News Archive - Page 106 of 145

New Song the valiant horse riddled with lead pellets!

New Song the valiant horse riddled with lead pellets!
24.12.2018
France
New Song the valiant horse riddled with lead pellets!
Domestic animals

Is it to scare and put pressure on a family (a human couple and their companions New Song the horse and his friend donkey) that the marsh which they own, has been the scene for a month of drama that nearly became a disaster? Or was it just a crude desire to make animals suffer? Destruction of the fences, setting fire to a shed, troughs overturned, then since that was not enough, the poor horse was targeted with fire! He paid with his health. One Voice goes to court for the New Song family: the culprits must be found and punished!

Since November 11^th, the horse New Song and the donkey who keeps him company have been harassed. The fence of their paddock was cut down, poles were broken, their troughs moved and turned upside-down … They were taken from their home by strangers who on several occasions sought to make them disappear. This stratagem did not have the expected result, a fire was then lit in the corner of the shed that serves as a shelter, fortunately it was quickly extinguished. But the wickedness of these people involved did not stop there: a few days later, the poor horse was hit twice by a rifle in his side and leg. Only 14 pieces of shot were removed out of 150 that hit the horse, this was recorded by the veterinarian who treated him urgently.

New Song had spent that morning with his human friends. But then two hours after their departure, gun shots riddled his body, scared, in pain, bleeding and soon to be overwhelmed by fatigue.

The veterinarian found swelling from an oedema and wounds, although New Song’s life is not at stake here, the pain and stress he has experienced is real. The life of the horse is forever upset. It will take at least a year to recover and cannot resume all its past activities. For our lawyer, « there is no doubt that the author of these facts was willing to inflict pain or even death of the horse, having fired point-blank twice at his flanks. »

We have therefore pressed charges for acts of cruelty against a tamed domestic animal with the public prosecutor at the Sables-d’Olonne High Court, and our Zoe Cell will also represent the family of New Song.

We do not know anything about the people involved at the moment, but all of these attacks which this family has suffered and who adore their animals can only raise questions and disgust. Whether it is to pressure and threaten them or whether New Song and the donkey caused any inconvenience to people in the neighbourhood, it is still unacceptable to target animals!

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Make ponies jump with a monkey on their backs

Make ponies jump with a monkey on their backs
21.12.2018
France
Make ponies jump with a monkey on their backs
Exploitation for shows

What are these ponies and this monkey doing in the circus ring? They are ridiculed and frightened. That’s enough! Animals have nothing to do in circuses!

In this circus, it is not only Jumbo who suffers … There is also a monkey and ponies that are exploited and exhibited all year long. Their place is not there, let’s continue to fight to have circuses without animals!

What are these poor animals doing in this place? What do these words mean, cage, truck and dressage? while the public who have followed our actions for twenty years, claim every day a stronger feeling towards an end to circuses with animals. Indeed, it’s been 20 years since we launched the campaign for circuses without animals, a birthday which would have been nice to celebrate.

A circus tent with animals, it’s all but a smoke screen. Only the circus people still believe in this hoax, or cynically seek to sell it to us. Sequins that sparkle, these are the psychological wounds that animals have engraved in their memories. They are reminded every day. To these memories are added the means of coercion – including physical means- used to break them from the inside.

What is festive about this show? Let’s ponder for a moment on how this monkey lives: trained not to move on the back of the pony while the latter runs, he knows that if he loses his grip he will fall – this must have already happened – and that he will then have to undergo again the training « to teach him » how to hold on better. Thus, even if he is afraid of noise, even if the crowd in the stands frightens him, he still must obey. As for the ponies, if they do not jump or run side by side, the whip will remind them what the trainer expects of them…

And here, we see only the tip of the iceberg. The rest of the time, the vast majority of the time, they see the world only through bars, in a totally urbanized universe, a world of permanent stress. And for animals, stress rhymes with risk to their health.

