Our complaint for Mevy is rejected, we file an appeal
We are determined to get justice for Mevy, shot by her trainer in Paris for simply wanting to be free.
After the tigress fled the circus that had held her since birth and she eventually found freedom in the streets of Paris at the end of November 2017. She was shot by her trainer who was armed with a pump action shotgun in the middle of Paris. We file an appeal with the prosecutor of the Court of Appeal of Paris against the classification of our complaint for the wilful taking of the life of an animal and mistreatment of an animal held in captivity. We also request access to the documents in the file.
Again a nauseating truck ride, in which is found the cage that is her main view of the horizon, Mevy, the young tigress barely 18 months old finds a breach in this cage. In fact, an open door. It was cold that November evening. A time to stretch your legs, for a tiger, whose natural territory can match the surface area of several Parisian districts … Mevy took a few steps, sniffed the air. She sensed the smell of freedom that was the Parisian air, however spoiled by vehicle pollution … But during those few minutes that were unfortunately her last, Mevy was finally free. She then decided her movements, made choices; she crossed a street and headed towards a green space as evening fell. She heard confusedly the noises around her. Her trainer approached, he no longer had his whip but instead a shotgun to kill her.
Tigers just like other animals have no place in circuses!
In Asia, where 3500 tigers still live free, they are killed by trophy hunters, and by people who fear them. Their species is disappearing from the surface of the world, which makes them eligible to be listed on the CITES list as a species in great danger of extinction. Why do so many of them still live behind bars in circuses, to experience homelessness and the constraints of the dressage, the ultimate humiliation? Wild animals are exhibited in front of an audience mainly composed of children. What image does it give them of these sentient beings, and the attitude of humans towards them? A spectacle of domination, this is just that.
Pump action shot gun shooting in Paris, no alternative?
The “circuses” decree of the 18th of March 2011 stipulates all the rules that circuses must comply with if they want to keep and exploit animals. Mevy’s cage was open, she came out, and it was because of human error that people were put in danger and that is why the tigress was shot. Do we really want to continue to take these risks?
Immediately after Mevy’s death, we filed a lawsuit against the circus for wilfully taking an animal’s life and abusing an animal held in captivity. The trainer also the owner of the circus which was located in a Paris business zone was in possession of a certificate of capacity allowing him to exploit Mevy. He should have put in place all the guarantees of security and safety for his animals and that of the public living in the surrounding area of the circus. Did he do this? We doubt it. Was it not possible to have tranquilised Mevy instead of killing her with a shotgun at the time the offices were emptying? He says no, we doubt it. She paid the ultimate price.
One Voice will not stop there!
Our complaint has been dismissed. We challenge it and file an appeal with the prosecutor of the Court of Appeal of Paris, and we also request a copy of the investigation file to have access to all elements, hearings, circus safety plan, etc. We will not stop there!