News Archive - Page 16 of 149

In Brittany, 15,000 jackdaws are being targeted: we demand an end to the shooting

In Brittany, 15,000 jackdaws are being targeted: we demand an end to the shooting
06.06.2025
Brittany
In Brittany, 15,000 jackdaws are being targeted: we demand an end to the shooting
Wildlife

In the regions of Côtes d’Armor, Finistère, Ille-et-Vilaine and Morbihan, the prefects are once again this year undertaking campaigns to kill large numbers of jackdaws, even though they are a protected species. The reason given? To prevent damage to agriculture… even though alternatives exist, and shooting is completely ineffective! We at One Voice, together with Bretagne Vivante and LPO Bretagne, are calling for the urgent suspension of these authorisations. See you at the Administrative Court in Rennes on 17 June at 2.30pm.

Protected birds, but slaughtered by the thousands

Every year, the prefectures of Brittany authorise the slaughter of jackdaws during the nesting season. In 2025, 7,000 individuals are targeted in the Côtes-d’Armor, 6,000 in Finistère, 1,500 in Morbihan and 500 in Ille-et-Vilaine. This is the last straw for these cousins of rooks and black crows, which we recently succeeded in having removed from the scandalous ESOD classification in certain regions.

While protected, they already face a daily struggle against climate change, the scarcity of insects due to the proliferation of pesticides, and the destruction of their habitats. Not to mention poaching, as in the case of the hunt at the authorities’ initiative in Riom against which we filed a complaint after jackdaws were shot and discreetly collected by the shooters under the gaze of stunned witnesses.

We call for massive investment in alternatives to killing!

Year after year, our campaign is gathering momentum. In 2022, our legal actions helped to save 27,000 birds at the last minute. Since then, and despite the mixed decisions in 2023 and 2024, quotas have been decreasing, as in the Morbihan region, where they have fallen from 3,000 in 2022 to 1,500 in 2025. But the prefects continue to choose slaughter, against the animals and against science.

These methods are all the more absurd given that shooting is not effective in reducing damage, as scientists have confirmed. However, rather than investing heavily in the implementation of effective alternative solutions such as chimney grating, the State is once again opting for the easy way out in order to appease angry farmers.

Together with Bretagne Vivante and LPO Bretagne, we will be present at the Administrative Court in Rennes on 17 June at 2.30pm to seek an immediate halt to the operations. While waiting for the next suspensions, sign our petition to demand a radical reform of hunting!

Suspension in the Allier region and upcoming hearings: underground badger hunting under scrutiny?

Suspension in the Allier region and upcoming hearings: underground badger hunting under scrutiny?
06.06.2025
France
Suspension in the Allier region and upcoming hearings: underground badger hunting under scrutiny?
Wildlife

Every spring, badgers are targeted by prefects. And guns are replaced by pickaxes: hunters track the animals to the bottom of their burrows before killing them… The youngest among them have no chance of survival. Thanks to our first wave of appeals, the Court in Clermont-Ferrand has just put a stop to additional hunting periods in the Allier region. This is a strong signal that has not been followed by neighbouring departments in the Auvergne region. It is only the beginning: against the order in the Eure region, the next hearing at the Court in Rouen will be held on 26 June at 3.30pm* for One Voice with ASPAS, AVES, FNE Normandie and GMN (Groupe Mammalogique Normand).

A mixed respite for hundreds of badgers…

In the Allier region, the judge has put an end to the mass underground culling from 15 May to 30 June. This is a crucial period for young badgers who are still dependent on their mothers for survival. Of course, the Prefect has already hastened to open a second period from 1 July until the general opening of the hunting season in mid-September. We are not letting this pass and are once again taking up the fight by initiating a new emergency suspension procedure! And just like in 2024, fate is relentless for badgers in the Puy-de-Dôme and Cantal regions. Without any justification, the courts are only protecting some of these animals, which is a complete nonsense.

