News Archive - Page 140 of 144

A world without lions?

A world without lions ?
02.04.2016
A world without lions ?
Wildlife

50 years ago, there were still 450,000 lions around the world. In 2015 there were only some 20,000 lions left in Africa and 500 in India, in Gujarat. The last five lions in Iran –a female and her young– were killed in 1963 and their massacre celebrated by the national media. At this rate and if nothing is done, our children will grow up in a world without lions, apart from a few inbred and psychotic specimens exhibited in zoos.

These big cats are under threat from all sides: trophy hunting, canned hunts, poaching, poisoning, habitat loss, being caught for zoos, and the demand for lion bones for Chinese traditional medicine, are now pushing them to the very edge of extinction.

Several African countries allow trophy hunting, of which Cecil the lion was one of the most recent victims. The revenue from permits finances conservation programmes, but these are precisely the countries where the lion population is in steepest decline. This barbarous recreation, restricted to the well-off, kills far more than just the individual lion whose head is cut off to adorn the drawing room, for when a big male is killed, his entire pride is left unsettled and unprotected.

But hunting wild lions is expensive and there is the risk of returning empty-handed, so some choose an easier solution: canned hunting. In South Africa captive lions are raised by hand in fenced-in locations. Being tame, they are effortlessly killed by trophy hunters who are too lazy or too busy. Bones removed from the carcasses of these lions are sold in Asia for Chinese traditional medicine. They can be exported legally, since lions are not included in Appendix 1 of CITES. Between 2003 and 2012, some 6,782 trophies were exported from South Africa, as well as tonnes of bones and hides. It is feared that this legal trade provides cover for smuggling of bones from wild lions.

The expansion of agriculture in Africa leads to territory loss for wild animals and a shortage of prey. So they attack farm animals, leading to a vicious circle of farmers protecting their livestock by shooting or poisoning lions.

Finally, zoos and circuses regularly obtain wild lions and subject them to a life of boredom and confinement to entertain the public. The exact number of captive big cats in Europe is not known, a serious reporting omission for these populations. In the USA alone the numbers are estimated at close to 10,000 tigers, panthers, pumas and lions imprisoned.

A king that became a commodity

A king that became a commodity
01.04.2016
A king that became a commodity
Wildlife

Trapped, killed, poisoned, confined, contaminated, dispossessed of his territory on which he could survive, treated as merchandise, tamed and humiliated: an urgent mobilization on our part is necessary to save the one who was once recognized as the king of the animals!

Throughout human history, lions have struck our imagination. In France, 35,000 years ago, artists painted lions on the walls of the caves of Chauvet, in poses that denote a very fine observation of animal behaviour. These representations even describe behaviours observed in African lions today (1). Since then, the lion has become a symbol of nobility, bravery, power and strength, and more recently, the symbol of the Lannister’s house, with its motto “Hear Me Roar”. In this worldwide phenomenon that is known as the Game of Thrones, HBO. Throughout history and throughout the world, statues, images and stories of lions are everywhere; but for these animals the cost of this attention that man has given them is very high.

Endangered

A comparative mapping of human and leonine populations over the last fifty years shows that the number of wild lions in Africa has halved for every additional billion people in the world (2). In the 1940s, there were some 450,000 lions in Africa. In the eighties, there were less than 100,000 left. Today, it is estimated that between 23,000 and 39,000 lions, confined in only 20% of their original range and only seven African countries still harbouring populations of more than 1,000 wild lions Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. On the red list of threatened species the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has currently classified lions as “vulnerable”, with only lion populations in West and Central Africa ranked as “in danger”. In West Africa, only 400 to 500 specimens remain (3).