Fear burns them from within, their vitality is confiscated. They deserve something else from life. Animals must no longer be exploited and exhibited year-round until death ensues.

Let’s continue to fight for animal-free circuses! Please sign our petition to break their bars!

The capture of orcas and belugas in Russia is considered illegal!

The capture of orcas and belugas in Russia is considered illegal!
18.12.2018
Russie
The capture of orcas and belugas in Russia is considered illegal!
Wildlife

The ongoing orca and beluga whales for dolphinariums has just been stopped by the Russian justice system, which considers their capture illegal!

A detention centre in a bay in the Okhotsk Sea has been spotted this summer in Russia. The orca and beluga whales were trapped in tiny floating pens, waiting to be transferred to China, where dozens of giant dolphinariums are waiting for them.

Sold for a high price, these incredibly intelligent and highly social beings are forced into lifelong captivity and forced to reproduce in tiny pools. With shows vaguely resembling recreation from a life of boredom.

Visibly, images that moved the world have alerted the public. We wrote to the Russian Embassy and urged everyone to do the same to demand that these young cetaceans be released. Russian justice was then seized by the animal advocates on the spot.

Ecrivons à @ambruspresse pour faire cesser ce trafic indécent de jeunes #belugas & #orques, capturés et parqués dans des enclos flottants, pour être vendus sur le marché de la captivité en pleine expansion dans l’Empire du Milieu! #StopDelphinarium https://t.co/Oy6mg49ua1

— One Voice (@onevoiceanimal) 19 novembre 2018

Shortly after, Russia decided to ban all new sea captures of these marine mammals by 2019. An important step had been reached, because with Norway and Japan, this country was very difficult to convince to stop this shameful trade.

La détention de 90 bélugas et 13 orques dans une prison flottante de l’Extrême-Orient russe a provoqué un scandale international. La Russie vient d’annoncer l’interdiction de la capture d’orques et de bélugas en 2019. #StopDelphinarium pic.twitter.com/RyBjqTfi2F

— One Voice (@onevoiceanimal) 20 novembre 2018

Thanks to Russian justice, the belugas and orcas that were captured in November and whose fate remained suspended, cannot be sold as planned. South Sakhalinsk City Court has recognized the fishing of 90 belugas and 11 illegal orcas! It’s a first and a strong signal for the rest of the world. When will it be the end of dolphinariums everywhere on this planet and to stop this evil trade at its roots?

Alors que dans le monde, la capture des orques et des bélugas pour les delphinariums a été abandonnée, la Russie continuait à fournir ses parcs et ceux de Chine. En 2019, ce sera terminé! A ce jour, la France n’a toujours pas interdit la captivité des cétacés #StopDelphinarium pic.twitter.com/Z5PuWHgcif

— One Voice (@onevoiceanimal) 21 novembre 2018

Save the memory of Mevy!

Save the memory of Mevy!
15.12.2018
Paris
Save the memory of Mevy!
Exploitation for shows

On November 24th, 2017, the tigress Mevy escaped the circus Bormann and panicked all of Paris. Yet, it is a terrified beast caught in a dead end that his trainer had found and executed it without blinking an eye! Following our complaint last year, we had access to a lot of information proving that the tragedy could have been avoided. The person or persons responsible for Mevy’s death must be sentenced!

Her name was Mevy. It’s been a year since this tigress, only 18 months old, was fleeing her cage and the circus Bormann. A few strides later, she was cowardly shot down by her trainer in an unpopulated Parisian street. Immediately after the fact, we pressed charges. Our lawyer was able to access detailed information about the circumstances of the tragedy.

