The trial of repeat offenders of Oise: One Voice demands an exemplary sentence!

The trial of repeat offenders of Oise: One Voice demands an exemplary sentence!
30.05.2018
Oise
The trial of repeat offenders of Oise: One Voice demands an exemplary sentence!
Domestic animals

On Thursday May 31st 2018 will be the trial of a couple of repeat offenders, whom against we filed a complaint for ill-treatment. One year after our seizure of animals at their home, the Cell Zoe will be in the court of Senlis so that they will never again abuse their victims.

Long-term vigilance

We unfortunately knew the owners all too well. The same muddy grounds, the same house, the smell of animal waste, their infections and corpses …

Since 2004, we have been monitoring their activities. In 2011 already, our Cell Zoe had saved from their « establishment », 46 dogs in a deplorable state and obtained a court prosecution for serious abuse and acts of cruelty. But despite the definitive ban on continuing in this activity related to animals and above all, a definitive ban on keeping any animals, they have started again! Fortunately, we maintained our vigilance until last year. In collaboration with the services of the DDPP (Departmental Directorate of Population Protection) of the Oise, the police, and in the presence of our partner shelters, we have been able once again to rescue these poor beings who were dependent on them.

A new memorable seizure

On May 5^th 2017 these repeat offenders were taken into custody. That day, we discovered animals living in mud, without care, without food or water, some locked up in small poorly maintained pens and without protection from the cold or the rain: about twenty goats and their kids, two billy goats, cats, dogs, and even the body of a chicken dried up in a transport crate, and an abandoned cat corpse behind a door…

A rebirth for the survivors

The goats that were saved are now all in great shape! Half of them have taken up residence at the Filémon refuge, where they share their time between the sheepfold, heated for the cold days and the green meadows, coloured with a thousand wildflowers during the sunny days. The others joined the refuge at Bonheur des Chevaux in Lot-et-Garonne. They enjoy a plot of several hectares, which One Voice had financed the fence so that they can be welcomed in the best possible conditions.

The cats, meanwhile, were taken care of by the AIMAA shelter of Épernay and the Oisemont Protection Animal shelter. Finally, they have found peace. Thanks to the patience and constant care from the shelter staff, these traumatized individuals can now trust humans!

Life is not less rosy for the dogs entrusted to the AIMAA shelter of Epernay … Gustave Flaubert has found a perfect place within the family. Georges Sand now walks without a leash despite her eyesight problems and the slightest walk is an immense source of joy for him. Isaac, for his part, quickly adapted to his new environment. It’s a dog’s love with a strong character, who now likes to express himself and who has become the little prince of the house …

A big thank you to all our donors who allowed the Cell Zoe to maintain a long-term surveillance of these torturers of animals and to eventually prosecute them, to organize the rescues and to put the victims into safe partner shelters. One Voice has provided funding for veterinary care during the years of litigation. This chain of solidarity is essential to reduce cruelty!

He kills a puppy with an axe in front of his children

He kills a puppy with an axe in front of his children
24.05.2018
Grignon
He kills a puppy with an axe in front of his children
Domestic animals

Athena lived the worst kind of life! Accidentally wounded, the usual violence from the father of the family who would eventually give her an atrocious death. He killed her with an axe, burned her and buried in a wood after putting her down for having a broken leg. Our Cell Zoe has pressed charges, we are asking for exemplary charges.

Athena was barely three months old and lived in Grignon in a stepfamily with five children. Wednesday, April 11^threturning home from work, the mother accidentally drove over the paw of this adorable little Beauceron dog. To avoid having to pay for the vet care, the stepfather asks the vet to put it down, his wife intervened, the children were terrified. The veterinarian does not perform the euthanasia, but does not offer to help and didn’t warn the authorities either, while the puppy was clearly in danger of death and the children were afraid. This is the first step towards the nightmare.