The momentum against unearthing intensifies

As the opening dates are pushed back year after year, underground hunting is more than ever being questioned. In the Eure region, it is open from 28 May to 15 September… Fifteen days less will not be enough! Especially when it is easy for diggers to slaughter these black and white-furred mustelids when they least expect it, i.e. while they are asleep. Many hunters accuse them of causing damage to crops, while others consider them, in complete bad faith, to be killers of farm animals. But what about the suffering of these families caught by force with claw traps? And what about the consequences for the crops, largely trampled and destroyed by the passage of these men in boots?

Our legal action continues. Together with ASPAS, AVES, FNE Normandie and GMN, we will be present at the hearing at the Court in Rouen on 26 June at 3.30pm* to suspend the order in the Eure region. Every voice counts in the fight against this cruel pastime: sign our petition!

* Updated on 23/06/2025

The animal pound in Betton: an open letter in response to SACPA’s press release

The animal pound in Betton: an open letter in response to SACPA’s press release
05.06.2025
Brittany
The animal pound in Betton: an open letter in response to SACPA’s press release
Domestic animals

At the beginning of May 2025, we filed a complaint and released images filmed at the SACPA animal pound in Betton, revealing situations of mistreatment, lack of care for suffering animals, and appalling conditions of detention, exposing the animals to injury and obvious distress.

On 14 May, this private organisation published a statement claiming to “set the record straight”, refuting any problems and attempting to discredit our work by producing a series of documents intended to justify its management of the animals. However, careful analysis of these documents —which SACPA itself made public— only confirms the seriousness of the facts denounced in our videos.

Two days of avoidable suffering for a dog with a tumour

Among the most heartbreaking cases was that of a griffon basset hound suffering from a massive, raw anal tumour. The SACPA claims to have reacted quickly. However, their own documents contradict these statements: the little dog went without any care for two whole days between her arrival on 28 January 2025 and her first veterinary consultation on the 30th. For nearly fifty hours, she endured unbearable suffering, without respite or relief. And despite her obvious pain, the teams were forbidden from taking her to see a vet. Yet SACPA acknowledges the extent of the damage: a “bloody” tumour “obstructing the passage of faeces”. How can one watch a living being suffer like this and choose to wait? Where is the humanity in this decision? Where is the ethics in this delay?

Another case: even thinner after two months at the SACPA

Another shocking example is that of Prada, a young Malinois. She entered the pound on 14 January 2025, frail and emaciated, as noted in the examination on 17/01. Two months later, when she finally left the facility, her condition had dramatically worsened: on 25 March, the vet estimated that she was ‘very thin’. Her body also bore other marks: lick sores, a sign of deep stress and discomfort that she could only express through these repetitive, desperate gestures. After ten long weeks at the Betton facility, Prada emerged neither treated nor comforted, but weaker than when she arrived. No improvement. Just a slow and cruel deterioration.

Codey, victim of a system that reverses the roles

Regarding a dog that the SACPA claims to have classified as a “biter”, it had nevertheless described him as “sociable” when he entered the pound on 17 July 2023. Moreover, Codey had undergone tests with the police dog brigade… which he failed due to his refusal to bite. The consistent testimonies we have gathered mention violence, deprivation and strangulation with a lasso. It was the violent treatment he suffered that led him to bite as a last resort.

Dogs mentioned without proof

The pound also mentions the dogs Mika, Jazz and Rocky. However, no evidence has been produced concerning them, contrary to what has been claimed. These names are used to divert attention, without providing any answers to the concrete facts presented by us.

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Old images? Persistent abuse

Finally, while some videos date back to 2023, they show the continuity of a system: past events do not become any less reprehensible with the passage of time. Abuse does not vanish with the passing years. Is hitting dogs in the pound excusable on the pretext that they are no longer there today? This is illogical and unacceptable.

We have filed a complaint, supported by images and testimonies describing the refusal of veterinary care to seriously injured animals, abusive euthanasia, litters of kittens killed for no reason, cats placed alive in freezers, animals left to die in agony or infected due to a lack of basic sanitary precautions: acts constituting cruelty, mistreatment and wilful harm to an animal’s life.

SACPA’s statement only confirms its inability to assume its responsibilities. Behind the facade, the facts are there. Inexcusable. Unjustifiable.