A petrified tiger

On November 24^th2017 it was through a wide-open gate that Mevy escaped. In his first statement, his trainer also admitted to being at the origin of the incident: he had inadvertently fell in front of the cage of tigers and actuated the opening latch. Subsequently, the man changed his explanations several times, but in all cases, there was an error on the part of the trainer during the manipulation of the door. What is the dream of a wild animal that has known, since its birth, nothing but sequestration, boredom, threats, mistreatment? What does she do when the gate of this hell suddenly opens before her? she escapes! Unfortunately, it is neither the scent of freedom, nor the forests or meadow of Asia that Mevy found outside. Only exhaust fumes and the tumult of the city that awaited her. Panicked to find herself thus left to her own devices in the heart of the XV borough of Paris, blinded by the light from the houses, stunned by the din of cars, she ran to take refuge in an isolated street just a few meters from the capital.

Summary execution

Stuck in a dead end, lying on the asphalt, Mevy showed no aggression when her owner found her. It did not represent immediate danger. Equipped with a shotgun, the man had the means to keep it in control while the circus staff, the firefighters or a veterinarian intervened. A simple net or a hypodermic dart placing the animal in a state of drowsiness – if not a slight wound – would have been enough to catch her. But no! At no point has the trainer considered any alternative other than execution of the poor tigress who, according to her own confession, was simply « lying down, doing nothing else »! It is true that in the world of big cat trainers, it is more glorious to draw up the whip – and here his rifle – to subdue a « ferocious beast » than to be interested in their behaviour and recognize their distress … So, the first bullet hits the left flank of the feline at bay. Then a second ends up lodged in her neck. Poor Mevy still breathing and in no doubt terrified and in agony, when the third and fatal shot destroyed her skull.

One Voice is angry

The last moments of the tigress’s life were, in the image of a short one, moulded with pain and fear. While a horde of humans were frightened to know she was on the loose, it was she who anguished the most and sought to shelter herself from a world into which she would never have the keys. On which vision of horror had her eyes finally gazed upon? That of her « master » unleashed, the persecutor persecuting even at the end, even beyond submission, until death. Such cruelty revolts us, such a thirst for domination that led to the debasement, then the annihilation of the victim, makes us sick. And yet … The complaint that we had filed last year was closed! This is unacceptable: no one wants justice for Mevy? We will not let her memory be trampled upon in this way. Her suffering must be recognized and the perpetrator (s) of her murder identified and sentenced (s). One Voice therefore takes direct action against the circus Bormann and will not let go. More than ever, we continue our fight against the presence of animals in circuses. We must obtain the deliverance of all those oppressed and so none of them will ever suffer the same fate as Mevy.

Next February, we will finally have a hearing at the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris. This will be the first in a long series so that more light will be shed on her last moments and the culprits will be named.

Picture: DR

Let’s make the choice for adoption!

Let’s make the choice for adoption!
12.12.2018
Lyon
Let’s make the choice for adoption!
Domestic animals

As part of our new Pet Shops campaign, “I’m taking refuge!” Our investigators placed many of the Pet shops under surveillance. Discover the drama that is played out for these dogs and cats exhibited for weeks behind glass showcases, their shattered destinies. Meanwhile, the refuges are overflowing. Let’s end this madness, where living beings are taken for mere objects: Let’s adopt! find us on December 16th at the puppy market in Lyon!

Their names were Tomi, Oliver, Athena. In turn, they were bought from pet shops by humans under a spell. Today, Tomi is gone. The puppy was euthanized because he had behavioural problems that the family did not expect. Oliver, for his part, is languishing in the back of a refuge because once the novelty had worn off, his owners had reflected and realized that they had neither the time nor the energy to take care of him. As for Athena, the little cat looking so cute behind the glass of her showcase and who melted the hearts of everyone. Only here, although heir to a beautiful pedigree, she did not survive the cramped living conditions with other kittens: she contracted the coryza. When Elena, a 7-year-old girl, took her in his arms, they immediately bonded. But the disease quickly took over, and what seemed like a simple cold ended up separating them. Elena was not prepared for such mourning, only a few weeks after becoming attached to her friend…

Examples among many others …

Separated far too young from their mothers, locked behind shop windows, perceiving the world as only a pale neon light, the din of the loudspeakers who announce the sales and discounts, experiencing for weeks the lack of love, these three individuals are not the only examples among the multitude of victims of pet shops. Their destiny would probably have been very different if, instead of being put on sale at the tender age of 8 weeks and removed from a normal existence. Their socialization and immunity could have been gradually built up, at their own pace within a suitable setting. But the future of the animal once sold does not worry these sellers. For them, only the logic of profit takes precedence. In their eyes, these living beings represent only objects for commercial use. Moreover, once « out of date », that is to say, become « too big » and no longer attractive, nothing is said about what becomes of them.