An outburst of rage without limit on a baby dog

When the veterinarian refuses, the man decides to kill the poor wounded animal himself. Horror of horrors, he chooses the axe as a weapon of the crime, and proceeds to kill him under the horrified gaze of one of the children who will call the gendarmes himself while the rest of the family is in a state of shock. He will burn Athena’s body in the woods to better hide his wrongdoing. He will also be seen by a witness through the trees digging a pit in which he would throw the remains of the murdered puppy. Thanks to them this extreme act of violence has been discovered and will not go unpunished.

The link between domestic violence and violence towards pets

This chilling affair is exemplary in the link it denotes between the violence suffered by the children and their mother and those perpetrated towards the puppy. For ten years this particularly violent man had been in the habit of beating brutally and threatening his partner and children with death, as a witness close to the couple said: « He is capable of killing them all.The dog was the first sign of what could have happened to them« . « It was just slaps of obedience! » the accused will say by way of explanation, without ever expressing the slightest regret, neither for Athena, nor for her abused family …

What can be said of a child who has been beaten for eleven years and has a handicapped foot, forced to watch his beloved animal get hit again and again by an axe without any chance of escaping? Scape-goat for his stepfather he will later tell the authorities. « He hit me with the palm of his hand in the  face … (…) At the same time he cries, he says words like that I should not have existed and that I am a good for nothing (…) it happens every week he hits me there are weeks where it’s every day (…) he says I’m rotten and that I do not deserve anything (…) he tells me he will kill me« . Between his personal condition and that of Athena, it is easy to understand what connection the little boy could have made. What will be the psychological consequences for him?

For the plaintiff, we demand an exemplary penalty

We filed a complaint immediately after the discovery of the facts. The torturer appeared April 18^th2018 at the Criminal Court Albertville for « serious abuse on pets » but also for « intrafamilial violence ». The judgment was postponed until May 24^th pending the psychiatric assessment of the defendant. Our Cell Zoe will be there for Athena but also to highlight the heroic role of the child, who must be completely protected.

In addition to claiming exemplary punishment against this man, sign our petition to demand with us the creation of a criminal record of violence and acts of cruelty perpetrated towards animals. This is to better detect and punish those responsible for the facts, not in function of the type of species the victim is. It is untenable, how many more deaths, children under terror, lives broken?

May 24th, One Voice civil law suit at the trial of a domestic tyrant who axed to death an injured puppy in front of his 11-year-old step son

May 24th, One Voice civil law suit at the trial of a domestic tyrant who axed to death an injured puppy in front of his 11-year-old step son
23.05.2018
Savoie
May 24th, One Voice civil law suit at the trial of a domestic tyrant who axed to death an injured puppy in front of his 11-year-old step son
Domestic animals

An abusive man, who was also beating his girlfriend’s children, killed a three-month-old Beauceron puppy with an injured paw by six blows from an axe, before burning its corpse and burying it in the adjoining woods. One Voice filed a civil suit immediately after the discovery of the facts for this little dog called Athena. April 18^th 2018 was the first court hearing in Albertville. The judgment was postponed until May 24^th 2018, to obtain a psychiatric report of the suspect. One Voice calls for exemplary punishment and the creation of a file of people convicted of violence.

Athena, was three months old and lived in Grignon in a mixed family, with five children. Wednesday April 11^th, returning from work, the mother accidentally rolls over the dog’s paw. To avoid having to pay for the vet care, the husband asks the vet to euthanize the dog. Faced with opposition from his wife, he leaves with the little dog. However, warned that the man, who was disappointed and in a state of rage, says he’s going to kill the puppy himself, and despite the terror of the children, the veterinarian does not report this incident to the authorities. Returning home, the defendant kills Athena with six blows of an axe, under the horrified gaze of one of the children while the rest of the family cries in shock. The man then burns Athena’s body in the woods and tries to bury it to better hide his evil act.

The link between domestic violence and violence of pets

The beaten child with a disabled foot, the scapegoat of this tyrannical step father, carried out a heroic act, calling on his own the gendarmes at the first blow of the axe to the puppy. Between his personal condition and that of Athena, we quickly understand what connection this little boy could have made. He will say to the authorities: « He hit my face with the palm of his hand. (…) At the same time he screams. He says words to me that I should not have heard and that I am a good-for-nothing (…) it happens every week that he hits me, there are some weeks where it’s every day (…) he says that I am rotten and that I serve no purpose in life (…) he tells me that he will kill me« .