We will continue to hold animal pounds accountable and to denounce the systemic abuses perpetrated by certain organisations. Animals deserve better than defensive press releases and empty files. They deserve our consideration, care and real protection.

Sign our petition to demand an end to these massacres and to obtain reforms that will put an end to abandonment.

No to the slaughter of animals in pounds! No to the slaughter of animals in pounds! No to the slaughter of animals in pounds! No to the slaughter of animals in pounds! No to the slaughter of animals in pounds! No to the slaughter of animals in pounds! No to the slaughter of animals in pounds! No to the slaughter of animals in pounds! No to the slaughter of animals in pounds! No to the slaughter of animals in pounds!

Tony Zavatta circus: the same suffering for “domestic” and wild animals

Tony Zavatta circus: the same suffering for “domestic” and wild animals
05.06.2025
France
Tony Zavatta circus: the same suffering for “domestic” and wild animals
Exploitation for shows

After receiving several reports in April of the very worrying condition of a camel at Tony Zavatta Circus (Gougeon production), and dispatching investigators to the site in May, One Voice lodged a complaint of mistreatment, which was closed almost immediately, which is a disgrace. These practices involving animals considered domestic will continue for a long time to come, as they are not affected by the legal ban on traveling circuses scheduled for December 2028. And yet, as their suffering is the same, we defend them too.

On May 7, we posted images from a whistle-blower showing a camel held by Tony Zavatta Circus, then based in Luçon (85). Constrained to three meters of chain as its only radius of movement, without water or shelter, with humps in very poor condition, he moved on the spot, displaying abnormal and stereotyped behavior, a clear sign of malaise among captive animals. But he’s not the only one affected by the deleterious conditions of detention in this circus.

Endless detention with appalling consequences

A few days later, in La Chaize-le-Vicomte (85), we filmed the same camelid, still tethered. Lacking sufficient freedom of movement, he tramples aimlessly for hours on end, as if lost in a mirage where he’s crossing vast lands, as his nature predestined him to do, or circling his post, reproducing his training routine ad nauseam. At times, he explodes, struggles, desperately trying to free himself.

A little further on, a younger camel is restless, clearly having nervous breakdowns. Full of the energy peculiar to his age, he would certainly prefer to leap and gambol, but that’s impossible for him as it is, as his makeshift cage isn’t twice his size. His only possible stimuli: licking a knotted cord or chewing on a billboard, hung on one of his prison’s metal gates.

Surrounding him on this construction site are llamas, ponies and dromedaries, kept in scandalously similar conditions. These other companions are also chained very tightly, confined among stocks of materials or along a path accessible to anyone. When some of these captives have the “luxury” of having a household bucket as a water source, their tie, the length of which is decided by the circus workers, systematically prevents them from drinking from it!

How difficult it is to have such suffering legally recorded…

On May 16, One Voice filed a complaint for mistreatment of animals by professionals, which constitutes an aggravating circumstance. We have also requested an urgent inspection by the local authorities of the owner of Tony Zavatta Circus, one of the members of the indescribable Gougeon family.

This is not the first time (far from it!) that the brothers and cousins, who are also at the head of the circuses Italiano and Idéal, as well as of Nouveau Cirque Triomphe – the list goes on – have found themselves concerned by our complaints. Among the most recent cases to date, we’ve already had those of the Paris Circus convicted of abusing Jon as well as Patty, Céleste, Marly and Hannah.

Following up on our alert, the Vendée prefecture replied, assuring us of their “vigilance in this matter”. While we were pleasantly surprised that the gendarmerie and municipal police were dispatched to the site for “administrative checks and an inspection of the animals”, we regret that no institutional service trained to analyze animal behavior was also asked to carry out ethological observations. What immediate corrective actions were ordered on site? A veterinary inspection? The seizure of camelids in poor health? No, the circus owners were simply asked to increase the length of their ties!

To add insult to injury, while dismissing our complaint, State officials confirmed the stereotypical behavior of certain captives. Worse still, this suffering is trivialized by invoking their fatal destiny, doomed to “circus exploitation”. An admission of insufficient human resources and institutional complacency towards abusive circus practices. The real distress of these sentient individuals is negated by lacunary legislation.