Dispossessed of his territory, shot and poisoned

The result from the development of agriculture and livestock in Africa is that lions are confined to ever smaller areas, where prey may not be large enough to support their livelihoods. Sometimes attacking cattle to survive. The result is a vicious circle because pastoralists and farmers in order to protect their livelihood, start killing lions they consider “pests” by shooting or poisoning them. Carbofuran, a pesticide used in agriculture, so toxic that it is banned in the United States and the European Union, is used to kill lions, particularly in East Africa. Just a quarter of a teaspoonful of this product will kill a lion in minutes. Farmers smear an animal carcass with Carbofuran, which may be enough to kill a whole pride of lions if they devour it. The animals that come to finish off the carcass, for example are hyenas, vultures, jackals and various insects, which also die.

Exposed to disease

Contact with humans and livestock exposes lions to diseases against which they are not immune and which pose a threat to their survival (4). These are mainly the distemper virus (CDV), feline immunodeficiency virus and bovine tuberculosis. Bovine tuberculosis was introduced, for example, into the buffalo of Kruger Park through domestic cattle, and buffaloes transmitted it to lions. As for the distemper, it now threatens lions in the Serengeti region of Tanzania. Kruger Park and Serengeti Park are home to some of the largest remaining lion populations, and the threat of these diseases is considerable (5).

Hunted for pleasure

Trophy hunting is allowed in several African countries who consider that it brings in funds for the conservation of their natural heritage. Yet these countries are precisely those in which lion populations are declining the fastest, and one study shows that trophy hunting does little to local economies (6). The lion is one of the five big animals that are popular with hunters.

Wild lion hunting can be very expensive and unsuccessful. This is why many trophy hunters are attracted to South Africa where they are guaranteed the ability to kill an animal. South African exports of lions that are kept in captivity included 6782 trophies, plus 734 skins and tons of lion bones. In South Africa, according to sources (7), there are up to 8000 lions in captivity compared to 2700 wild individuals. Lion farms have been the subject of a One Voice investigation. Cubs fetch a price, because people pay to see them and to pet them.

Teen lions are a good earner as well because people pay to walk around with them. Older lions fetch a good price because people pay to slaughter them and then carry off their stuffed head as a trophy, or use their skinned hides as carpets. Lion meat is profitable and so are the bones. The latter are in great demand in Asia for the manufacture of traditional Chinese medicines.

The suffering in the circuses

Only a few years ago One Voice organized the rescue of 3 lions, Shada, Djunka and Nalla, who had always lived in a circus in the Dordogne. They were kept in isolation in cages measuring only 1.83m x 1.83m and were used for breeding. Whenever Nalla and Shada gave birth, their cubs were taken away to sale. Thanks to One Voice and the Born Free Foundation in France and the United Kingdom, these three lions were welcomed by a trusted sanctuary in South Africa. In circuses, wild animals are deprived of everything that makes life worth living.

The suffering in Zoos

Lions have been popular with animal collectors since the middle ages and even long before in some parts of the world. There are currently between 7000 and 10 000 captive animal collections in the world, known as zoos or sanctuaries, which are open to the public (8), and not counting the unknown number of private collections. It would be difficult to determine how many lions are languishing in them, and it would be even harder to say how many of them have a life worth living. According to a survey of zoos in France in 2011, out of 726 randomly selected pens in 25 zoos, 1 out of 4 did not have an appropriate environment. The survey (9) concluded that “there is an apparent lack of consideration for the specific needs of each wild animal species concerned and that of the necessary care required in captivity.” For example, “some species were enclosed in small, absolutely incompatible enclosures in terms of their needs concerning space.”

It’s time to act

Due to human activities, the king of animals is on the verge of extinction. Since the dawn of time, lions have been captured and imprisoned to entertain and amuse the public. As a first step toward to restoring balance, One Voice calls for the status of lions to be include in Appendix I of CITES, to stop any trade in lions or parts of lions. One Voice also calls on the international community to support programs to protect wild lions that still exist around the world and to put an end to the deprivation of captive lions.

Discover our campaign to restore the sovereignty of lions!

