Just appointed, the Minister of Ecological Transition and Solidarity is committed against the birds

Just appointed, the Minister of Ecological Transition and Solidarity is committed against the birds

Just appointed, the Minister of Ecological Transition and Solidarity is committed against the birds
01.10.2018
France
Just appointed, the Minister of Ecological Transition and Solidarity is committed against the birds
Natural habitat

The new minister of ecological and solidarity transition, François de Rugy, has just adopted 10 decrees authorizing the trapping of birds that use old fashioned methods from the past. One Voice attacks these cruel and outdated decrees. Hunting is a deadly problem, which we must fight!

Legally endorsing cruelty to animals

Recently introduced to his new post, François de Rugy signed with his own hand 10 decrees that allow the trapping of birds using nets, wire cages and glue, before having a vote on the law concerning these traps. The pitfalls involved here create stress, create injuries and can even be fatal. Small tits or finches, break their legs, and have the feathers torn off! The minister legalizes these poaching techniques that cause incredible suffering… What eagerness on his part!

We have already denounced these techniques for their cruelty, which make no distinction according to the species, which furthermore damages the most vulnerable individuals. In 10 departments, this represents nearly 150 000 birds targeted and sentenced to death (not counting the other birds or the collateral victims of these heinous traps).

Why aggravate things for birds with such horror, the difficulties for birds is already hard enough?

Birds are already disappearing before our eyes. Of course, they have natural predators, but let us agree that it is humans who cause the worst fate. The massive overuse of pesticides is obviously one of the main causes for their disappearance, creating food shortages in our countryside’s – there are not enough insects to feed them. Add to this that they are the first victims of deforestation. The noise, the pollution and the night lights of the cities, there are so many difficulties to nest, to communicate, to breathe. Their survival and that of their young is all the more precarious. Above all of this, they are also hunted with rifles – almost 9 months of the year, and die by the hundreds of thousands!

One Voice denounces these decrees and brings them to justice!

transition role, perpetuating cruelty and archaic hunting techniques! We are going to attack these ministerial orders one by one and whose only plausible explanation is the link between the government and the hunters’ lobby.

Please sign our petition and come to the united rally for a radical reform of the hunt on October 13 in Paris!

A victory for rabbits, who have been replaced by soft toys!

A victory for rabbits, who have been replaced by soft toys!

A victory for rabbits, who have been replaced by soft toys!
30.09.2018
Nantes
A victory for rabbits, who have been replaced by soft toys!
Animal testing

Alerted by students last May, One Voice launched a campaign and contacted the Oniris Veterinary School. This action largely supported by the public has saved dozens of rabbits, spared mutilations and euthanasia. They will no longer serve as course subjects. In their place, on the benches and in the surgery room, soft toys will replace the rabbits so that the students continue to get a hands-on experience! Where they were tearing teeth out, we are now tearing away at victories!

We have just discovered with great pleasure in the magazine l’Obs, that Oniris a veterinary university in Nantes who we denounced for the use of live rabbits in support of their courses, now use stuffed animals in their place. Bravo!

What satisfaction to see that our alert has saved these rabbits who we had denounced the fate of, to the relief of the students. Indeed, training on live animals could only cause more stress for veterinary students!

The school management had written to us explaining that they were working on improving their pedagogy to limit the use of animals in testing. However, the Royal Veterinary College London which claim to be inspirational in their methods, has been applying for more than 10 years now this technique. Would our « help » have « helped » them to take an interest in what exists elsewhere as an effective and respectful alternative method?!

Which just goes to show that with a little encouragement, when we want to, we can do it, and it seems to be done well! It is time for the world of education to make these transformations in order to stop using animals: research and the use of alternative methods should be the norm.

Dozens of rabbits will no longer be mutilated or euthanized!

Will there ever be a Paris Fashion Week without fur? One Voice challenges Prada

Will there ever be a Paris Fashion Week without fur? One Voice challenges Prada

Will there ever be a Paris Fashion Week without fur? One Voice challenges Prada
28.09.2018
Will there ever be a Paris Fashion Week without fur? One Voice challenges Prada

While Fashion Week is in full swing in Paris on Saturday September 29th from 10am to 12pm, One Voice with the participation of L214 will be organizing three actions simultaneously in three Parisian neighbourhoods where Prada stores are located: Place de la Madeleine, Place de la Queen Astrid, and Place Michel Debré, to encourage the brand to stop using real fur in thier collections.

