One Voice in the court of Nancy, to rescue 500 foxes destined to be hunted by the Prefecture!

One Voice in the court of Nancy, to rescue 500 foxes destined to be hunted by the Prefecture!
21.11.2018
Nancy
One Voice in the court of Nancy, to rescue 500 foxes destined to be hunted by the Prefecture!
Wildlife

A claim concerning an abuse of power and a suspension order were filed by One Voice against the Prefect of Meurthe-et-Moselle. One Voice will be at the administrative court in Nancy on Wednesday November 28^that 11 am, alongside ASPAS, FLORE 54 and GEML.

« Foxes must stop being used as scapegoats for anything and everything! Hunters have no limit; they will go so far as even to want to kill them at night! And unfortunately, even if this illegitimate Prefectural decree is cancelled as it should, we could never reanimate foxes being killed at this very moment. » Muriel Arnal, Founding President of One Voice

90% of the people who took part in the public consultation are on the side of the foxes and their defenders. This almost unanimous opinion from the population is however despised by the Prefect of Meurthe-et-Moselle, who published on October 2^nd2018 an order authorising the « cull » – in other words the slaughter – of 500 red foxes, by shooting carried out at night, in the department by December 31^st. What are his justifications? Fallacious arguments in support of the shootings whispered in his ears by the hunters.

The current status of these foxes, the all year-round relentless tracking and the Prefect’s abuse of power

In the North and East of France, foxes are hunted even more than elsewhere. Relying on their status as a « species likely to cause damage » (previously « pests »), the Prefectures are constantly publishing orders to expand the range of possibilities to kill these small canines, yet even though they are useful to the biodiversity and having their rightful place in the ecosystem.

Foxes are considered game throughout the hunting season, whether with guns or with dogs. Because of this special status, they are trapped and dug up all year, including during the breeding season. Hunters can indulge in their « sport » 12 months a year.

The prefects take orders so that the game keepers of the Louvre, paid by the State, can shoot them even at night, all this to appease the peace of the hunters who want to be able to kill hares and partridges without any competition from foxes. But here, nothing proves the question against foxes.

Red foxes must be defended and protected!

What does it mean to kill more than half a million of them each year without even knowing their state of conservation?

It is irrational to attack an animal that protects us from Lyme disease through its presence, by naturally regulating the populations of voles that carry this disease. In the absence of red foxes, other forms of harm to nature and to health (including that of farmers) takes place: toxic pesticides spread into the crops in the fight against voles … In a single act, that of protecting foxes who we respect and their ecosystem, we can save crops, we can protect against Lyme disease, we can regulate the population of small rodents and we evade a dose of dangerous pesticides into our daily diet !

One Voice will continue to sue the legitimacy of such orders, the damage of which is irreversible. It is urgent to take action. When this decree will be cancelled, like so many others before it in the East and the North of France, the countless foxes being massacred since its application will always be the case.

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Trafficking of Beluga Whales and juvenile Orca Whales discovered in Russia

Trafficking of Beluga Whales and juvenile Orca Whales discovered in Russia
19.11.2018
Russie
Trafficking of Beluga Whales and juvenile Orca Whales discovered in Russia
Exploitation for shows

11 orcas and 90 belugas were huddled together in floating pens at the bottom of a bay in the Okhotsk Sea, between Sakhalin and Kamchatka … A crane lifts one of the orcas into the sky which is bound for China … These terrible images relayed by the international press show us how much this industry of captivity has become a goose with golden egg under the reign of Vladimir Putin. We cannot let the Russian government sell orcas and belugas to the 72 giant dolphinariums that will soon be all over China! Along with us, call the authorities responsible for this crime against wild life!

Following the international scandal that followed the discovery of this detention of cetaceans, Russia has just announced the ban on the capture of orcas and belugas from 2019. It is a beautiful victory! Let us fight for the release of these individuals held in the floating prison of the Russian Far East.

Today, the fate of 25 of these small beluga whales is still pending because they are less than a year old and should never have been captured under Russian law. As for the orcas, whose price may exceed one million dollars per individual, their sale abroad is also assumed to be prohibited: only catches intended for the domestic market, in the name of research and pedagogy remain authorized.

The four companies that manage this regrouping camp in the Russian Far East are already being investigated for previous sales of cetaceans to Chinese customers. But some companies seem too close to power to be concerned, according to the Russian media that accompanied the commission of experts who were dispatched to the scene by the prosecutor’s office in Vladivostok.

