News Archive - Page 125 of 146

One Voice rescues abandoned cats

One Voice rescues abandoned cats
24.01.2018
Finistère One Voice rescues abandoned cats
Domestic animals

On 11th and 12th January 2018 in Quimperlé, One Voice’s Zoé Cell rescued 10 cats, left on their own, the home was abandoned, the house of their elderly owner, because of her long-term hospitalization.

The castrated and identified cat of the human owner, survived there for several weeks. Other cats had been abandoned at her home, probably by neighbours, which is punishable by law. Straying, and roaming of non-identified cats only leads to misery for these abandoned animals. In this unhealthy house, the little cats were locked in the midst of the corpses of their congeners in a state of decomposition. Excrement strewed on the ground and the furniture, the disorder and the pestilential odour adding to the rest of the filth.

The eight cats rescued on the first day were very stressed after weeks spent in such conditions. Our team immediately had them examined by a veterinarian attentive and respectful of their distress. All were the object of care. Some were dehydrated and had ulcers. One of them suffered terribly, having several cancerous tumours and unfortunately had to be euthanized.

This operation was made possible thanks to the listening of the Town hall of Quimperlé, enchanted by our intervention, with the help of “Cats without you”, “Cie Pays de Quimperlé”, and of the SPA of Vannes where the cats now wait to be adopted.

In France, more than 10 million homeless cats suffer and die on our doorstep. One Voice is engaged in this fight for them, for their dignity.

One Voice fight for dogs in Congo

One Voice fight for dogs in Congo
22.01.2018
Congo
One Voice fight for dogs in Congo
Domestic animals

Cases of rabies and parasitosis have been reported around the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The animals in the area are in dire need of our help. Time is running out: the slaughter of animals is all too often the only way out for the authorities.

The socio-economic situation of local communities and the equilibrium of ecosystems have been the collateral but are very real victims for decades of armed conflicts. Since 2000, we have worked with Bantu for the animals on the spot. During the intensification of the armed conflict, he had to resort to taking refuge in Uganda. We helped him bring his wife and children to him and they survived. He is a very committed man of exemplary courage, with whom we have forged strong relationships, mutual aid and combat. He is both our anchor and our relay there.

Humans around the Virunga National Park survive only through hunting, accompanied by sick and contagious dogs. In such circumstances, health considerations are secondary and all pay a heavy price for this ignorance. One Voice, in partnership with Bantu, is working together to help humans and animals alleviate this health problem that is adding to the pre-existing political and humanitarian crisis.

One of the consequences of these extreme situations for the populations, is that the dogs participating in these hunts are sometimes wounded, or contract various parasitosis (verminousness and dermatoses), following tick bites. At least three out of four dogs are carriers, and suffer terribly from these untreated conditions. Populations, unaware of the resulting health consequences, often abandon or simply let wounded or sick dogs wander, which encourages their contagion and spread to vulnerable people with whom they come into contact with, but also to other domesticated animals and wild animals nearby. In particular, cases of rabies have been reported, which means an assured death for all affected people.

One Voice financially supports the anti-rabies vaccination campaign in the area around Bantu Virunga Park in Congo (which also sterilizes and castrates stray animals), and has participated in the purchase of many veterinary products to combat ticks and sores on pets.

It is urgent to act very quickly, to avoid that the authorities decide, as too often in the world, to slaughter animals instead of treating them!

Happy Bear: The Indian sanctuary of One Voice

Happy Bear: The Indian sanctuary of One Voice
20.01.2018
India
Happy Bear: The Indian sanctuary of One Voice
Wildlife

They went through the worst. Torn from their mother, beaten, nose often pierced with a rope, these bears were exploited, dancing to entertain in India. Thanks to the joint work of One Voice and Wildlife SOS, they found peace in a sanctuary. In an idyllic setting, they are finally entitled to respect.