From September 6th to October 2nd the « Fashion Week » season will run from Milan to New York, and from London to Paris. London Fashion Week has announced this year to be completely fur free. We hope that this decision will be adopted in time in other cities. More and more brands are turning away from the use of fur, it is time for Prada to do the same. Most recently in the world of luxury it was Michael Kors or Jimmy Choo who obtained the label Fur Free Retailer, which is managed in France by One Voice, after Gucci, or Franck Sorbier.

One Voice calls on the general public and all those involved in animal welfare to contact the Prada headquarters in France to ask the brand to stop using fur. Prada is maintaining and supporting a system in which mink, foxes, rabbits and other soft furred animals live in horrific conditions.

There are dozens of farms in France for fur. Animals that have the misfortune to be born there are locked inside tiny cages, alone or with others. They wither: minks have no access to water while in the wild they spend several hours a day in the water. They develop stereotypies, repetitive movements signs of great stress, rabbits are injured, mink and foxes self-harm or devour each other. Their suffering is immeasurable, they eventually end their miserable lives gassed or electrocuted so as not to damage their precious pelts.

The association had already conducted an investigation in six mink farms in France which in 2017 they brought to light the deleterious consequences of this industry upon the environment and animals.

This action set up in France by One Voice is part of an international campaign for the Fur Free Alliance, an international coalition
against fur of which One Voice is the French representative.

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Circus: monkeys without water and in the middle of rubbish

Circus: monkeys without water and in the middle of rubbish

Circus: monkeys without water and in the middle of rubbish
26.09.2018
Montredon-les-Corbières
Circus: monkeys without water and in the middle of rubbish
Exploitation for shows

A few months ago, we were in action in Montredon-les-Corbières to demand the release of Maya. But she was unfortunately not the only one to be detained by this circus. A few weeks ago, we received an overwhelming testimony concerning the conditions of detention of the other animals in this circus.

Between the heat and squalor

This is from a witness who alerted us. Once again established in Montredon-les-Corbières, and while the heat was around 40 ° C, the circus cages were placed in direct sunlight. As he walked around the trucks, a visitor notices a female baboon watching her infant. It looks through the bars of his cage and signals to the visitor who then approaches. Her mother, frightened and protective, prevents him a moment to approach the visitor. The infant ends up stretching out his arm, which is covered with sores, and catches the finger of the human visitor who is looking at him. The bedding of the cage is rotting and extremely dirty. The smell is unbearable. Remains of spoiled food are strewn on the ground, there are many flies that are having a field day. And in this stifling heat, the monkeys have no access to water.

When it is reported to a circus employee, the latter hastens to close the doors of the trailers, without giving water to the animals. The cage is so dirty that he is struggling to close it. Finally, he succeeds, enclosing the monkeys in the darkness and the smell of decay.

A little further, tigers and zebras, have no water either. However, the law provides that animals should have access to permanent water and that tigers have the opportunity to swim, except in very cold weather.

The right to a dignified life

These living conditions are not only contrary to the law but they also do not meet the physical and mental needs of animals. Access to these animals is not secure which represents both a potential danger to visitors and also an additional source of stress for animals. In nature, baboons are sociable animals that live in groups. These groups are organized in a complex way and managed by strong males, who protect each member of the group. Their territory can reach hundreds of hectares! What will this little baby baboon know? Will he spend his life in an unhealthy cage, he will only leave to participate in humiliating shows?

One Voice cannot resolve this so is pressing charges against the circus. The fate reserved for these sentient beings is inadmissible. All animals deserve a dignified life. You too, act! Please sign our petition to ban the exploitation of animals in circuses.