They discover an astonishing spectacle: in the lost bay of Srednyaja covered by the fog, dozens of enclosures lined up along the pier. Orcas move into the shade of the awnings that cover their floating cages, eleven juveniles are divided into groups of three or four. All were caught near the Chantar Islands during the summer. The population of these seal hunting orcas is now reduced to less than 300 individuals. Their food culture is totally carnivorous, so it is necessary to rehabilitate the captives so that they agree to swallow dead fish. In Shanghai, four killer whales captured in the same sea of Okhotsk have already started their shows under the applause of an enthusiastic crowd.

In the open-air enclosures for belugas, the stunned inspectors see sparrows flocking around them, dozens of juvenile belugas still with their infantile grey skin. Their toothless mouth opens miserably to beg for food. A single enclosure keeps up to thirteen of these unfortunate infants with very young faces. One of them starts spitting water awkwardly, a trick learned to amuse the visitors. Further away, a non-weaned beluga, quite tiny, waits alone in a transport container. What will become of all these little ones? Can we ever bring them back to their homes?

As in a nightmarish loop, the commercial success of dolphinariums that we suffered from the 1960s is repeated here in Asia. Dolphins savagely captured and stored in floating pens in Florida before sale, tiny ponds, early deaths, vulgar and noisy shows, etc. All these cruel practices that our marine parks try to forget, suddenly resurface in the face of the world. The only glimmer of hope for Russian orcas and whales is the handful of brave scientists and activists who are struggling tirelessly and not without risk to save the wildlife of their beautiful country.

Let’s help them!

Write to the Russian ambassador asking that his country stop the trafficking of orcas and belugas to China!

For the attention of his excellency Mr. Mechkov,
Ambassador of the Russian Federation to France
40-50 Boulevard Lannes
75116 Paris

Twitter @ambruspresse

Facebook : www.facebook.com/ambassadeRussieFrance

Pictures: ©Serena Livingston/Dreamstime.com

In Yulin, veterinarians discover that dogs are not just objects

In Yulin, veterinarians discover that dogs are not just objects
16.11.2018
Yulin
In Yulin, veterinarians discover that dogs are not just objects
Other campaign or multi-campaigns of One Voice

In China, the idea that an animal is a sentient being is barely emerging! Notably in Yulin, where every year there is a huge killing of dogs. Thanks to the fabulous work of our partner association ACTAsia, veterinarians in the region now realize that canines feel pain and fear.

One could believe in a satirical « scoop »: in 2018, Chinese veterinarians learn that dogs feel fear and pain! And yet, this is a reality. In some remote areas of the far East, professionals in charge of animal health did not know this, until recently that they were treating sentient beings!

This is the sad truth for the local association ACTAsia, of which we are partners in the Fur Free Alliance and we have also been supporting them for the last 10 years, in particular financing the education and teaching of “empathy” vis-a-vis animals in Chinese schools. Like this NGO, we are indeed convinced that the raising of awareness is a long-term job and that to sensitize them at an early age to certain truths will make it possible to complete the teaching process, one day or another, with the notion that an animal is not just a machine.

Training the professionals

But taking comfort in the knowledge that changing mentalities in a few decades is just not enough. Too many innocent victims endure, every second, torture that could be avoided if humans, already adults, agreed to question their beliefs and behaviours.

But how can the supposed holders of knowledge nevertheless have enormous gaps in the field of neurology? How to act when Chinese veterinarians still consider that animals do not feel physical pain or mental anguish? Many of them still do not use anaesthetics, even for sterilization! And that is just because of simple ignorance …

In its fight against obscurantism, ACTAsia has also embarked on the development of a training scheme for Asian veterinarians with the Australian NGO Vets For Comparison (VFC). Objective: to encourage the practice of using anaesthetics for all operations and through this new approach to change the way professionals look at animals and their suffering.

Reaching out to the areas of Yulin

This year, the program « Train the trainer » has been accepted by the poor and remote province of Guangxi in southern China. This is an unprecedented progress in a rural area known for its appetite for dog meat and its lack of understanding of animal welfare.