The shelters are packed

We must turn our backs on this deadly trade and give a second chance to all these surviving rejected souls! The refuges are full to capacity with animals « discarded » by businesses and private owners, like unwanted toys that we get rid of after use. Their only « wrong doing » is to become unattractive and boring to their frantic and irresponsible commercialistic owners … They only ask to share tenderness and taking into account their needs! Unlike pet shops, our partner shelters are as much interested in the profile of the adoptee as that of the adopter. They will never entrust, for example, a young beagle frustrated and wanting to let off steam to be given to a city dweller living in an apartment. The age of the animal, its origins, its experience, must correspond to the psychology and way of life of the candidate. And vice versa. This is a real accompaniment. We have just launched our Pet Shops “I’m taking refuge!” To support their approach. We are also organizing action on December 16^that the puppy market in Lyon. Please join us!

Cooky ended up choked to death in a trap for a fox

Cooky ended up choked to death in a trap for a fox
12.12.2018
France
Cooky ended up choked to death in a trap for a fox
Domestic animals

Cooky ended his life in a fox trap in the worst kind of pain. His torturer heard people calling for the dog and yet he left it dying over several days. When he contacted the family, it was to get rid of Cooky’s body. One Voice defends his memory in court and asks for an exemplary sentence.

Cooky loved to walk alone. His collar and his chip allowed his owners to feel assured. They adopted him after finding him homeless when a baby, injured in his neck. This kind of survivor had a taste for the great outdoors. And if he disappeared, he always returned after a few hours of escaping.

But on the Thursday of November 29^th2018, Cooky did not return. The whole family then went looking for him, thoroughly searching the surrounding area for several kilometres by car and by foot, they continued the next day and the days that followed. On December 1^st, they searched for him in the area where his executioner lived. Cooky must have heard their calls but he was already caught in the fox trap that was slowly suffocating him and could not answer them. What a terrible anxiety for him and his family!

The poor dog would have struggled, worried and panicked for many hours, unfortunately worsening his situation. He would have eventually suffocated and lost consciousness before taking his last breath … The seriousness of his suffering is detailed in the report of the veterinarian. Thinking of it breaks our hearts.

The torturer would have also heard people calling their dog. Still, he did not move. He did nothing to free Cooky, and left him in agony for several days in the trap!

Where is basic compassion? Where is empathy? The fate of Cooky is a drama, the same for the foxes whom this trap was intended for. The life of forest animals is as valuable as that of those who share our lives. The coldness of this man shows us once again that violence does not depend on the victim or its species, but on the lack of humanity from the one who inflicts it.

The villain in this tragic story even went further by contacting the family a week after Cooky’s disappearance: he had to pay to bury him and he did not intend spending any money on that. It was only during the conversation that Cooky’s owner, the one who eventually picked him up, his throat in blood, understood that his companion was dead. And in going to collect his lifeless body, he heard for himself how this man had trapped and let him die before his eyes …

We have pressed charges for the family in shock and for Cooky, for the cruelty, the wilful harm inflicted on an animal, and for the unauthorized trapping. Our Zoé Cell will represent them at the trial and demand an exemplary sentence! To support us in this fight, please sign our petition denouncing violence against pets.