Orca Morgan, captured in 2010, gave birth to her first baby to Loro Park

Orca Morgan, captured in 2010, gave birth to her first baby to Loro Park

Orca Morgan, captured in 2010, gave birth to her first baby to Loro Park
24.09.2018
Tenerife
Orca Morgan, captured in 2010, gave birth to her first baby to Loro Park
Exploitation for shows

Morgan, a small orca born free and now owned by the dolphinarium Loro Park has just given birth to a baby, while the law forbids it and while she is still a child. In partnership with the Free Morgan Foundation, One Voice is fighting for it.

An early pregnancy

Desperate in her concrete pool, Morgan, already bore the signs of loneliness and brutality. Today, at only 11 years old, the little killer whale has just given birth to a baby, while in the wild, female orcas do not get pregnant until about 14 years old. It must be said that for the closed circle of the captivity industry, Morgan represents an unexpected genetic capital. And a source of significant profit. So, for her jailers, what does it matter if she is still a child? It does not matter if it is a wild orca and its reproduction is forbidden. Like Kohana before her, Morgan must reproduce, even if she is far too young for that.

A dark future

In the turquoise water of her prison, she remembers how her mother cared for her when she was small. That at least she was able to transfer her child. So, with all her love, she tries to watch over her child. What will become of him if he survives? What will be his destiny? Will he be condemned to live in a pool, so far from the immensity of the ocean where his mother was born? She who was born in a free family, with customs, a dialect, a culture … Will she tell him of the happiness of swimming among his family? And if he does not survive, will Morgan be able to bear it? The bond between a baby and its mother is extremely powerful in orcas. The recent mourning of Tahlequah is a heart-breaking example. How can we risk imposing such suffering on such sensitive and evolved beings?

No animal deserves to be deprived of its own kind and kept in captivity for the pleasure of humans. Morgan should be free!

Hunting, a deadly problem: On October 13th, all to Paris!

Hunting, a deadly problem: On October 13th, all to Paris!

Hunting, a deadly problem: On October 13th, all to Paris!
20.09.2018
Paris
Hunting, a deadly problem: On October 13th, all to Paris!
Natural habitat

On October 13th, we are calling for a big rally in Paris to denounce Hunting. Let us all be united for this fight against this practice, this cortege of death, the violence and the mutilation of millions of animals.

We call for a unitary demonstration in Paris Saturday, October 13th2018 to denounce Hunting!

Let us be numerous on October 13thin Paris, to say that the vast majority of our fellow citizens disapprove of this archaic practice. The nature of hunting is death; it is neither a way of living nor a hobby. Hunting, in all its forms, is destructive. The snapping of killing traps, the detonations of cartridges, or the flurry of hunting horns will not stifle the cries of terror and pain of 45 million wild animals that fall victim to them.

Go to the dedicated websiteSign the petitionRegister on the Facebook event

Hunting is back on the centre stage of the news and with it, its deleterious activities. Our President of the Republic began to praise hunting with hounds, to feed the hunting world with new species and to halve the price of licenses. Intoxicated by the gold of the Palace of Versailles or as a political tactic, Emmanuel Macron announced the return of the presidential hunts, a pledge given to the voters with a hunting satchel and their lobby.

The cause for the 45 million wild animals killed and persecuted, not registered on the electoral lists, is the last of his worries. This is what Nicolas Hulot, his resigning minister of ecology, denounced.

Wildlife, a living heritage to preserve.

On October 13thin Paris, with us, all the defenders of nature will demand the respect of wildlife, and that for the preservation of protected species, as well as our right to live or walk in nature without being at the mercy of one of these predators’ blunder. Walkers, their children, their dogs or cats, can no longer enjoy a field trip without the risk of falling victim to a trap or a cartridge. These « accidents » are also the concern of the hunters themselves…

« The notion of « zero accidents » does not exist in any sport, » they tell us. Hogwash! A « sport » like any other, with a rifle in hand? To confuse a mare with a wild boar or flamingos with hens or ducks, is it an accident or the evidence of filthy selfishness? So start with leaving boars, hens and other ducks alone!

The nature of the hunt is death. It is neither a way of living nor a hobby.

Nowadays, a hunter does not kill anymore, he « takes ». He no longer harvests, he « manages wildlife ». Let’s stop this nonsense, these pretexts aiming at defending bloody traditions. These hunters’ massacre, trap, mutilate and gun down all living animals that come within their reach. These hunters must understand that we will fight them. We are not fooled by their long-windedness or that they are self-proclaimed ecologists!