The road to Yulin Animal Disease Control Centre and the veterinarians attending it has proved difficult. This city is sadly known for the festival held every year. Every 21^stof June, the summer solstice is celebrated in a bloodbath at the Yulin Dog Meat Festival. In question here is the well-established superstition that consuming canine meat, especially during the longest days, would promote good health. Thousands of dogs, and also cats, are regularly transported there – with a rise in numbers this season and in appalling conditions. They endure hell: piled on top of each other in cages, on the verge of asphyxiation, they wait to be scalded and then cut into pieces, sometimes still alive, then to be devoured.

In 2017, no less than 11 million people worldwide signed petitions, including One Voice, to try to abolish this festival of horror. Despite a brief hope of respite, the gigantic killing has unfortunately seen no truce as yet. Worse still, a second market has emerged under the impetus of some associations that buy dogs to save them. Rather than putting a stop to these atrocities, this has only led to an explosion in supply and trade: merchants continue to sell these « beautiful » dogs for meat, while still obtaining others, sick ones who are destined for the defence of animal centres. But they find themselves overwhelmed with animals and unable to properly care for these poor survivors.

Wining the spirits

In this difficult context, ACTAsia was not discouraged. Their trainers, from Australia and New Zealand, were able to work with Chinese veterinarians and say they were very impressed and moved by their willingness to learn. They were able to teach them how to vaccinate dogs against rabies, how to use the latest sterilization techniques to control the number of stray animals and perhaps most importantly to have respect for the animals and treat them as sentient beings.

Better still, ACTAsia has found that by offering practical solutions to professionals and by demonstrating the importance of compassion, their eyes are being opened and are changing the way citizens around them think as well.

One Voice salutes the remarkable work done by their partner and the perseverance from all its staff in the field. A long way still remains to go before their message wins all of the minds and hearts. But we will support their tireless efforts to promote a real common revolution.

The timing of Morgan’s pregnancy raises many questions

The timing of Morgan’s pregnancy raises many questions
15.11.2018
Tenerife
The timing of Morgan’s pregnancy raises many questions
Exploitation for shows

Captured and locked between four walls, Morgan has just given birth to a baby. And despite their claims, SeaWorld and Loro Parque dolphinariums, which hold all 3: her, the father and the little one, knew perfectly well what they were doing. Dates do not lie; the facts are there.

Morgan, the free orca captured in the Netherlands and trapped in the Loro Parque basin by SeaWorld, should never have gotten pregnant. Why?! Because from the moment SeaWorld announced the end of its orca breeding program, all those captives at Loro Parque – then the « property » of SeaWorld – should have been subject to the same conditions.

Since the announcement of Morgan’s pregnancy, all her supporters – as perfectly described by Ingrid Visser and her lawyer this summer at Superpod – want to know when the date of conception was. Only one possibility: deduct it from the date of birth of her daughter! Oh surprise, the conception takes place a month after the stop of the reproduction of orcas in captivity, and the orcas of Loro Parque still belonged to SeaWorld at that moment, including the male who fertilized her!

Second important point to prove, that the dolphinarium directors Loro Parque and SeaWorld were aware of this pregnancy during their affidavit that no orca was pregnant on October 9th. The Free Morgan Foundation,
member, as One Voice of Dolphinaria-Free Europe, defends Morgan since its capture. They announced that her pregnancy was in no way a coincidence: it was not an « accident » as claimed by Javier Almunia (head of the Loro Parque Foundation and « in charge » of Morgan) but an attempt by the dolphinarium to still and always make money on the backs of animals, whatever the cost, even bypassing the rules. We don’t put two orcas of different sexes, without contraception and of age to breed into the same pool by chance.

So, whether it’s for Morgan or the father of the little orca born on September 22 2018 in a pool, and who will never see the ocean, it’s
hard to deny the obvious: both companies knew and did indeed act with full knowledge of the facts!

Circuses flout the intelligence and sensitivity of elephants

Circuses flout the intelligence and sensitivity of elephants
14.11.2018
Monde
Circuses flout the intelligence and sensitivity of elephants
Exploitation for shows

They are still around thirty. Thirty elephants on the roads of France, transported from town to town, locked up, sometimes isolated and suffering. Among them, Lechmee blind and paralyzed but always twitchy. The care given to her by her friends is overwhelming. They illustrate the identity of elephants, so sensitive, capable of compassion and consolation … Because the discoveries about their cognitive abilities accumulates. How much will it take to get an end to their ordeal in these circuses?