Notes:

Craig Packer et Jean Clottes, « When Lions Ruled France », Natural History, 11/00 pp. 52-57.
Secrétariat de la Convention sur la diversité biologique (2010) ) Global Biodiversity Outlook 3. Montréal, 94 pages, http://www.cbd.int/doc/publications/gbo/gbo3-final…
Henschel et al, « The Lion in West Africa Is Critically Endangered », PLOS ONE, 11 janvier 2014, volume 9, 1reéd. http://www.panthera.org/sites/default/files/The%20…
Roelke et al., Pathological manifestations of feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) infection in wild African lions. Virology, 390(1), 2009; Cleaveland et al., The conservation relevance of epidemiological research into carnivore viral diseases in the Serengeti. Conservation Biology, 21(3), 612-622
http://www.lionaid.org/news/2015/02/lion-stronghol…
http://www.ecolarge.com/work/the-200-million-quest…
http://www.lionaid.org/news/2014/08/south-africa-d…
Walker S. et al (2004): “The ‘other’ zoo world. Unaffiliated zoos and their impact on global zoo image and on conservation. What is to be done?” In WAZA conferences: proceedings of the 58th annual meeting, hosted by AMACZOOA, San José, Costa Rica, 16–20 November 2003. Cooperation between zoos in in situ and ex situ conservation programmes: 178–181. Dollinger, P. (Ed.). Bern: World Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
http://www.bornfree.org.uk/zooreports/Francefr

Three years ago, I killed a calf

Three years ago, I killed a calf
01.04.2016
France
Three years ago, I killed a calf
Other campaign or multi-campaigns of One Voice

A beautifully moving testimony translated by One Voice: so that one day no more babies will be sacrificed.

Right after his birth, I dragged him away from his crying mother and locked him in a wooden box. He was afraid … he was lost … he was shaking. But I put him this box to make sure he would not drink his mother’s milk … The milk I need for MY cheese, MY yogurt, MY ice cream.

I left him in this box for eight weeks, feeding it with a cheap replacement formula. He lived in his own filth and cried after his mother day and night. So, I took it out of the box and carried it into a room. Although I dragged him unceremoniously into this sordid place, he tried to suck my fingers. He reached out to me in a kind of surge of love, doing everything in his power to fill the void created by his mother’s absence. It was pitiful. When we arrived in the room in question, I hung him up by his hind legs and put an end to his misery. He kicked for a minute or two while he was bleeding. A few hours later, he was cut up into pieces and packaged into small, clean packages and shipped. The veal. Mmmmm. Tender calf.

Three years ago, I saw the video showing me that calf that I had killed. The fact that it was not me who dragged him to the ground or who
the knife does not matter. I am the one who demanded cheese, yoghurt and ice cream. And as luck would have it, there was someone
out there who was more than happy to provide it to me. Three years ago, I fell on my knees, I cursed the sky and the whole of
humanity, and I screamed like I had never done before. I shouted for this calf. I screamed for forgiveness, but no one answered me.

All my life I had thought I loved animals, and I had spent the last twenty years refraining from eating their flesh because of that belief. But until three years ago, I did not know that I was still hurting so many animals. I was not doing them harm: I tortured them, I mutilated them, I deprived them of the mother that EVERY baby on this planet needs. I deprived them of any semblance of comfort or joy. I could not have been crueller.

Three years ago, when my screams stopped, when the sudden overwhelming hatred I felt towards humanity began to subside, I swore to every calf, every chicken, every pig, each turkey, each fish, each shrimp, and all the other animals I had eaten in my life, that this time I
done. I had finished. The truth had been hidden for so long. But now, I knew. Good God how I now knew.

Three years ago, from vegetarian I then became a vegan. I cannot change the past. But I can learn from it. I can learn how and why this horrible truth has been withheld for so long. I can make these liars pay for forcing me to be so cruel for so long. I can make them pay by telling
others the truth … Others I know, and I know they care about animals as much as me … Others I know, and I know that they do not
want to kill that calf. I am vegan, now and forever. For the rest of my life, I will speak on behalf of this calf. I will spend my life absolving my faults towards him, to make his life meaningful. I never wanted to hurt you. I will never be able to harm you again.

