Maya kept on the road; it is with impunity that the circus does this
The inactivity of the administrative court and silence from the Prefecture: Maya is still on the roads of Europe, in a dark truck trailer of the circus.
Maya is still on the roads of Europe, in the dark truck trailer of the circus that has held her for decades. The lack of response from the administrative tribunal in the form of the rejection of our second appeal, and the silence from the Prefecture do not say anything good about the state of our society vis-à-vis the evident suffering of captive wild animals.
A Prefecture that has become mute
In her letter addressed to the circus at the beginning of March, the Prefect asked that he transmit to her within a fortnight the fixed place in which he intended to allow Maya to live. Knowing now after the veterinary expertise that she had ordered at our request had concluded in particular that “considering her advanced age, Maya requires a stable environment”. Conditions with longer breaks between shorter journeys. Against all odds, while the exchanges were maintained with the Prefecture, and since the deadline for the notice of the Prefecture to the circus has been exceeded, we no longer get answers. On the side of the state services, its radio silence!
An administrative court which considers that the facts are insufficient and that the State has already done enough.
The Administrative Court, for its part, says it has no proof that Maya is worse than in October 2017 according to our first appeal. He even considers that we cannot blame the Prefecture for remaining inactive or not having taken the necessary measures and ordering the expertise we have been asking for months. For him, the state of Maya has even improved, since she was seen by a veterinarian who removed an abscess of the hindquarters, and she spent some time (we do not know how long) in her “winter quarters.
Arielle Moreau, a consultant lawyer for One Voice, comments: “If lawyers began their careers with the defence of captive wild animals, it’s a safe bet that they would quit very quickly as it is so demoralizing! And this, coming from the law where we obtain the least favourable decisions, despite all objective elements that confirm situations of mistreatment and acts of cruelty”. Despite this passing disappointment, we do not intend to leave Maya in this situation.
It would be inconceivable to abandon Maya to this sad fate.
New steps will be taken to end this life of homelessness and suffering that has been imposed on Maya. We will provide real-time news of these actions.