Looking back on 7 years of fighting for sloth bears

It was in 2009, after seven years of hard work by One Voice, Wildlife SOS and the anti-poaching cell that the two NGOs had created together, the last rope of the last dancing bear in India was cut. In total, more than 620 bears have been saved and placed safely into the sanctuary of Agra in India. Kalandar bear exhibitors who exploited them were able to join the reintegration program that was offered to them in exchange for retraining, which was a real chance for this community that lived in misery and a huge relief for sloth bears who survived in the worst conditions.

The sanctuary of Agra: created with bears in mind

The sanctuary of Agra is not a zoo. It is not designed for the well-being of the visitors but for the happiness of the bears, at the heart of all the concerns. In most French zoos, the enclosures allow us to see the animals in all types of circumstances. In an often confined and concrete space, sloth bears have nowhere to hide from the public eye. In Agra, it’s the other way around. Bears are grouped by age, by sex – to avoid reproduction – or even by affinity. There are dark dens where they can hide. And the parks dedication to the youngest bears is huge! All have hammocks, wooden structures and many enriching activities which are renewed every day…

Protecting sloth bears

High walls prevent intruders. Poaching is still important issue and it is crucial to ensure the peace of those bears that have already suffered so much. Everywhere, trees and bushes provide living conditions in semi-freedom close to ideal conditions. And if the bears cannot go out, the wild animals present on the site and around the area do not deprive them of it. Monkeys, birds, but also deer, do not hesitate to come and see the bears … Only the oldest bears are visible to the public, those in a zoo would probably be hidden. Their scarred faces can explain their history and raise awareness of the protection of sloth bears, a species classified as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

Their pens are near the clinic to provide them the highest care and supervision that they require. Meanwhile younger bears are near to a river. Their enclosures are so large and densely landscaped that it is almost impossible to observe them. Not having been tainted by humans, their shyness is still respected…

You can help us give these bears a peaceful retirement by sponsoring one of them! By choosing Kamli, Jasmine or Rocky, you will regularly receive news and photos and enable the Agra sanctuary to continue to guarantee their happiness and safety.

Photos: Didier Pazery/One Voice

Russia: Bears to be used to train hunting dogs

Russia: Bears to be used to train hunting dogs
18.01.2018
Russia
Russia: Bears to be used to train hunting dogs
Wildlife

We had investigated in the heart of these camps where hunters train their dogs by throwing them at wild animals, including chained bears. These practices persist, and the Russian legislators refuse to act! Let’s act against this barbarism!

Within the hunting dog training camps, an abject, daily drama takes place. Bears, foxes, martens and badgers are captured and fed to Laïka dogs trained for hunting during competitions. These animals live are atrocious. They are confined in cages without shelter, trampling in their droppings, fed with pieces of bread. Suffering is imposed on them for months and months, for years, even for the most resistant, and when they are considered too worn out, hunters kill and eat them.

During the competitions, the bears are tied by the neck, they cannot flee. They suffer the repeated assaults of several dogs biting them without respite. The more the dog bites, the more points he gets. The show is gruesome. Bears try to get rid of their shackles, and when too weak, they refuse to face the dogs, humans pull them by the neck, or hit them with a stick, so that they straighten up.

Since our investigation, we have asked for the prohibition of these barbaric activities, from another era. The bill aimed at banning this appalling practice has just been rejected by the Russian parliament. The country’s conservatives proudly make it the symbol of the cultural difference between Western and Eastern countries. All hope, however, is not lost: this legislation can be enforced by the Russian head of state. We cannot remain silent in the face of so much barbarity!

Support the work of animal advocates in Russia by creating a global sound box, please sign the petition: sign the petition!

The Zoe Cell mobilised for beaten geese, also in court for Copain the cat

The Zoe Cell mobilised for beaten geese, also in court for Copain the cat
16.01.2018
The Zoe Cell mobilised for beaten geese, also in court for Copain the cat
Domestic animals

This is unacceptable that peaceful animals, who ask nothing of anyone, be beaten, maimed, persecuted and killed by violent humans! One Voice’s Zoe Cell is there for them, of course and will not allow this!