Article by Jeff Rosenberg

One Voice Translation

Shared on Let the Animals Live, Israel

Website: http://www.letlive.org.il/eng/

Lolita, the Orca who kept hoping

Lolita, the Orca who kept hoping
01.04.2016
Miami
Lolita, the Orca who kept hoping
Exploitation for shows

At Miami Seaquarium, Lolita turns in circles. She doesn’t know, but we are working to save her. For her perhaps: freedom. Soon.

The prison

Today,
Lolita swims in a circular aquarium of 24 by 11 metres, and with a depth of 3 to 6 metres, surrounded by spectator benches under the Florida sun. When she turns upwards, her tail fin touches the ground, because her body is 6m long. Completely alone for 36 years now, she shares her tiny prison with a few Pacific white-sided dolphins.

The only Orca companion that she ever had was Hugo, caught two years earlier from the same L pod clan. Most likely a brother or a cousin. The couple never had children, even though the two captives were extremely affectionate with each other, sometimes publicly. Lolita and Hugo lived together for ten years in the « whale jar ». Unable to cope with captivity, Hugo died from a brain haemorrhage by hitting his head repeatedly against the walls of the tank in the Spring of 1980. Lolita plunged into despair and there were concerns for her life. But the little orca kept going and today she is surviving the intolerable. Does she doubt what is planned for her? Is it hope that has kept her going far longer than a human would in her circumstances?

Freedom

On the outside, everything has been prepared for her. A reliable rehabilitation plan has been established for Lolita by her longstanding friend, Howard Garrett, (founder of the
Orca network), and a team of scientists. We just need a gesture from the company Aspro Ocio, who own her as well as the Antibes orcas, to open her prison doors to allow for an amazing occurrence in the close future. Imagine….

Hope

Lolita is in a bay close to the San Juan Islands, in the ocean off Washington State, having been transported by plane there. It has been a few weeks now since she rediscovered what she had never really forgotten: to catch her own fish, to dive, to voyage in the ocean. Her human friends take care of her but are becoming more and more discrete. One beautiful morning, we can hear a sequence of whistles coming from the ocean. The Southern Resident Orca Community is returning!

It’s the L Pod, her natal clan. The wild orcas swim carefully along the net cutting the creek, trying first of all to understand. Who is this stranger? They interrogate her, she clumsily responds in their dialect. It has been such a long time since she has spoken to someone!

Suddenly, in the crowd of gathered orcas, a matriarch detaches herself and comes closer. She addresses the stranger, whistling her name, questioningly. Lolita starts and replies. They know each other! « Mother?… » Yes, it’s Ocean Sun, her 80 year old mother who is looking straight at her. The net gently falls to the ground, whilst the two orcas lean on each other for the first time in 46 years! We don’t know how orcas cry, but these two are surely crying in happiness. Now, all of the tribe wriggle, dive, hit the waves and welcome the unimaginable escapee from hell. Soon, their large fins will line up together, taking Lolita to the dark waters of Puget Sound. She was right to keep hoping…

But all of this is still a dream. Help us make it real.

Lolita, the lonely orca, must go home

Lolita, the lonely orca, must go home
31.03.2016
Miami
Lolita, the lonely orca, must go home

Kidnapped as a child and sentenced to slavery, she was locked up in a goldfish bowl and used as a showpiece for 46 years. They named her Lolita and she survives at Miami Seaquarium with an incredible rage, that only hope can explain.

Lolita’s life could have been very different.

When she was born around 1966 into the L pod of the Southern Resident Orca Community, her mother, Ocean Sun (L25) and all of her family surrounded her in love and fiercely protected her. There were many orcas in British Columbia. Other than the occasional hunter who aimed at them from his boat, they led a peaceful life, forgotten by man, in the dark Pacific waters. At the age of one, Lolita had already learnt to hunt chinook salmon whilst continuing to suckle her mother. She had started to explore her environment, to go off and play with other children and learn the tribe’s dialect.

