Animal pounds: when public money is used for mass slaughter of animals, as at the SACPA in Betton

Their names were Rocky, Mika, Jazz, others didn’t even have names. They were killed legally, with our tax money. A few weeks ago, we reported on the disastrous management of the SACPA in Vaux-le-Pénil. The management was quick to deny the allegations and even announced in the press that it would be filing a complaint against the whistleblower and One Voice. Today, witnesses to the atrocities perpetrated daily on our companions by this same group in Betton, near Rennes, are speaking out in their turn. “I can’t count the number of times on my way to work that I wanted to cry, vomit, turn back… I was… afraid of the euthanasias…” We are filing a complaint and demanding that the group be removed from the management of this pound.

The testimonies we have received are chilling. Animals being brutalised by those in charge, some arriving injured and left without care to die in agony, ‘euthanasia’ protocols of unprecedented cruelty, carried out without prior sedation for cats, causing them to die in excruciating pain. Others placed alive in the quartering freezers. Illegal detention of wild animals. All this in dilapidated premises. The pound in Betton, which is under public contract, is funded by more than 200 towns in Ille-et-Vilaine.

Mr A then lassoed the dog, which wasn't even struggling and was stuck at the back of its kennel, terrified. I will never forget the look in its eyes... I left the scene in tears.

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When public money is used to neglect, mistreat and kill

In France, the management of stray animals is financed by the municipal waste budget. Municipalities are required to enter into a public service contract with an animal pound and to pay it an annual subsidy. When a stray dog or cat is captured, it is taken behind closed doors, and for some, it is in this dark and cold place that they spend their last days before receiving a lethal injection to the heart. All of this is perfectly legal and paid for by the taxpayers. This is the method France has chosen to ‘regulate’ strays and abandoned animals…

“I have horrible memories”

The employees themselves are victims of this system. “They make us swallow our empathy with blows of ‘if you want to save animals, this is not the place to work'”. When they denounce the abuse, they are ignored. Sometimes they are even ‘punished’ by their superiors who use euthanasia as a sanction:

One day, a cat escaped from her cage and had kittens (they were healthy, except for one which had a completely treatable coryza and was eating on its own). The kittens were euthanised to punish the people who had not closed the cage door properly! Mr A and Mr B then said, "That will teach you to be more careful next time".

Our latest research has enabled us to compile a non-exhaustive list of 243 animal pounds in France. However, there is currently no public register that records their official number at a national level. How is it possible that the State is unable to provide clear and accurate figures of the number of animals that enter and leave these facilities nor in which condition? Are they returned to their families, transferred to a shelter, or put down? Concealing the extent of these reprehensible practices is the best way to ensure their continuation and for the SACPA to reap scandalous profits.

We are filing a complaint against the managers of the establishment, the veterinarian who works there, and the SACPA group for the following offences:

– Operating a dog and cat boarding facility without complying with the standards governing premises and facilities, an offence provided for and punishable under Article R. 215-5 of the Rural and Maritime Fishing Code (CRPM)

– The offence of deliberately mistreating animals in their care, as provided for in Articles L.214-3 and R.214-17 of the CRPM and punishable under Article L. 215-11 of the CRPM

– The offence of serious mistreatment and acts of cruelty towards a domestic or tame animal, provided for and punishable under Article 521-1 of the Criminal Code

– The offence of wilful harm to the life of an animal, provided for and punishable under Article 522-1 of the Criminal Code

– The offence of psychological harassment of employees, provided for and punishable under Article 222-33-2 of the Criminal Code.

We are calling for an investigation to be initiated, and for the public contract awarded to this service provider for the pound in Betton to be withdrawn.

Sign our petition calling for an end to these massacres and demanding complete transparency regarding the fate of abandoned animals.