We already know the capacity of their memory, their empathy and their unselfish nature. We know that they honour their dead, that they cooperate. Perhaps even the wisdom of knowing how to live together should be a source of inspiration for humans. Yet they continue to be exploited in the worst possible way.

Elephants are the slaves of circuses. Forced to raise a foot, to do a handstand, a turnaround … then sent back to their dark trailers. How is it still possible, when we know, and it’s even been scientifically proven how intelligent they are?

A recent study has shown the amazing mathematical abilities of an Asian elephant. It has proved its ability to evaluate relative quantities, which was believed to be the case only from the human species until now. For this, several elephants have been confronted with images representing various quantities of fruits. Of the four individuals tested, only Authai passed the test, i.e. to determine, between two images, on which there was the greatest number of fruits, whatever the size. Further research is needed to generalize this already exciting result of this species.

Of course, it should not be necessary to prove the suffering caused by a practice to put an end to it. But concerning elephants, and as for many other species, it seems that whatever discoveries are made about them, nothing seems enough! Yet it is only to observe poor Lechmee watching Mina and Kamala surround her and give her special care and help her to feed herself. To understand what elephants are capable of, the complexity of their social links and their cognitive abilities … Not even Lechmee’s blindness, her disabled leg, her age and that of her friends, the violence that we have filmed, the disregard for the regulations, seem to succeed in convincing the authorities to put an end to their terrible exploitation…

But for Lechmee, Mina, Kamala and for all other circus prisoners we will continue to fight on relentlessly!

A breeding farm has been closed in Emagny, but Mink are still in cages!

A breeding farm has been closed in Emagny, but Mink are still in cages!
12.11.2018
Emagny
A breeding farm has been closed in Emagny, but Mink are still in cages!
Fashion

At the time when Jean-Paul Gaultier has just announced that he would stop using fur, in Emagny, nearly a year after the announcement of the closure of this breeding farm, there are still mink to be found in cages and conditions of their detention have not changed in any way! As part of our complaint, we sent a bailiff to attest to their presence. One Voice is the first to launch this kind of procedure, it’s unpublished.

A bailiff in a fur farm, it’s a first!

The breeding of mink in Emagny is one of six French farms in which we conducted a survey in 2016. We noted a large number of irregularities: hygiene, soil and water pollution, mink living on top of each other in tiny cages … When we applied for an extension in April 2017, we filed a complaint for acts of cruelty, lack of care, maltreatment and acts of pollution, against the owner, already condemned in the past. A breeding farm said to have been closed but none the less filing appeal last May to annul the prefectural order refusing the expansion of its premises.

At the end of the summer, we obtained from the Tribunal de Grande Instance of Besançon that a bailiff had visited the breeding farm, to make note of the presence of live mink in cages. The vet we sent to accompany the bailiff confirmed their presence and the mistreatment they undergo, and the extreme urgency to save these animals. We demand that the remaining mink be entrusted to us in order to place them in a sanctuary.

Towards a fur-free fashion, let’s respect the Mink

We constantly denounce the living conditions and the very existence of fur farms. These places must be banned, not only because of the suffering they are putting these sentient and intelligent beings through, locked up and crammed for life in tiny wire cages, that is painful to the paws and stressful to the point of causing aggression and self-harm.

Public authorities must also take into account the dangers from the constant polluting of the soil and that of the watercourses (excrement, corpses, and others) for us, and for the biodiversity itself. The American mink, exploited by this industry, are bigger and stronger than those who have lived for thousands of years in Europe. From now on, little which escapes worsens the already dramatic situation of these small mammals,’ inhabitants of the wet zones, and in the course of time, their disappearance from our territories.

A communicative commitment

With fur, the luxury and fashion industry seeks to sell us superfluous and « the beautiful ». In this we see only cruelty, mistreatment and a slow death. So many people share this point of view! Moreover, Jean-Paul Gaultier, one of our most emblematic creators has just announced Saturday, November 10^thof his decision not to use real fur, even for his next collections. This is excellent news, which beckons us more and more than ever to strengthen the fight for these animals.