The little orca grew very quickly. At the age of three, she was joining in in group hunts, batting the fish towards her companions and discovering little by little how to find the best prey depending on the wind and the tides. Lolita was still very young, but she was already a proper member of her community. Her brain, weighing five kilos, took in all of the rules for survival in her powerful memory. One day, she would also become a respected matriarch followed by her adult sons and daughters and a whole band of grandchildren, free and happy in her world. But this wasn’t taking into account a new industry, that of captivity…

Horror at Pen Cove.

On the 8^th August 1970, Lolita-Tokitae, at the age of four, swam alongside her family in Admiralty Bay towards Puget Sound in Washington State. Suddenly, the entire community of 85 orcas were violently forced into Penn Cove creek, in the sea off Whidbey Island. The operation ‘Namu Inc‘ was launched! Two dolphin traffickers, Ted Griffin and Don Goldsberry, had put all the necessary means in place to capture their golden egg laying chickens: reconnaissance planes, speedboats, M-80 explosives thrown in handfuls into the water… Total chaos. The children were separated from their mothers by a line. Five orcas, of which four were children, drowned during the capture. To conceal the crime, the kidnappers opened their stomachs and stuffed them with chains and stones before sinking the bodies.

Lolita was hauled into a hammock whilst the adult orcas cried in distress. The youngsters called for their mothers with long heart wrenching calls. One of the pleading parents was the heart broken Ocean Sun, who watched her daughter be loaded onto a boat to never be seen again.

Lolita-Tokitae.

On arrival at Miami Seaquarium on the 24
^th of September 1970, the little Tokitae was renamed Lolita. The six other L Pod children captured with her were distributed between Japan, Texas, the United Kingdom, France (Calypso) and Australia. They were all extremely young and they would all die less than five years later. Lolita is therefore today the only survivor of the 45 members of the Southern Resident Orca Community captured and sold between 1965 and 1973.

We know that this community is today struggling to recover from these captures, which were eventually banned, which meant that the capture of Orcas moved further North, to Iceland. Its population is now under threat and benefits from special protection under the
Endangered Species Act. This law also applies to the Orca Lolita, and should be worth her freedom. But the industry resistance is strong and Lolita remains a prisoner.

Armani chooses a more humane fashion!

Armani chooses a more humane fashion!
22.03.2016
Monde
Armani chooses a more humane fashion !
Fashion

He is a big name in fashion and his choice is tremendously hopeful. Armani announced today that he was giving up fur as a result of his work with the Fur Free Alliance and One Voice. Bravo !

Beauty does not mean cruelty! After Hugo Boss, it is now Armani that continues this beautiful commitment in the luxury sector against the real fur industry.These big brands send a strong signal to the fashion world but also provide a concrete response to the growing demand for ethical and sustainable fashion.

Armani therefore abandons all genuine furs, including rabbit, from their autumn / winter 2016 collection. This great decision comes to a conclusion after working and consulting with the Fur Free Alliance and One Voice. This is an international coalition of which we are a member alongside more than forty other associations from around the world, who are all determined to stop the fur trade.

Giorgio Armani: I am pleased to announce that the Armani Group has made a firm commitment to ban animal fur from its collections. The technological progress of recent years provides us with valuable alternatives that make it unnecessary to resort to cruel methods with regard to animals. Continuing a process that began a long time ago, my company is now taking a big step forward, reflecting our commitment to the critical issues of protecting and preserving the environment and animals.

Most of the fur used by the fashion industry comes from farms in which wild animals are locked in small cages and killed by cruel methods for the sole purpose of preserving the quality of their coat (gassing and electrocution by way of the anus…). Fur production also has a high environmental cost and poses serious health problems due to the use of heavy metals.