The geese of a woman escaped to frolic in the garden next door. Surely the grass would have looked greener on the other side. The neighbour then turned on them in front of a witness horrified by the violence of the blows that cost the lives of one of the geese. One Voice will be a civil party to this for acts of cruelty.

In the East of France, the Zoe Cell is also mobilised for Buddy, who in September lost his life to two 9mm bullets just before returning home! One Voice filed a law suit in order for the perpetrator(s) not to remain unpunished.

A couple from Moselle, generous to a fault, had welcomed Copain, a stray cat, who had found in their other cat Tigrou (Tigger) a faithful companion. Copain had been part of the family for three years; he was an integral member of the family.

End of September 2017, their protectors are on vacation and the cats are for a few days under the supervision of the neighbour who knows them well. Tigger and Copain go out for their usual evening stroll in the neighbourhood. Later the neighbour calls Copain who has not yet returned. She hears two gunshots and rushes into the street. She then sees Copain coming out of nowhere and collapsing on the tarmac before he can reach the house. He will die after a few gasps, his main artery perforated by a 9 mm bullet as the autopsy of the veterinarian will reveal.

Tigrou lost his friend; Copain lost his life, because that night a human wanted to kill. This crime cannot remain unpunished.

A mockery of democracy concerning the Wolf Plan!

A mockery of democracy concerning the Wolf Plan!
15.01.2018
A mockery of democracy concerning the Wolf Plan!
Wildlife

Each year, the Ministry of Ecology establishes a quota of wolves to be killed, this is the Wolf Plan. One Voice is against it and calls for an outright ban on the slaughter of wolves. These exciting animals are a wealth for biodiversity, they have their place in the mountains and forests of France.

On January 4^th, 2018, we were received at the Ministry of the Ecological and Solidarity Transition to talk about the Wolf Plan 2018-2023. We discovered with amazement that it was already drafted and adopted, even though neither the opinion of the National Council for the Protection of Wildlife nor the results of the public consultation had been made. And for good reason, the consultation had not even started yet! It is a sham democracy that is being played before us, and this is unfortunately not the first time that public consultation has been despised.

How can a plan that takes into account the opinion of specialists and the public be developed and adopted even before any working meetings and the results of the consultation? We are faced with the fait accompli, and we are told that we will still ask public opinion? Who’s laughing at who? More than ever, we will have to respond to this consultation to allow the text to be amended before final ratification.

These magnificent animals fulfil a fundamental role in the ecosystem. We could talk endlessly about the personality of wolves, the different roles they fill in the pack, knowledge that the elders pass on to their young. Mothers are so loving, they complement each other … We could add that the protected nature of their species should be taken into account … We could finish by saying that the wolves represent an asset towards green tourism which is rarely put forward.

The rural code itself recognizes that “living things and biodiversity are part of the common heritage of the nation.” – L.110-1 first paragraph. But all this would be purely argumentative, and to lose sight of the main thing: the mountains should not be the scene of killings, but remain protected areas of nature, with animals that have the right to live in peace.

For One Voice, it is imperative to study the impact of pastoral rights over the biodiversity. Indeed, nothing says that agricultural activities are a good for the ecology of our country and more widely of the planet, everything indicates, on the other hand the opposite: destruction of the fauna and the flora of the mountain, sending lambs and sheep to the slaughterhouse …

In short, the only positive point of our meeting, which is light years away from the respect and protection due to wolves, is that the new text will only allow breeders who have made herd protection arrangements to be compensated in case of proven attacks, according to a graduated conditionality. Previously, nothing was required.

The consultation is open from January 8th to 29th, 2018. Let’s mobilize!