.@JPGaultier vient d’annoncer sur @canalplus qu’il arrêtait la fourrure dès la prochaine collection automne-hiver. Les visons, les renards,… vous disent merci. #stopfourrure #furfree #visonslerespect pic.twitter.com/f75KR9nbgl

— One Voice (@onevoiceanimal) 10 novembre 2018

For mink, foxes, chinchillas, all legal means must be taken against this morbid industry. The animals have suffered too much, the planet is too bad for us to continue to act as in the past. The textile industry must reinvent itself.

To help you make informed purchases guaranteed by our labels, visit our dedicated website. You can also sign our petition to call on the Prime Minister about farms that are continuing to grow when we have called for their closure.

Greylag geese also in the viewfinder of the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Solidarity!

Greylag geese also in the viewfinder of the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Solidarity!
09.11.2018
France
Greylag geese also in the viewfinder of the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Solidarity!
Wildlife

Do you remember last year when Willy Schraen was angry with Nicolas Hulot’s office? He was unsuccessful in obtaining the right to kill the Greylag goose – A protected species (this term seems complicated to understand) – as early as February! Hunters having « skinned » the former minister of Ecological Transition and Solidarity, guess what’s back on the agenda… It’s up to us to put this bill back to the forefront!

Maintaining the duration of the Greylag goose hunting season was, in terms of wildlife protection, the only point on which Nicolas Hulot then Minister of State had managed to hold out against the Hunting Federation and its lobby. In February 2018, like thugs, these hungry for blood hunters had vandalized a car of the gendarmerie by rolling it on its side during their demonstration!

Les #chasseurs réclament le droit de tuer les #oies cendrées encore plus longtemps en retournant une voiture de #gendarmerie car ils n’ont pas ce qu’ils veulent! Tout à fait normal. https://t.co/08QZB5DUKt

— One Voice (@onevoiceanimal) 12 février 2018

The hunters are insistent, and the President of the Republic gives them every respect. The duration of the hunting season of the Greylag geese is challenged by a bill at the moment being drafted in the offices of the Ministry of Ecological and Solidarity Transition.

The exemption from the Birds Directive, which allows the protection of migratory birds and therefore Greylag geese, is based on the argument that they would do damage to the environment. However, if this damage is proven … not only are they mainly in the Netherlands but they mainly concern geese that do not pass through France, besides a large part are nonmigratory! In February, with this law, the Greylag geese will be hunted, while this was forbidden up until this time!

The article begins as follows: « No one may hunt outside the periods of the opening of the hunt set by the authorities ». If we understand correctly, to prevent people shooting geese out of the hunting season (this is called poaching), the department increases this period. Thus, these people shoot geese legally … (and this is called regulation by hunting). Who is mocking who here? Birds have the greatest difficulty surviving nowadays, and migratory birds are not protected or anything!

It should also be noted that at no time are these geese considered sentient individuals. Yet, they are particularly sensitive beings. The slaughter of an individual is not trivial! Couples are faithful and most often stay together for life, to the point that when one of the partners dies, the other can remain alone for years, or even never again find a mate… Even in flight, they remain close to one another. And when the female broods her eggs, it is her companion who takes care of her and protects her. If we offer him a treat, he will not eat it but give it to her!

This bill must not be voted in! And if that were the case, we will attack it immediately before the Council for the State.

At the circus Lydia Zavatta, one even “trains” humans

At the circus Lydia Zavatta, one even « trains » humans

At the circus Lydia Zavatta, one even “trains” humans
09.11.2018
Queue en Brie
At the circus Lydia Zavatta, one even “trains” humans
Exploitation for shows

The circus people have struck again! Once again, one of our activist’s was assaulted while peacefully campaigning for animal-free marquees. The case took place in La Queue-en-Brie on October 24th. Violence against and against all seems to be the key word in the oppressors of wildlife. Violence towards and against everything seems to be the key word for this oppressor of the wild life.

Open-mindedness and dialogue are definitely not the strong point of some circuses. It must be said that when one has the habit of exercising one’s power over big cats, why stop there when confronting a defenceless woman, whose only protection is a camera and some disturbing questions?

An activist assaulted

Christine Laure (this is a pseudonym) one of our faithful activists, has suffered a bitter experience. It was on October 24^th, in La Queue-en-Brie (Val de Marne). Where the circus Lydia Zavatta had settled for a few days in this town, our sympathizer went on the spot to take a series of shots of the lions, tigers, camels, llamas, dromedaries, zebus and horses let to vegetate outside of the marquee.

