at the Limoges legal tribunal. He will be on trial for “mistreatment of animals placed in his care by the operator of an establishment holding animals” and “continued operation of a classified installation subject to declaration not in compliance with a formal notice”. We are calling for a total ban on keeping animals against the man who has made them suffer for decades, and we are not forgetting the birds, rabbits, sheep and goats who remained at his home after the seizure, which only concerned dogs.