Even if our complaint was unsuccessful this time, we won’t give in!

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Non-wild animals, the great forgotten of the law

Let’s not forget that these living beings are, in the eyes of the legislation dated November 30, 2021, considered as domestic and will therefore not be affected by the forthcoming ban of December 1, 2028. So many lofty ambitions had taken seed, and now this law is missing its initial objectives, leaving room for a variety of interpretations to the detriment of those first concerned, many of whom will continue to be trained, exploited… or others simply forgotten, as here, due to a general lack of controls, or which are clearly only in name. Meanwhile, circus owners will even be compensated with public money to continue subjugating sentient individuals over and over again!

There’s only one solution: a total ban on animals in circuses. Help us change the law by signing our petition.

Traumatic flashball scare shots on wolves

Traumatic flashball scare shots on wolves
02.06.2025
Haute-Savoie
Traumatic flashball scare shots on wolves
Wildlife

We thought we’d seen it all, but now we’re stunned. Wolves are about to undergo a terrifying experiment. A pack in the Haute-Savoie region is to be disturbed and its individuals captured. And for what? To test the effects of a variant of shooting: “traumatic” scaring shots (TEFT) [sic]. Although this initiative is an attempt to find answers to the incessant culling of canids, questions remain as to the real interest of this experiment and its considerable impact.

In September 2024, a public consultation was opened on an experimental project to test a new, non-lethal method of scaring off wolves.

Spearheaded by two recognized organizations, Asters – Haute-Savoie Conservatory of Natural Spaces (CEN74) and the Institute for the Promotion and Research on Protection Animals (IPRA), the project involves capturing up to five individuals, fitting them with GPS collars and, once released, studying their reactions to flashball discharges when attempting to predate flocks. The captures were authorized by two orders issued by the Prefect of Haute-Savoie on March 17, 2025.

A good idea to combat lethal shooting… but nothing new

What’s hard to understand is that breeders can already carry out scare shots, so why inflict further trauma on wolves?

Is the aim to inflict further pain and fear? This remains unclear, all the more so as the project’s leads themselves acknowledge that this method is “promising but as yet poorly documented”. In other words, we’re about to test a form of increased violence on wolves, with no real guarantee of its effects or effectiveness.

Further persecution

In Passy, after the escaped goats in the prefect’s sights, the wolves are about to be subjected to severe psychological and physical shocks. Is it really necessary to capture five of them, who are already being hunted down relentlessly, in order to verify that these shots are more effective when they prove to be “traumatic”?

High-risk capture, trapping and sequestration for protected animals

The terms of the project’s non-technical summary (RNT) are unambiguous: this is a “non-lethal but painful scaring method”.

The TEFT project presents significant risks for wolves, both during capture and shooting. Trapping and anaesthetizing can lead to stress, motor disorders, injuries of varying degrees of severity, and disruption of social dynamics within the pack. The flashball shots themselves, although qualified as non-lethal, can nevertheless cause pain, behavioral alterations and, in the event of poor execution, potential handicaps. In fact, the aim of the project is to “subject [the wolf] to a painful experience, so that it learns to avoid herds as a result of this bad experience”. Serious consequences for members of a protected species…

The animals will – fortunately – be “returned to their natural habitat”, but at what cost to their lives and those of their families? A member of the Blaitière pack targeted by these measures was captured on April 6. Who is it? The father or the mother? Did the cubs witness it? The stability and equilibrium of the group help to channel and educate the youngsters.

To put an end to the persecution of wolves in all their forms, sign our petition.

Behind the official figures for animal experimentation, reality remains unchanged

Behind the official figures for animal experimentation, reality remains unchanged
27.05.2025
France
Behind the official figures for animal experimentation, reality remains unchanged
Animal testing

The Ministry congratulates itself for a slight drop in the number of animals used in experiments for the first time in 2023, but more than 2 million individuals were still involved that year. The official figures continue to exclude countless living beings, invisible in the reports. Not to mention the fact that 90% of experiments are not legally required.