Hunting, in all its forms, is destructive. In France, hunting exterminates each year 45 million animal lives, wild or farmed, not counting the « collateral “victims, such as a10-year-old girl, walking with her parents, seriously wounded in Limoges by a hunter who was aiming at a pheasant, this Sunday, September 16th2018.

France, hunting champion too.

France has the largest number of hunters in Europe, 1.2 million registered. The hunting season is also the longest with the greatest number of species « approved for slaughter »: 90 including mammals, 64 for birds of which more than 20 are protected species. The other countries of our continent are limited to 16! When the vast majority of European countries set up days without hunting, often on Sundays, on our territory, the massacre is open 7 days out of 7.

There is no end to the principle of shooting any odd how … The cruel methods of bird hunting are perpetuated while our neighbours restrict or prohibit them. As for hunting with hounds, it is widely denounced, and yet these pretentious huntsmen track the animals already terrified and exhausted by these long pursuits and terminate them day or night, including during periods of reproduction.

On October 13th, our voices must resound loud and clear for the respect of animal life.

We refuse to allow such attention and power to be granted to these 2% of the population with combat trousers and cartridge belts. All surveys, all polls confirm that the vast majority of the population aspires to restrict the rights of hunters and preserve endangered species. 91% of the French (FIFG survey of September 2016) want a complete and in-depth reform of the organization and regulation of hunting. Let’s not let these trashy nimrods claim to be Nature’s managers with gunshots. Respect for nature will never rhyme with destruction, degradation and animal suffering. Let’s start by demanding the creation of wild animal status.

For a radical reform of Hunting!

Let’s eradicate the deadly problem of hunting and its masquerades, its guns, its traps, its archaic traditions, its pretentious devices!

So that everyone can meet our territories’ fauna and flora, let’s demand two days a week without hunting or trapping including Sunday, and all school holidays. On behalf of the deceased wildlife, we demand the protection of species in poor condition or reproduction and true independence of policing hunting. We must end hunting in protected areas (national parks, nature reserves and in the wild). We call for the end of killing traps like so-called « traditional » hunts (glue, lakes, slopes, tendelles …) and the abolition of underground hunting as with hunting hounds for all species.

Please sign our petition for the respect of animals and humans in love with nature! Make the event known by registering and sharing it! Visit our dedicated site « Hunting: a deadly problem »!

Latvia must renounce the murder of mink for their fur!

Latvia must renounce the murder of mink for their fur!

Latvia must renounce the murder of mink for their fur!
19.09.2018
Lettonie
Latvia must renounce the murder of mink for their fur!
Fashion

The animal welfare association, Dzīvnieku brīvība, our partner in the Fur Free Alliance, has just published a survey at the heart of mink farming in Latvia. The images follow each other and are similar. This must end, once and for all! Europe must show the way!

Surveys are coming from all over Europe. We told you just a few weeks ago that Tušti narvai in Lithuania, whose images are very raw and continue to horrify us. No border makes any difference for the poor mink who are the victims of this blind sector. The investigation of Dzīvnieku brīvība is no exception to the rule.

The mink as always are locked in tiny cages, the bars hurt their legs, they have no access to water, they spend several hours a day when until they are free … Those who are alone in their cage, like the others, have stereotypical movements and they self-harm. Those who share the same cage come into conflict, fight, devour each other. The children are, for some, killed by the older ones.

This suffering, these nightmarish scenes, these dangers, constitute the entirety of their lives. We had highlighted this in 2016 during our investigation in six French farms. For them, no escape except death, so young (just a few months) then gassed, or electrocuted, after so much stress, anxiety and misery. Those who manage to escape make the biodiversity of the European countryside poorer. For the environment, it is no better, the mink farms are extremely polluting in wastewater, saturated with ammonia. And tanneries are amongst the most toxic factories.

No, fur is not a green product, nor a luxury product!

It is the skin from sentient beings who have suffered the pain of death, it is a deleterious carbon footprint for the planet, and in the end, they are clothes that bring only shame to those who wear them. To make informed purchases, it is also possible to follow our labels guaranteeing the absence of products derived from animals.