For the birds: One Voice against the Ministry of Ecological and Solidarity Transition at the State Council, Monday December 17th

For the birds: One Voice against the Ministry of Ecological and Solidarity Transition at the State Council, Monday December 17th
12.12.2018
France
For the birds: One Voice against the Ministry of Ecological and Solidarity Transition at the State Council, Monday December 17th
Wildlife

Monday 17th December at 10.30 am at the State Council, a hearing will be held on the emergency suspension requested by the association One Voice of the 11 judgments signed by François de Rugy, Minister of Ecological and Solidarity Transition, concerning traditional traps for birds.

Scarcely appointed minister, one of the first decisions taken by François de Rugy was to adopt 11 ministerial orders authorizing the trapping of birds according to traditional methods and which are known to be cruel. As soon as we announced the publication of these orders, we announced that we would be attacking them one by one before the courts. One Voice has therefore filed an urgent request for the suspension of these orders, which will be examined at a hearing at the State Council on Monday 17^thDecember at 10.30 am.

Endangered birds already hunted everywhere in France

A recent study by the Museum of Natural History and the CNRS showed the significant decline of birds in our countryside, evoking a phenomenon of a « massive disappearance », « close to an ecological disaster », because of the reduction in their numbers by ‘a third in the last fifteen years, which is considerable.

These birds are already hunted by shooting in on French territory. These orders are in addition to the arsenal available to hunters and trappers to be able to kill, this is already so bad.

Cruel traps for birds, tradition is in the background

The few birds that survive in our countryside – despite the disappearance of natural areas and the spreading of pesticides, not only content by poisoning them directly they are also starving them by exterminating the insects – therefore they are not only shot on sight, but also caught in traps.

In flight, a net is distinguished only at the last moment. Too late to avoid it, legs and wings get stuck. In struggling, often the legs or wings break. Worse, if the birds manage to break away by squirming, they fall to the ground. If the fall is not fatal enough, injured they become too vulnerable to survive.

With the glue traps, the birds land on the coated branch, and cannot fly off. Again, the wings and legs are stuck, and the panicked birds hurt themselves while struggling.

The hunters / trappers argue that they free them if they are not part of the targeted species. But how many are bait for others? How many are to injured to survive? How many are poached?

If the State Council judges, as One Voice believes it will, that the orders must be suspended before the end of their legal validity and not because of a quota that would have been exceeded, this would be a significant step forward in bird conservation.

These intelligent and sensitive beings represent a wealth of biodiversity and are an integral part of the nation’s heritage.

Not only must these orders be suspended and rescinded, but One Voice is also advocating that these traps be banned.

One Voice calls for a radical reform of the hunt, with stricter restrictions on the hunt, and a ban on the cruellest practices, as a majority of French respondents (IPSOS poll for One Voice of 7^thOctober 2018). 84% of French people are in favour of banning traps for hunting (Glue to immobilize birds, nets to capture them without distinction of species, etc.) 76% believe this is already the case.

Here are the 11 decrees for which the hearing was fixed urgently by the State Council:

The decree of 24^thSeptember 2018 concerning the capture of the skylark (Alauda arvensis) by means of nets in the Gironde department for the 2018-2019 campaign
The order of 24^thSeptember 2018 concerning the capture of the skylark (Alauda arvensis) by means of nets and cage traps in the Landes department for the 2018-2019 season
The order of 24^thSeptember 2018 concerning the capture of the skylark (Alauda arvensis) by means of nets andcage traps in the Lot-et-Garonne department for the 2018-2019 campaign
The order of 24^thSeptember 2018 concerning the capture of the skylark (Alauda arvensis) by means of nets in the department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques for the 2018-2019 campaign
The decree of 24^thSeptember 2018 concerning the use of glues for the capture of thrushes and blackbirds intended to serve as decoys, in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department for the 2018-2019 campaign
The decree of 24^thSeptember 2018 concerning the use of glues for the capture of thrushes and blackbirds intended to act as decoys, in the Alpes-Maritimes department for the 2018-2019 campaign
Decree of 24^thSeptember 2018 on the use of glues for the capture of thrushes and blackbirds intended to serve as decoys, in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône for the 2018-2019 campaign
The decree of 24^thSeptember 2018 concerning the use of glues for the capture of thrushes and blackbirds intended to serve as decoys, in the department of Vaucluse for the 2018-2019 campaign
The decree of 24^thSeptember 2018 concerning the capture of lapwings and golden plovers in the department of the Ardennes for the 2018-2019 campaign
The decree of 24^thSeptember 2018 concerning the use of glues for the capture of thrushes and blackbirds intended to serve as decoys, in the department of Var for the 2018-2019 campaign
The decree of September 24^th, 2018 relating to tenderness thrushes or blackbirds in the department of the Ardennes for the campaign 2018-2019