Behind the coldness of technical terms such as « use » and so-called « moderate » suffering lie very real, painful experiences.

One Voice deciphers what the falsely transparent figures do not show.

In its 2023 statistical survey, the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research (MESR) congratulated itself for a slight drop in the number of living beings exploited for the first time in experiments during the year. However, the 2 million mark is still exceeded, whether we consider the total number of animals tested (2,030,513) or the number of first uses in 2023 (2,046,754). It is important to remember that the MESR only counts the first scalpel stroke given to an individual during the year: reuses during the same year are not taken into account.

What’s more, behind these overall figures, there are still major disparities between species: 20% of hamsters still undergo procedures classified as « severe », and although dogs account for just 0.2% of uses, the figures for them are on the rise.

Thousands of lives overlooked by ministerial reports

Every year, official data on animal experimentation remains largely underestimated… It doesn’t take into account animals used outside regulated procedures. These animals are only declared to the European Commission every five years. This is the case, for example, of individuals bred solely to reproduce genetically modified lines, or of those killed to remove their organs or tissues for in vitro research. These practices are sometimes referred to as « New Methodological Approaches » (NMAs), a term that leads to confusion: we’re not talking here about « Non-Animal Methods », but rather about the additional use of countless living beings! Rather than marking a break with in vivo experimentation, these practices add to it, as animals continue to be killed to satisfy the demands of a research system that is struggling to evolve.

Invisible in falsely transparent annual reports, all excluded from official data, they disappear in a persistent opacity.

When the category of « moderate » suffering is used to mask reality

The MESR points to a drop in the most unbearable experiments, described as « severe », from 11.5% in 2022 to 9.3% in 2023. It also claims that 87% of cases would fall into the « mild » or « moderate » severity category.

But these percentages mask an entirely different reality: of the 2,046,754 uses recorded in 2023, the moderate and severe categories alone account for almost half of all cases.

What does MESR consider moderate pain?

« mutant mice » killed because they had become ‘too old’ following a delay in delivery, then replaced by others to undergo multiple injections before being placed on a hot plate;
another 2,500 were injected with cancer cells into their bladders, developing weight loss, prostration, urinary pain and anorexia before being killed;
or 1,136 of these small rodents implanted with a tumor and subjected to repeated oral force-feeding with fecal matter…

To what extent has this « moderate » level of severity become the norm for procedures that are nonetheless profoundly invasive? Practices remain violent, only the indicators are adapting.

90% of animal experiments are not required by law

Of these 2,046,754 uses of living beings, only a quarter (449,790) fall into the category of « regulatory studies and routine production ». Less than half (206,987) respond to legislative or regulatory requirements, generally European. Consequently, barely 10% of experiments in 2023 are required by law.

The remaining 1,839,767 could be replaced by alternative methods.

If, like three quarters of French people, you support the end of animal experimentation (One Voice/Ipsos April 2023), and believe in alternative methods, join us in calling for an end to these outdated practices!

How to track down every last wolf according to the State: new public consultation

How to track down every last wolf according to the State: new public consultation
28.05.2025
France
How to track down every last wolf according to the State: new public consultation
Wildlife

Here we go again: the French government is once again consulting the public to modify the ministerial decree orchestrating the shooting of wolves. One might have hoped that the Ministries of Ecological Transition and Agriculture would have finally reconsidered their position and recognized that herds of cows, horses and donkeys are indeed protectable, but this is not the case! This text is just as hypocritical as the previous ones.

The administration is ever more hypocritical about protection measures

The proposed modifications are nothing more than a smokescreen… Admittedly, the notorious “vulnerability reduction measures” have finally been defined… almost six months after the first public consultation. But what’s absurd is that these “options” include recognized means of protection for sheep and goats (if only they were actually implemented…): surveillance, dogs and electrified pens. We’d be laughing if it weren’t so pathetic.

All the while, the State was proclaiming loud and clear that cow herds could not be protected, going so far as to modify the ministerial project last February at the request of the lobbies: it was the Savoie Mont-Blanc Interdepartmental Chamber of Agriculture that was behind the first amendment to the text. As for the prefects, they haven’t even bothered to carry out the technico-economic analysis required to prove this pretty fable defended by the administration. That’s why we were attacking their illegal decrees en masse.

