One Voice files a complaint for libel against Gircor, the animal experimentation lobby
After months of pushing the boundaries, it’s taken the plunge. Two weeks ago, Gircor, the communication arm and lobby for animal experimentation, crossed the line with a defamatory post about One Voice. According to Gircor, we are seeking to “manipulate public opinion” by relying “on emotion to create a buzz”. With his unsubstantiated assertions, distortions of our statements and attacks on the association’s reputation, it falls straight into the realm of defamation. We have lodged a complaint with the Paris judicial court and requested a right of reply.
This latest fact-checking is no better than the previous ones, that reacted to our reports on primates and dogs. As usual, there are no links to our investigation into the Mauritian macaque farms, only extracts (“some flagrant examples of misinformation”, it seems) taken out of context to be better criticized. As for our images, they are labelled “misleading”, “lies” or “staged”.
Some (poorly) chosen pieces
The award for absurdity goes to the criticism of one of the shots: “by choosing a particular moment and camera angle, One Voice would have us believe that this is the macaques’ daily life”. However, on this shot, the first words are: “So every six months”.
Besides, the lobby is generally content to make assertions without proof. This is particularly embarrassing when it mentions AAALAC, described by Gircor as “an international non-profit organization that promotes excellence in animal welfare in science”. The idea is that, since the farm we’re talking about is accredited, it would somehow by definition respect regulations and “animal welfare”. In reality, the only independent study on the subject, published in 2014, showed that laboratories accredited by the aforementioned organization infringed regulations even more than the others!
From easy claims to unfounded accusations
Faced with the fact that the Macaca fascicularis species was declared “endangered” in 2022 (in Asia, which we clearly announced in our investigation), the so-called “fact-checking” states that Mauritian macaques are invasive. This is based on a 2007 ranking that has not been re-evaluated since, and which explicitly states that capturing monkeys for experimentation is not an appropriate solution. A fill-in-the-gaps kind of reading, therefore.
But things are becoming more problematic with repeated attributions of malicious intent on our part. We are said to have lied about various elements, to have tried to “cover our tracks”, to have staged a sequence where the monkeys are being intimidated… These are serious allegations, especially as they are false!
Defamation and right of reply
Despite the pretense of linguistic precautions, the conclusion of their article drives the point home: “Affirming, deceiving, lying, idealizing and, above all, staging seem to be the leitmotifs of this new ‘investigation’ by One Voice”. The nuance between “seem to be” and “are” – also present in the English version of their post (which considerably broadens their audience) – doesn’t convince anyone.
We dare to hope that, in view of all these remarks, the Paris judicial court, to which we have filed a complaint for defamation, will not be fooled by these false precautions. In the meantime, we have requested a right of reply.