Let’s save the ibex of Haute-Savoie!

Let’s save the ibex of Haute-Savoie!
11.12.2018
Savoie
Let’s save the ibex of Haute-Savoie!
Wildlife

Ibex with long fluted horns like to roam over the rocky ridges, 3000 meters above sea level. From above, they can scan the vast landscape and spot predators. It’s crazy, these goats play on the steepest slopes, leaping from one ledge to another without the slightest dizziness. One Voice is fighting for their survival.

This is because the ibex knows his mountain well. He has lived there for so long! Our ancestors already painted his image by torchlight in the Lascaux cave. Under the pressure from crossbows and firearms, they almost disappeared in the 19th century. They were reintroduced in Italy in 1922, then in the French Alps in 1970 where nearly 3000 ibex live today. Prohibited to be hunted and protected by the Bern Convention on endangered species, the ibex of Bargy should be able to live happily.

Yet, for commercial pretexts and so-called sanitary, they are since 2013 the target of prefectural requests ordering their slaughter. It has been hypothesized that ibexes may have played a role in the contamination of the Reblochon cheese, although they do not frequent the same places as cows, and transmission of contaminants is complex or unlikely.

It is their eradication which is consciously organized. But the pretext of this killing, a zoonosis, some ibex are carriers, only fuels the fear. Shooting, on the other hand, does not solve the problem, on the contrary. The risk is great of a spread to other mountain ranges by the dispersion of the few animals that have escaped the shooters.

These killings are all the more useless as there are alternative solutions, such as euthanasia of only sick animals, which can suffer from severe arthritis, and vaccination with a follow-up of healthy animals. But no, as always, Nature is seen as a means of profit, the only one that is worth it. Shoot, regulate … for the comfort and benefit of some humans. It is time for this to stop. Wildlife, here and elsewhere, is worth so much more.

With its partners, in August 2018, One Voice made a new appeal against the prefectural decree of ibex slaughter to demand its cancellation, and we will sue all the orders that are planned to kill these majestic inhabitants of the mountain!

The ordeal of Kuma, a small stray cat

The ordeal of Kuma, a small stray cat
09.12.2018
France
The ordeal of Kuma, a small stray cat
Domestic animals

What a traumatic experience for Kuma! Our Zoe Cell will be there, One Voice will organise her care and we will represent her in court. We will do everything to ensure that the perpetrator of this abominable act is found. Because for us, stray cats are still important!

For years, One Voice has been committed to defending stray cats, those who have nobody that cares, to offer love or safety and food. Poor Kuma suffered unparalleled violence: thrown against a wall, hit with a baseball bat, treated like an object and kicked, her fate is that of many stray cats without a home. So vulnerable, she was the ideal prey …

Kuma « lancée contre un mur, frappée avec un objet de type batte de base-ball et rouée de coups de pieds ». La souffrance abyssale des chats errants qui n’ont personne pour les pleurer. Nous portons plainte! #CelluleZoé #UrgenceErranceFéline @F3PaysdelaLoire https://t.co/TfJqh7HycK

— One Voice (@onevoiceanimal) 8 décembre 2018

How many cats, like Chevelu and Kuma, are close to death after being the victim of the worst kind of cruelty and without anyone knowing about it? We do not see the fear in their eyes, we do not see their thin and hungry bodies walking by, however, they are there, still suffering, in apathy and indifference.

