For Maya, the Prefect has responded (largely) to our requests.
Save Maya: At the end of November, we try another way to get this elephant out of the circus. Our proposal: buy her.
At the end of November, we invited the circus and their lawyer to look at another way out of this situation, by proposing to buy Maya from them, to save her in another way than by the legal one.
No response back from them except perhaps from legal threats. The circus does not obviously seek anything for the well-being of this elephant! We would have praised their generosity, but no, they seem to be ready to just let her die slowly.
We received in the wake of these proceedings, an “urgent summons” demanding the withdrawal of any communication defending Maya on our online media platforms, papers, etc., and for an apology from us!
At the same time, the Prefect of Lot-et-Garonne had received the advice from many international experts that we had recently put together, as well as the two letters from leading French institutions for veterinarians; and she has also heard public opinion expressed through our mobilizations at every moment (the gatherings, the signatures of the petition #JusticePourMaya, and more generally by your presence on social network sites that are on our side). The parallel action of these two components had probably played a major role in the Prefect’s decision to order a new veterinary inspection.
We had written to her to ask her to take into account certain aspects of this inspection, and by the answer she gave us, it seems that we have been heard!
Given the legal situation, it is unfortunately impossible for us to say more. Even if our frustration and our impatience to all of this is strong, and that Maya is not yet free, we see this as a great step forward!