Particularly moved by the stereotypical behaviour of the felines and appalling conditions of their detention. Christine then went to the store (a large toy store outlet) whose car park housed fairgrounds. Her objective was to make the store aware of the plight of these animal hostages who are used in live shows. It went very badly … At the reception, she found herself face to face with two circus people, then a third who, according to her testimony, first outrageously insulted her when she asked them politely if It was conceivable to exercise their profession without the use of animals. Despite the flood of insults that rained down on her and the order to « clear off », Christine did not leave, she kept her ground. She reported that within five minutes, one of the men grabbed her upper arm and wrist violently to then force her out. The result of the operation: The filing of a complaint against the alleged aggressor and suffering from sharp pains with four-days unable to work.

Violence as a profession

The misadventure of Christine Laure is unfortunately not an isolated case. As recently as last September, other members of our team have also suffered brutality from different circuses in the city of Narbonne. Faced with such acts, it is clear that engaging in a semblance of constructive reflection with hardened advocates of mistreatment is an impossible task. Hostility and violence are customary within this environment. One only has to witness the state of absolute distress of these lions, tigers and other wild animal victims, hidden away in boxes between performances where they are to be transformed into clowns, to be otherwise convincing.

Arm wrestling

However, we are not relenting our efforts. Since it is a fight that must be fought, we pursue it. As peaceful warriors, but as warriors all the same. To save the lions and tigers owned by the owners of Lydia Zavatta, we therefore lodge a complaint against this circus and we will continue to campaign against all of these oppressors of the wild, the one’s called « tamers », for as long as they are there. You can help us in this fight by supporting our petition and as well as mobilizing you can contact your councils and supermarkets who still host these « entertainers » from a bygone. However, avoid direct confrontation if you value your wrists. The story of Christine Laure is a testimony to this.

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Pictures : Christine Laure

In the absence of a new delphinarium decree, One Voice attacks the State and demand 500,000 euros

In the absence of a new delphinarium decree, One Voice attacks the State and demand 500,000 euros
08.11.2018
France
In the absence of a new delphinarium decree, One Voice attacks the State and demand 500,000 euros
Exploitation for shows

Published on November 8th 2018 at 7:00am

Following the cancellation, for a procedural violation, of the so-called « delphinarium » decree of May 2017 which destined these parks to an unavoidable eventual closure in time, by prohibiting the reproduction in captivity and the exchanges and imports of new cetaceans, a new order was expected. After formal notice, One Voice attacks the State for misconduct because it refuses to republish an identical decree on the subject, and we claim €500,000 for moral damages. The present regulation, which is totally obsolete, dates from 1981.

In May 2017, Ségolène Royal then Minister of Ecology had adopted the so-called « dolphinarium » decree, which put an end to, among other things, the captive breeding of cetaceans, and prohibited the exchange and importation of new marine mammals, In the end, One Voice condemned the delphinariums to close. One Voice congratulated the position taken in favour of these animals.
But in January 2018, the Council of State cancelled the decree due to a technical detail: the decree had only been submitted to two public consultations. For the State Council, it would have required a third.
Between the cancellation and September 2018, Nicolas Hulot, Minister of the Ecologically and Solidarity Transition, however opposed to the captivity of the animals as he announced this on France Inter in August 2017. He did not publish the decree repeating the substance from the previous one about dolphinariums, despite the announcements and the repeated requests from One Voice and its partners (Sea Shepherd France, Cetacean-Networks, Dolphin Connection).

We called on the Minister of the Ecologically and Solidarity Transition to issue a new decree banning the reproduction and trade of cetaceans. Without a response from him, One Voice brought an action for misconduct against the State in the face of his refusal to take a new order. We ask the State 500 000 € for the moral damage caused by this deficiency. The state is at fault. From the moment he recognized that dolphins and killer whales were suffering, why did he not take a new order?

The decree regulating dolphinaria in France currently dates from 1981*. International scientific knowledge and animal rights in France have changed in 37 years!
The 500 000 € in damages claimed from the State will be entirely dedicated to the creation of a marine sanctuary to accommodate captive dolphins from dolphinariums.

*to which is added the specific section on cetaceans in the 2004
decree governing zoological parks.

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Maya’s second life

Maya’s second life
07.11.2018
Italie
Maya’s second life
Exploitation for shows

Freed from the circus thanks to the mobilization of citizens, Maya has started a new life, in Italy, under our attentive gaze and that of our local partners. She remains in captivity and fragile … but she is always in our hearts.