All this fuss, only to find that the “vulnerability reduction measures” they pulled out of the hat included “real” protection measures.

But to question themselves and withdraw the provision relating to the so-called “absence of a technically valid protection scheme”, absolutely not! Breeders shouldn’t think that our dear ministers are turning their backs on them and refusing to shoot wolves. In the meantime, it’s the same old story: these “proposals” won’t be funded.

They all want wolves dead

Because yes, that’s what’s going on: politicians who hate all living creatures have a single goal: to exterminate wolves. Yet another fine example of their political hijacking: they rush to the bedside of the “overwhelmed” breeders and stir up their thirst for death even more.

When it comes to nauseating draft resolutions against wolves and trampling on their future and that of biodiversity, they always come forward. But when it comes to thinking instead of using rifles, and to actively monitoring animals destined for the slaughterhouse, there’s no one left.

The example of Camille, the latest wolf to appear in the Saône-et-Loire region, is blatantly obvious: as with his predecessor, everyone, including the Minister of Agriculture, wants to see him dead. The prefect has made it easier to shoot wolves, and has swept aside the obligation to protect flocks.

It cannot be repeated often enough: systematically killing wolves will change nothing, because others will come. These majestic animals are here, and they have the right to live.

As for Milo and Mina’s situation on the Millevaches plateau, it shows that the lobbies are fiercely opposed to the development of any form of wildlife. It’s time to get up to date: 8 out of 10 French people (Ipsos/One Voice poll, November 2024) believe that wolves have their rightful place in nature.

Act with us for all wolves in France by denouncing the inadequacy of the measures proposed in the text submitted for public consultation. And to put an end to their persecution, sign our petition.

Stop the breeders’ persecution of Milo and Mina and all other wolves!

Stop the breeders’ persecution of Milo and Mina and all other wolves!
27.05.2025
Corrèze
Stop the breeders’ persecution of Milo and Mina and all other wolves!
Wildlife

At the slightest attack, breeders call for wolves to be slaughtered. Milo and Mina are bearing the cost of this policy on the Millevaches plateau. Some farmers’ unions demonstrated on Saturday to call for their deaths. Everyone is in cahoots to wipe them out, and everyone – public decision-makers included – is making statements, each more nauseating than the last.

Hostility towards Milo and Mina is on the rise…

The very special wolf couple continue to be shot at on the Millevaches plateau. As soon as last Thursday’s attack was announced, the farming unions were already unleashing their torrent of hatred into the public arena.

Gathered last Saturday in Saint-Merd-les-Oussines, the farmers are calling for the wolf brigade to be sent on site, and for reinforced defense shooting to be authorized. They denounce the inaction of public authorities. Inaction, really? While the government representatives are literally lending them an attentive ear…

All wolves are already disliked in France. They’re a good excuse to get the votes of the farming world, as shown by the abject proposal for a resolution by deputies to reduce their population by half.

But farmers still want more, and will not stop until their wish is granted: the eradication of these wild canids, which are intrinsically European.

… and a lobby making more and more slanderous statements

It’s almost funny: Fabien Marcilloux, president of Modef Corrèze, says: “Our thoughts are mainly with the game. We’re here again today for the massacre of a herd.” What is he referring to? The wild animals that the hunters put to death one after the other, or those in his care before they are taken to the slaughterhouse? Either way, these words speak volumes about his feelings towards animals. It’s hardly surprising that he should attack wolves, despite the fact that 8 out of 10 French people consider their return to be a real boon for biodiversity (Ipsos/One Voice poll, November 2024).

According to Corrèze Senator Daniel Chasseing: “Wolves are not compatible with livestock farming. And when there are too many of them, it’s impossible to continue farming.” Prefect Vincent Berton, for his part, is true to the characteristic cowardice that seems to be the hallmark of government representatives: “We’re going to have to adapt. But the wolf is a protected species. I don’t think we have to learn to live with the wolf. You have to be able to protect yourselves from it.”