Besides Hugo Boss and Armani, other well-known brands have already committed to the cause, such as Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein and Stella McCartney. They have therefore clearly expressed the influence of the ethical choices from a new generation of consumers …

Farms are banned in several countries, including the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Austria and Croatia, showing a growing awareness of the suffering of animals. Armani’s decision will save thousands of lives.
No future for fur!

Morgan, the little lost orca

Morgan, the little lost orca
20.03.2016
Tenerife
Morgan, the little lost orca
Exploitation for shows

In June 2010, a small female orca swimming alone was lost at sea off the coast of the Netherlands. The Harderwijk dolphinarium hurries to rescue her as part of a capture authorization, which means that the orca must be cared for and then put back into the sea. But the dolphinarium, shortly after the « rescue », exposes Morgan to the public in a pool ridiculously small for its size. A few tricks have already been taught. The public pays to see her and bang on the widows of her pool. She stayed there for 18 months, while a scientific rehabilitation plan was organized to return her by plane to her family, the Pod P, located in the Norwegian Sea.

But Morgan was caught up in the marine circus industry. Despite the legal process initiated at the time, she was eventually sent to a park in Tenerife (Canary Islands) on November 29, 2011. The five orcas already held in this zoo were born in captivity in the United States. Nothing in their brutal behaviour or their primitive vocalizations reminds Morgan of the sophisticated manners of her community in the wild. Worse still, Keto, a teenage male orca, imposes his brutal law and harassing her for hours trying to rape her. Though young, she represents a valued gene pool to regenerate the breeding programs of the closed circuit of the dolphinariums.

Between two shows, Morgan isolates herself as much as she can in such a small space. She turns against the walls which enclose her, strikes her head on the concrete until blood flows or gnaws the iron bars of the enclosure. How long will it last? As soon as she was captured, a legal battle was launched for her release. The owner of the park, SeaWorld, manoeuvred to keep Morgan captive, condemning her to death. Time is running out, as with all of the other 50 or more captive orcas in the world.

Together, with your support, One Voice will not give up! In partnership with the Free Morgan Foundation, various actions are under way. Help Morgan by supporting our campaign!

What does the future hold for the orcas of Antibes?

What does the future hold for the orcas of Antibes?
18.03.2016
Antibes
What does the future hold for the orcas of Antibes?
Exploitation for shows

Whilst SeaWorld has stopped the orca reproduction programme, in Antibes, the show opens again. Following the deaths last year of Freya, Valentin, Eclair and Mila, what does the future hold for the flood survivors?

The lost children

Wikie, Inouk, Moana, Keijo… the four surviving orcas in the Antibes pool, hopefully now free from infected water. As if nothing has happened, Marineland is hoping that the show will go on. The early deaths of Freya at 34 and Valentin at 19 have been forgotten, along with those of Eclair and Mila, which by the way we had failed to report! The flooding which still poses a threat to the park has been forgotten! Under new management, Marineland launches a new season.

Reopening

For the reopening, Marineland has announced a review of the orca shows. The previously theatrical shows will now be educational, mimicking natural behaviour « It’s a new product, declares the park, reiterating SeaWorlds announcement, far removed from the ‘Blackfish’ effect. It is about listening to the public’s desire to be entertained whilst learning at the same time ». But by learning what? That orcas swim in groups of four, when in fact orca communities in the wild have up to two hundred members? That they hunt herrings together, when a fish would die within five minutes in the pool’s chlorinated water? How can we imitate ‘natural behaviour’ in a concrete tank surrounded by stands?

Nothing changes

If they are really inspired by SeaWorld, they should also stop orca breeding programmes, as the American group has just announced to be doing. Artificial insemination based reproduction causes terrible suffering to the mothers who lose many babies and are often separated from them when they do survive. Marineland could go one step further in reinstating the orcas into marine sanctuaries. For one thing is certain, whatever the staging or the musical scores for this « new product », it will be performed by captive orcas. For them, educational or not, the show will always be their breadwinner, their drill in the prison court. And after the show: suffering, boredom and confinement. Nothing changes.

