Kennel in Vendée: yes, a request for an extension has been filed for 120 ‘hunting’ dogs!
In Vendée, a kennel for hunting with hounds has been keeping dozens of dogs illegally for several years.
A few weeks ago, we alerted the public to the plans to extend a dog kennel used for horse and hound hunting in Vendée. Faced with the owner’s denial, we are persisting: yes, a request for an extension has been filed with the prefecture. Whether the owner has finally given up on it or he is simply looking to comply with regulations, this changes nothing for the fact that he was well and truly unlawful until that point. And the dogs will be exploited for their whole lives like simple tools to be used in a type of hunting that spreads terror and suffering in forests.
After the publication of our article on the desire of a kennel owner to go from having around fifty to more than 120 dogs, the press relayed their version: he never wanted an extension, but simply wanted to follow regulations. An explanation that is not convincing and changes nothing for the fate reserved for the dogs.
A ‘non-existent’ extension… but which was indeed the subject of a request!
The owner stated: he did not want any increase in size for his kennel, only to comply with the law. As a reminder, since December 2021, a simple statement to the prefecture is enough to operate a kennel of between 1 and 49 dogs. For between 5 and 249, a stricter system is used: registration.
While the kennel in question was subject to the registration system, and therefore could not house more than 49 dogs, the owner said that he had…. 89! It therefore took many months for him to comply with the law.
Additionally, in the case file submitted for public consultation, the owner himself stated: “the registration request to be able to keep 120 dogs was made more than 4 months ago”. Going from 89 dogs – of which 40 were being kept illegally – to 120: is this not the exact definition of an extension? How could anyone know that 40 dogs were being kept illegally?
Dogs: simple tools to serve huntsmen
This kennel would be a paradise for dogs because it is clean and the animals are not shut up for the whole day but they get to come out for 1.5 to 2 hours per day. While living in 5 to 9 square metre spaces… This example should not make us forget the reality of hunting with hounds: famished dogs left abandoned in cages, in the mud, mistreated, almost everywhere in France, as we have been documenting for years.
Whatever the state of the kennel, the aim is the same: to exploit dogs to the limit so that huntsmen can chase after terrified animals for hours on end. The dogs are often injured, the deer try to escape at all costs, and their ordeal ends in a bloodbath with a hunter driving a dagger into their back. We will never abandon them without at least getting their voices heard!
Translated from the French by Joely Justice