This chilling example is typical of the link between the repeated violence suffered by the children and their mother and of those perpetrated upon the puppy. As one witness at the hearing confirmed, « He is capable of killing them all. The dog was an example of what could happen to them all. »

One Voice civil party to obtain an exemplary sanction

Muriel Arnal, founding president of One Voice protests:

« For years, One Voice has been warning about this problem, about the link between this type of violence. It is essential that veterinarians report cases of abuse or death threats made to them, as is already the case in other countries, and that a criminal list be established! How many more deaths will it take to act? Pets are the first victims, but it’s also children, whose lives are broken, and women who are in danger !”

In addition to demanding an exemplary punishment against this man, we once again urge our representatives, and the President of the Republic to support the creation of a criminal record of violence and acts of cruelty perpetrated upon animals to better detect and punish those responsible at the height of the facts, not just according to the victims.

Stray cats are a tragedy not inevitability

Stray cats are a tragedy not inevitability
22.05.2018
France
Stray cats are a tragedy not inevitability
Domestic animals

The life of stray cats is a daily drama. They are there on our doorstep ever more numerous than before, suffering all evils and undergoing the worst of them: mass slaughter, violence of all kinds, as well as hunger, cold, thirst and diseases. For them, One Voice is launching a new campaign calling for a national emergency plan! Sign our petition.

Millions of cats without a family

How many are there really? Populating our streets and our countryside, thin, hungry, sick … The latest figures, dating from 2016, report 11 million stray cats, almost as many as cats in families according to the number that was estimated that same year to be 13.48 million. The refuges are overflowing and the impound facilities slaughter relentlessly. Because we cannot call these mass exterminations implemented in some communes « euthanasia »! Euthanasia, by definition, is an act to relieve the suffering of a being without hope of healing, and certainly not a killing of a healthy animal for the convenience of humans.

One solution, the sterilization of cats

Mass slaughtering of stray cats does not make sense. Throughout the world, many studies have shown that they do not solve the problem of strays. On the other hand, when a colony of cats disappears, the free space is quickly reinvested by new homeless felines … The specialists having studied the question all agree on only one effective strategy: to sterilize and release the cats, simple castration proving more effective. The latest One Voice report explains this.

1 unsterilized cat it’s more than 10,000 kittens in 7 years

Today, the problem of the cat people seems a bottomless pit. Sterilization efforts of just here or there are clearly not enough. Without non-stop, new cats and kittens are abandoned. And remember that only one unsterilized female and her offspring is enough for more than 10,000 kittens to be born in just 7 years! Faced with this situation, we understand that the tragedy of stray cats requires a global response … And this is what One Voice is claiming in this national emergency plan.

Cats in the rubbish bin?

Today, the regulations entrust the mayors with the responsibility for the management of free cats on their communal territory. It clearly states that euthanasia is not an appropriate solution and that sterilization / release is preferred … It is far from being what is put into practice. And when one knows how town halls “waste” budgets work to deal with stray cats one understands how they are looked upon… Yet the problem of stray cats is vast, both ethically, environmentally and health wise. There are so many reasons to therefore solve this problem before it surpasses us, like the case in Australia where a shocking campaign of eradication by poisoning is underway.

Give mayors the means to act and empower individuals

The solution to stray cats is in the hands of mayors but also individuals. One Voice will therefore act at a state level to ensure that not only will the mayors respect their legal obligations to protect homeless cats but also for the creation in each municipality of a place to live for stray cats. With its program Chatipi, it proposes to support them in the setting up of these structures. The cats will remain free after sterilization, but will have a shelter, will be fed, watered and will receive health monitoring. And as there wouldn’t be any stray cats without them being born in the first place, or being given away as gifts, or being sold in an unregulated manner. We will continue our campaign to demand the compulsory sterilization of cats, the application and obligation of identification, and to prohibit sales in the classified ads sections or pet shops.

To help homeless cats please sign the petition!