What does the future hold for the Antibes orcas?

Captive cetaceans die young. Up to now, the media does not seem affected by the numerous deaths in just one year, nor by the psychological situation and the strange « community » of orcas reduced to one female in charge of two youngsters and her deformed brother. However, if nothing is done, our four orcas will die young at the end of a grim, medicalised and meaningless life … The phasing out of theatrical orca shows by SeaWorld has sent a strong message, this slavery has reached its end! It is now time to repatriate the Antibes survivors to a marine sanctuary in Iceland, with the other inmates from SeaWorld. One Voice is ready to support this project. Let’s join forces for their survival and freedom!

Lea’s renaissance

Lea’s renaissance
16.03.2016
France
Lea’s renaissance
Domestic animals

One Voice recently checked in on Léa, a dog rescued from her violent owner. She is currently living with a loving family and now that her behavior is being properly monitored, she is finally beginning to recover from the trauma she endured.

Seemingly harmless things, such as seeing a tube of cream or being approached by the vet with a muzzle, can trigger Léa‘s trauma. Since Léa’s offender has also tormented little girls, there is a lot at stake for the next trial on March 17^th. However, we anticipate that he will receive the maximum sentence. Furthermore, One Voice has requested legislative changes that would take the link between animal and human violence into account. (see our petition here along with our letter to deputies and senators).

In spite of her experiences, Léa is a kind, gentle animal. Yet she bears the scars of her past, which regularly manifest in behaviors that indicate stress and fear. Given the severity of her trauma, One Voice has offered to assist in her behavioral support: she deserves the opportunity to reclaim a normal life.

Not only is Léa new family generous, loving, and patient, but we are confident that time will heal most of her wounds. Hopefully justice will be served and Léa will be her offender’s last victim. The « link » between cruelty towards animals and humans must be acknowledged in order to fight against all forms of abuse.

Follow the fight on our twitter page # LeLienLéa

Léa in Muriel Arnal’s arms

For Léa

For Léa
16.03.2016
France
For Léa
Domestic animals

Over the course of the last three years, Léa has suffered immensely. Her neighbors often heard her screams, but they never spoke up. Finally, someone dared to file a complaint. Now, after all of this time, her ordeal is finally over.

There are no words to describe Léa’s nightmarish experience. During a three-year period this small kind dog was repeatedly raped by her owner. This was a man who was already known to the authorities for sexually assaulting minors under fifteen years old. Given this information, no animal, or human for that matter, should have been left alone in his care.

After being rescued, Léa was looked after by the SPA-Canche-Authie until her adoption. Yet even now, she is still traumatized from the horrors she endured. According to the host family currently rehabilitating her, she still reacts when anyone approaches her hindquarters. The vet also reported observing wounds on her ears and neck. Her offender even admitted to hitting her « a bit to shut her up. » Unfortunately, Léa was not his only victim: young girls were also subjected to his abuse. How could this happen?

For the past several years, One Voice has been working to bring attention to the link between all kinds of violence. The fight against cruelty must not discriminate between human and animal victims: all violence must be considered equally. In 2007, One Voice sponsored a conference addressing « the relationship between animal cruelty and violence against humans, » in the United Kingdom, where this connection is more widely accepted than in France.

One Voice strives not only to protect companion animals, but also for them be recognized under the law. In order to achieve this goal, it is essential that witnesses are not afraid to testify— Léa was saved because someone dared to speak up. One Voice encourages you to report any suspicious behavior to the Zoe Unit and our investigators will take care of the rest.

On March 17, 2016, Léa’s former owner was judged in court and One Voice represented Léa as a civil party. He was sentenced to a year in prison and a permanent ban on owning animals. He did not appeal this decision.

Sign and spread our petition!