Whether it’s the rescue of these cats and the convictions of their torturers, our Zoé Cell takes care of their rescue and all of the legal actions that follow. But we also publicize these terrible stories so that the public become aware and above all so they do not happen again. We also emphasize the pedagogical aspect, informing again and again about the imperative necessity of sterilization. We also want to ban sales in pet stores or classified ads because behind them are often hidden traffickers or people indifferent to the suffering of animals. Saving animals, empowering, changing the regulations and putting an end to the impunity of these violent people who use animals as mere objects and mistreat them … These are our missions.

As long as one cat still has to suffer cruelty, our fight will continue! Thank you for continuing to sign and share our Stray Feline Emergency petition.

Lechmee is retired with another elephant!

Lechmee is retired with another elephant!
09.12.2018
Lechmee is retired with another elephant!
Exploitation for shows

In Europe, in a place protected from the public, Lechmee now enjoys the peace away from the roads. The circus has given way to our pressure. It is a relief for all of us, who have been struggling for years to end the life of dressage and homelessness.

Some years ago we had searched for Lechmee and discovered that she was finally released from her life of forced labour. She no longer suffers long truck journeys or dressage for shows! The chains on her feet are behind her now. We spoke with the people in the centre who took care of her, they assured us that she would no longer be exhibited in the public eye and that her life would no longer be staged. Lechmee has already made her mark, helped by a younger elephant who welcomed her with great care, and she even begins to lie down to rest her legs, finally! What beautiful news!

After more than 40 years on the roads and circuit, the old elephant captured as a child in her free family in Asia had become blind. And her right front leg, sore with osteoarthritis, disabled her for many years walking and supporting the weight of her body.

This did not prevent the circus Medrano who exploited her to make her parade in the streets. Surrounded by Mina and Kamala, her companions as always, very protective with her as the elephants know how to be, she supported this sad fate, surviving these terrible conditions.

Mina helped her to eat by putting her directly in front of the hay, the only food available; and during the shows, as soon as she let go of Kamala’s tail, her trunk beat the air to find her way. Surrounded by darkness and suffering from a bad leg, it had to end.

According to the ministerial decree governing travelling circuses, her case was clear, as an old elephant in poor health, she had to be placed to rest. And since it was not so, it had to be denounced and sanctioned. This is why One Voice chose not only to denounce and raise awareness but also to take concrete action in court to obtain her seizure and her placement into sanctuary.

Unpublished action for elephants, we had filed an interlocutory release, a procedure usually reserved for humans and seized the general controller for the places of deprivation of liberty. But we had not been heard. We also lodged a complaint for acts of cruelty, enriched by a specific part for bad treatment after the parades. On this occasion we wrote to the Minister of Ecological Transition and Solidarity, and the prosecutor of Epinal to demand their seizure to all three. We had also provided the judiciary with an expert report on their health, advocating Lechmee’s retirement.

What is the point of a rule that is part of a law, if no one condemns those who break it? Despite what the circus trumpets on about, the decision to retire Lechmee is the result of an uninterrupted campaign on all fronts!

From now on, this period of her life is behind her and Lechmee is taking full advantage of the open air, the emerging affection from an elephant who knows her surroundings and accompanies it well. She moves freely, can lie down to rest or take mud baths if the need calls for it. it’s a new life for this matriarch. Yes finally.

Our fight for the animals exploited in the circuses continues, to obtain the liberation of all these suffering beings, and their placement into sanctuaries. Mina and Kamala are still locked up and exhibited on the circuit. Our complaint for them is more relevant than ever. For receiving countless acts of cruelty for Lechmee as well, because this release does not erase years of abuse!

You can continue to sign our petition, to release all three, which this too is based on abuse, we have images: electric shocks, blows, there paddock is far too small and without free access to water during a heat wave …a show that we will not stop as long as this masquerade continues.