One Voice at the State Council against dolphinariums, to defend dolphins and orcas in captivity

One Voice at the State Council against dolphinariums, to defend dolphins and orcas in captivity
11.01.2018
One Voice at the State Council against dolphinariums, to defend dolphins and orcas in captivity
Exploitation for shows

The dolphinariums have attacked the ministerial decree of May 3^rd2017, known as « the dolphinarium decree ». It decreed the end of reproduction and captivity of cetaceans and the improvement of the living conditions of orcas and dolphins currently held in pools. The pools for moment are chlorinated and too small for them, on Friday, January 12^th, 2018 at 2.00 pm the State Council will hear the animal welfare associations, the Ministry of Environment, and the dolphinariums on these issues.

The dolphinariums have challenged by an action for annulment of the order of May 3^rd2017¹ of the then Minister of the Environment Ségolène Royal. This decree pronounced the banning of keeping any new cetacean specimens in French pools and instituting new standards for keeping the remaining animals, including the ban on the use of chlorine.

Muriel Arnal, President of One Voice, fully supports the original text: « The Ministerial Decree of 3^rdMay at last puts the dignity of sentient beings endowed with cultures and languages above economic interests. It must absolutely be maintained. By putting an end to the heartbreak of families and the bereavement associated with breeding programmes, this text will improve the living conditions of dolphins and orcas. And these will be the last detainees in France thus deprived of freedom and their fundamental rights. Ethics, common sense and humanity must continue to prevail over commercial logic.”

An interim suspension procedure was also initiated by the dolphinariums, and in July 2017²resulted in the partial suspension of the order concerning the prohibition of chlorine. However, the judge hearing the application for interim measures had maintained the ban on the breeding of orcas and dolphins.

Now it is the turn of the judgment office of the Council of State to decide on the legality of this decree. A hearing will therefore be held on January 12 to gather the observations of the lawyers to the State Council representing the parties: the parks and the Ministry, and associations including One Voice (representing in France the coalition Dolphinaria-Free Europe), intervened voluntarily to the procedure. One Voice has filed a brief of more than 50 pages which explains why this decree must be maintained together with 46 pieces including certificates from different specialists in marine mammals.

The Council of State should render its decision in early February.

One Voice au conseil d’état face aux delphinariums, pour défendre les dauphins et orques en captivité

Télécharger Lire Commander

¹ https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr…

² https://one-voice.fr/fr/presse…

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Hunting: terror in our countryside

Hunting: terror in our countryside
04.01.2018
Hunting: terror in our countryside
Wildlife

The investigators of One Voice have infiltrated the hunting industry. Their images illustrate the terror and barbarism that draws attention to our campaigns during these merciless hunts. Support the proposed law to ban it by broadcasting our images!

A day of hunting with hounds

It could have been a day like any other, a quiet and tranquil surprise meeting at a bend in a path with a majestic stag or a shy deer. It could have been a moment of exception. But that day, it is the howls of humans and dogs that set the tone, who invade the forest. The hunted stag leaping with terror in his eyes, as he runs for his life. Behind him, a pack of dogs and riders pursue him in a hunt without respite. Desperate, he throws himself into the water. He will be caught and put to death before being devoured.

The reality of the hunt

The hunt is particularly cruel. The images from our survey should be seen by as many people as possible. The reality of what is known as a hobby for some is not only terror for the animal being pursued but also for all the other animals of the forests that are hiding, panicked by the pack and the cries of the pursuing hunters. The residents also suffer the consequences. News has been regularly witnessed.

A law to ban the hunt

A law proposed on November 22nd by 14 senators would make hunting illegal as of June 1, 2018, with a fine of 15000 euros and one year imprisonment for offenders. But the validation process is long. To support this request, help us spread the images of our survey to as many people as possible. We must put an end to this barbaric practice!

For Maya, the Prefect has responded (largely) to our requests

For Maya, the Prefect has responded (largely) to our requests
02.01.2018
Lot-et-Garonne For Maya, the Prefect has responded (largely) to our requests
Wildlife

At the end of November, we invited the circus and their lawyer to look at another way out of this situation, by proposing to buy Maya from them, to save her in another way than by the legal one.