Free from the chains of the circus! No more caged trucks, the never-ending stop overs in parking lots, the silent but very real pain endured by this tired body. While noting her release, the French State did not hear of our association’s organization for the relocation of her into semi-liberty at a sanctuary located in France. The circus that held Maya was able to freely choose what will no doubt be her last home, an Italian zoo, close to circus networks and of which organizes shows with animals.

We are of course happy for her, we decided to follow Maya, to make sure that she was comfortable, refusing to forget her and the distance. Maya now lives in a Safari Park in Pombia, near Novara (Piedmont). The establishment proposes a concept of « safari » on this 45-hectare site with a network of paved roads from where the visitors can circulate by car to approach and view animals of the savannah in a semi-free state or visit the enclosures of some of other animals. This is now the case for Maya.

Our investigators were able to observe her and found that she was better off. Arriving exhausted back in the early part of summer, malnourished, crippled, with osteoarthritis and suffering from an infection on the right hind quarters, Maya has now more going for her. Fed by fresh hay, she can wander freely in her « domain », 5 000 m2 of sloping ground, equipped with a roof to protect her from the sun (but the climate of Lake Maggiore, nearby, is not that of Asia!). A concrete pool that gives her access to water. Maya plays with the earth she takes from the floor with her trunk and delightfully sprinkles her back with it. Yes, earth and no longer tarmac!

We observed a kind of pathway of large raised stones which reduced the space available, without much enrichment and especially that of the access to the stalls (a shed of 220 m2), where Maya could rest out of sight of prying eyes, but which is closed during the day.

The Safari Park of Pombia has welcomed on the Internet the arrival of Maya, its unique elephant, which accredits the usefulness of its association « SOS Elefanti Onlus », claiming an activity to safeguard Asian elephants. Entrance tickets are thus clearly intended to help finance this program … of which it is impossible to obtain concrete information. Claudio Aimone, its scientific director, has never answered our requests for information, any more than about the reason for barring access to the stalls during the day, a common practice in zoos, although it does not comply with the requirements of an animal’s welfare.

So, ever vigilant and supported by our Italian partners of the LAV, we will act to be enlightened on the choices of the type of framework for the second life of Maya. We asked an eminent veterinary expert, Dr. Willem Schaftenaar, adviser to the European Association of Zoological Parks, who had watched the videos recently filmed by our teams at the Safari Park. This is also the case for Prof. Donald Broom of the University of Cambridge, who found the conditions good and without any comparison with those experienced by Maya for decades in the circus. The opinions of these two experts have been attached to the letter we sent to the Italian Minister of the Environment. So that, both here and there, we should be better informed of the fate of these circus convicts becomes a common cause and not just the facts from the owners.

Maya suffers the consequences of a stolen life, exhausted by repeated transportations, the exhibitions in different places and the unsuitable facilities. While now she can regain a taste of the gestures that had been forbidden for decades during her circus life, she obviously had to rehabilitate herself, but especially to be surrounded by appropriate care, including her diet and her physical exercise. A very enriched enclosure, a floor full of sand where she can rest, a real possibility of tranquillity and out of sight in the opinion of specialists, is important to restore Maya, to soothe the physical and mental evils (stereotypy) which weigh heavy on her after a life that has been so hard. All this was relayed to the minister of a country that officially banned wild and domestic animals in circuses. Hope in Italy? here, we have to monitor, interrogate, debate and even fight …

Nevertheless, let us reflect and without moderation on this happier episode, which will not erase a life of misery, but for so many elephants, big cats and other wild animals having nothing to do whilst on the road and behind the bars of the animal circuses is a reality. Professor Broom and Dr. Schaftenaar both explain that stereotypical phycological damage is extremely difficult or impossible to cure. So even if the transfer to this park was not ideal, it will have made it possible to significantly improve her conditions of detention and even more to eliminate the trauma of homelessness: incessant transportation and changes of places. Our mail follows our close watch of Maya.Our letters of correspondence follow our close watch on Maya.

One Voice remains with Maya, will not leave her alone and will give news about her as soon as possible. Because her nature is remarkable: broken by 40 years of imprisonment she is now showing obvious, simple signs of new joy. A real sense of well-being after so much suffering is the least, we can offer her…