When will we see the end of these farms? In Latvia as in France, they must close! Please sign our petition to close these mink fur farms, which continue to grow in our countryside!

One Voice denounces and attacks an illegitimate Prefectural order against wolves

One Voice denounces and attacks an illegitimate Prefectural order against wolves

One Voice denounces and attacks an illegitimate Prefectural order against wolves
17.09.2018
Auvergne Rhones Alpes
One Voice denounces and attacks an illegitimate Prefectural order against wolves

The Prefect of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region has taken the right to increase the annual slaughter ceiling to 3 wolves, already set by the Ministry of the Environment under the Plan National des Actions pourle Loup (Wolf plan) to 40 individuals.

One Voice believes that this basic annual quota is already absurd and unfounded, and is outraged by its increase. The association has made an injunction for suspension to the administrative court to block this illegitimate prefectural decree. The hearing will take place on Monday 17th September 2018 in Lyon.

On the matter of an unjustified Prefectural decree

The Prefect of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region deemed himself competent to amend a an already agreed quota while it is the prerogative of the Minister to set the standard. Is not this called abuse of power? Furthermore, it has lost the interest in the opinion of the public and scientists on this issue, since it has not put in place a public consultation or an environmental study, which is mandatory before the publication of an order. Is that not a denial of democracy? The fact that he is the Plan Wolf coordinator does not in any way give him the right to make such a decision on his own. Is that not being judge and jury?

On the matter of a place for the wolf in the biodiversity

One Voice recalls that the wolves returned to France from the Alps, alone, from Italy, and were not reintroduced by humans. This is proof that they have found in our French mountains something to live in harmony with other species. We should be proud of this sign of the richness in our soil, and welcome with kindness the presence of these wolf packs with well-defined
social rules.  One Voice emphasizes that wolves represent a wealth of biodiversity and of our heritage.

On the matter of the canis lupus species in France

In France the species canis lupus (the species of wolves) is protected by law because it is vulnerable. Indeed, the total population of 430 individuals (according to the National Office of Hunting and Wildlife, ONCFS) in the national territory does not make it self-contained. Twenty wolves have already died since the beginning of the year in a natural, accidental and indeterminate way. Below 500 individuals now, the number declines in fact without any action from the Government or Prefects. On the contrary, these individuals need natural spaces in which they can be protected as their status suggests. Green tourism would be
strengthened and this would boost the economy of rural areas. That’s
what One Voice is calling for.

On the matter of a stated goal for preserving pastoralism

The goal of wolf slaughter is supposed to be the preservation of sheep flocks and the assurance of a quiet pastoral activity. It is therefore surprising to read in the pages of the Wolf Plan itself that there is no certainty about the impact of lethal shootings of wolves. For One Voice, it is a red cloth being waved to buy social peace, on the back of an already designated scapegoat a: the wolf. For One Voice, it is essential
to focus on herd protection, as proposed by the National Council for the Protection of Nature. And to study the impact of pastoralism on the fauna and flora of our mountains.


One Voice will be at the administrative court of Lyon Monday, September 17th at 2.00pm to defend the wolves, the hearing concerns our interim suspension filed against the Prefectural order of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.

Contact for press : +33 (0)6 43 26 78 80 – presse@one-voice.fr

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Another discontinuation or just how to kill more wolves

Another discontinuation or just how to kill more wolves

Another discontinuation or just how to kill more wolves
15.09.2018
Auvergne Rhones Alpes
Another discontinuation or just how to kill more wolves
Wildlife

In 2018, the National Action Plan for the Wolf (Wolf Plan) set the number of wolves that can be slaughtered to 40 individuals. The damage to this already vulnerable species is not obviously sufficient enough, the Prefect of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region has declared itself competent enough to increase this number to 43 wolves, without any justification. Again, we are dealing with the aberrant nature of these unfounded slaughters.

The senseless extermination of wolves

In France, every year there is a quota of wolves that can be slaughtered or « destroyed », in the terms of the Wolf Plan. This decision is the responsibility of the Minister of Nature Protection, and obviously does not take into account the positions of its citizens. Not only is this dreadful extermination of wolves is automatically planned each year, but the slaughter quota can be revised according to the number of wolves actually counted, in order to eliminate even more.