No response back from them except perhaps from legal threats. The circus does not obviously seek anything for the well-being of this elephant! We would have praised their generosity, but no, they seem to be ready to just let her die slowly.

We received in the wake of these proceedings, an “urgent summons” demanding the withdrawal of any communication defending Maya on our online media platforms, papers, etc., and for an apology from us!

At the same time, the Prefect of Lot-et-Garonne had received the advice from many international experts that we had recently put together, as well as the two letters from leading French institutions for veterinarians; and she has also heard public opinion expressed through our mobilizations at every moment (the gatherings, the signatures of the petition #JusticePourMaya, and more generally by your presence on social network sites that are on our side). The parallel action of these two components had probably played a major role in the Prefect’s decision to order a new veterinary inspection.

We had written to her to ask her to take into account certain aspects of this inspection, and by the answer she gave us, it seems that we have been heard!

Given the legal situation, it is unfortunately impossible for us to say more. Even if our frustration and our impatience to all of this is strong, and that Maya is not yet free, we see this as a great step forward!

Outrageous: a circus exhibits a baby tiger at the end of the school day

Outrageous: a circus exhibits a baby tiger at the end of the school day
29.12.2017
Herault
Outrageous: a circus exhibits a baby tiger at the end of the school day
Exploitation for shows

In Sète, at the beginning of last October, a circus exhibits at the end of a school day a baby tiger; a way to promote their circus show. It is very difficult for young children to resist a cute animal that is like a stuffed toy animal and it seems as harmless as a kitten … Should we really be outraged at this kind of practice? One Voice answers Yes and challenges the prefect of Herault! Explanations are needed.

The weaning period of a tiger, do you know?

In its natural habitat, a tigress hides her cubs for the first fifteen days until they are able to see and hear. It takes the newcomers a hundred days to reach the end of the weaning period. In no case should they be separated from their mothers. Unfortunately, in view of the photos circulating on social networks, the baby presented to the public at the end of school classes, was far from having reached this period of development. And even so, a young tiger is not an object of curiosity and has no place in a street!

Torn from his mother, the health of the baby is in fact questioned. Our concern is great, knowing that many births have been recorded without knowing the fate of new-born’s … We demand transparency from the circuses via a right of access to the register of entries and exits of these lions and tigers.

The Prefect of Herault challenged by One Voice

In addition to a copy of the register, we call on the Prefect of Herault to suspend the certificate of competency for this circus. This document is especially given to circus owners for « the breeding of animals of non-domestic species other than game ». It can be removed when the welfare of the animal in question is not assured. Impossible to affirm, knowing the needs of a baby tiger, and that the circuses must guarantee the good health of the animal.

Baby tigers: a marketing tool for circuses

Enticing children so that they push their parents to go to a show is a renowned marketing technique that the Circus owners master rather well!

After such an exhibition, how can you refuse your child an outing where they will be sure to see an animal as cute as a baby tiger? We will try to help you. Even if the comparison between a kitten and a baby tiger can be easily made, remember first that the latter does not purr but roars. Furthermore, a tiger born in captivity or not, remains and will remain a wild animal. From the first months of existence, the latter shows predatory behaviour.

A study was conducted on 12 tigers more than two years old born in captivity, then released into their natural habitat, most of them were able to hunt antelope. Their hunting instinct is intact even though all they had known was the captive life … Is it really necessary to maintain children’s perception of wild animals the same as soft toys or as their companions in everyday dogs or cats? We do not think so, especially when we know the living conditions of these poor animals … And this is certainly not the way children ought to be taught respect for wildlife.

One Voice’s fight: circuses without animals

Young tigers are unfortunately not the only victim of this circus: Jumbo, the hippo lives in an appalling condition. Its biological and physiological needs are not respected.

Let us refuse together to participate in animal abuse, exploited for the entertainment of humans. Continue to sign the petition so that there are no more animals exploited in circuses!