Wolves live in packs according to clearly defined social rules, so we cannot imagine the consequences of random slaughter on the functioning of these packs.

Wolves are already weakened by natural and accidental deaths and do not seem to be able to get out of the Government’s line of sight.

Wolves shot for paradoxical reasons

The Prefect of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, who is none other than the coordinating Prefect of the Wolf Plan, decided last June 25thto increase the quota of 3 additional wolves, knowing that according to the latest estimates, the population total in France would be only 430 wolves (according to the National Office of Hunting and Wildlife, the ONCFS). But under the 500 individuals, the population is not viable … It is completely absurd to increase this already high number, especially since the Prefect cannot make this decision alone.

It is an unwise decision to increase an annual quota to slaughter sentient beings that are intelligent, sensitive and essential to the biodiversity which these wolves are. And also, without conducting an environmental study or public consultation upstream.

Yet, without having jurisdiction, the Prefect has arbitrarily planned to make three more victims than expected, which makes the slaughter of wolves even more irrational.

The goal of slaughtering wolves is supposed to be for the preservation of herds of sheep and the assurance of quiet pastoral activities. It is therefore surprising to read in the pages of the Wolf Plan itself that there is no certainty about the impact of lethal shots on wolves.

Why not stop this unfounded slaughter of wolves and favour existing alternatives? We can for example mention the presence of herding dogs, as proposed by the National Council for the Protection of Nature.

We must immediately stop this slaughter of the wolves

The quota related to the slaughter of the wolves must be respected until 31st December 2018, which is why it is urgent to act and to suspend any participation in their extermination. It is important to note that 20 wolves have already died from natural, accidental or undetermined reason.

What use can we find in the cruel intervention of man in the killing of wolves?

One Voice has lodged a complaint against the Prefect of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region and hopes for an awareness for the need for wolves in French forests and mountains.

The first victory for beagles and golden retrievers locked up in Mézilles!

The first victory for beagles and golden retrievers locked up in Mézilles!

The first victory for beagles and golden retrievers locked up in Mézilles!
12.09.2018
Mézilles
The first victory for beagles and golden retrievers locked up in Mézilles!
Animal testing

A dog breeder in Mézilles has challenged our right to defend beagles and golden retrievers. They attacked the findings of our bailiff, yet authorized by a judge! The breeders were dismissed on September 12th 2018: our evidence will indeed be admissible in support of the complaint that was filed against them. For dogs who are intended for use in the field of animal experimentation, this must now come to an end. And the court’s decision is a first step in the direction!

In Mézilles, the dog breeders seek to increase the size of their capacity… It is however already the largest breeding farm in the country. But here we have discovered that this is actually the regularization of an existing situation! We are asking for the closure of this breeding farm which targets beagles and golden retriever’s, who are destined for the laboratory benches and a life void from nature or love. Whether they are puppies, females continuously producing litters or males, all suffer from a lack of adequate living space, attention, the green grass, caresses and kindness.

Animal experimentation is an unnecessary evil! It is out of the question that France will continue to expand its dog breeding farms for this purpose, while science is in a perpetual search for progress, efficiency, reliability and ethics! Do not be left behind by duplicating outdated practices!

In the spring of 2018, we obtained – quite rare enough to be underlined – that a bailiff performs his observation within these buildings without joy. This visit supported the complaint lodged against the owners of this breeding farm, which, in our opinion, does not even fulfil its obligations regarding the accommodation of these dogs and their vital needs. In June 2018, we put our comments to the Director of Cabinet of the Prefect of Yonne, because it is the Prefecture that has to validate the legal authorization.

The breeders, have attacked the authorization of the bailiff and to prevent us from using the evidence obtained on the spot. Today though, the law has decided: the findings are maintained, and they have been ordered to pay us damages. And incidentally, they have also been forced to pay the bailiff’s fees as well!

Our complaint can now at least take advantage of this official statement whilst waiting for it to be fully investigated. It’s a good round well won! Please sign the petition for the closure of the dog breeding farm of Mézilles in the Yonne, it’s for the dogs!