Don’t they mean to say that it’s livestock farming and intensive pastoralism that are incompatible with wild animals and that trample on their territory? They’re at home here, and as much a part of nature as we are. Wolves have the right to live. Let’s prevent their extermination!

And yet: as in Saône-et-Loire, where Camille is already being hunted down, the prefect has also called in the wolf brigade in June: Milo and Mina’s days are numbered… We’ll fight to the bitter end for them. Join our fight by signing our petition to end the persecution of wolves.

A first Chatipi for stray cats in the Normandy region – Inauguration in Rouen on 4 June

A first Chatipi for stray cats in the Normandy region – Inauguration in Rouen on 4 June
27.05.2025
Normandie
A first Chatipi for stray cats in the Normandy region – Inauguration in Rouen on 4 June
Domestic animals

On Tuesday 4 June at 2pm, the City of Rouen, the local association 3 P’tits Chats, and One Voice will inaugurate Normandy’s very first Chatipi at Square Jules Verne (rue Albert Dupuis). This innovative project is part of an ethical and practical approach to protecting stray cats, in line with the Animal Welfare Plan adopted by the municipality in March 2023.

The inauguration will be attended by Jean-Michel Beregovoy, Deputy Mayor in charge of sustainable cities, ecology and energy transition and animal welfare, and Stéphane Martot, City Councillor in charge of the eastern sector of Rouen, Virginie Billaux, co-president of the association 3 P’tits Chats, and Mathilde Perrot for the association One Voice.

A united response to feline misery

One Voice, which has been fighting the problem of stray cats in France for years, is developing three-way partnerships with local authorities and associations. The aim is to identify, neuter and treat homeless cats before releasing them back into their original location, now equipped with a wooden hut where they can find food, hut and water.

In Rouen, this approach took shape with the involvement of three complementary players. The City Council kicked off the project by laying the concrete slab, installing the hut, the information panel and the enclosure, and ensuring their long-term maintenance. The association 3 P’tits Chats managed the fitting out of the hut and will be responsible for feeding and trapping the cats, monitoring their health, cleaning and long-term veterinary care (with municipal support). One Voice provided funding for the hut, cat flaps, educational panels and initial care (sterilisation, identification and health checks) for 12 cats.

The cats taken in are tagged in the name of the local association. The most sociable among them may be put up for adoption in accordance with the regulations in force.

An essential educational purpose

Beyond the practical protection of stray cats, the Chatipi project has a strong educational dimension. It aims to raise awareness among residents about the reality of life for homeless cats, who are often mistakenly perceived as free and happy animals living on the streets. In truth, their daily lives are filled with hunger, injuries, disease and constant danger.

Chatipi helps to change people’s perceptions: the physical element serves as a reminder that these animals need care and protection, and that they cannot survive with dignity without human intervention. By involving residents –both children and adults– the project also uses its educational aspect to create a link between animal protection and civic involvement, right at the heart of the neighbourhoods concerned.

A festive and committed inauguration

The programme includes educational activities on the reality of stray cats organised by One Voice, and a convivial reception organised by the City Council, which will bring the event to a close.

As part of this project, other activities will be organised the following week: a mural painted live on the hut, and a workshop for children, during which they will be able to colour part of it and give names to the cats featured in it.

📍 Practical information

Date: Wednesday 4 June 2025.

Time: 2pm.

Location: Square Jules Verne – Rue Albert Dupuis, 76000 Rouen

We invite the press to attend the inauguration and talk to the partners involved in the project.

In the Loire-Atlantique region, hunts at the authorities’ initiative… on the sly

In the Loire-Atlantique region, hunts at the authorities’ initiative… on the sly
19.05.2025
Loire-Atlantique
In the Loire-Atlantique region, hunts at the authorities’ initiative… on the sly
Wildlife

In the Loire-Atlantique region, hunts are being authorised by the authorities in complete secrecy. Without any public announcement or debate, they allow dozens —even hundreds— of hunters to shoot wild boar, deer and foxes out of season and under the radar. Join us in writing to the Prefect to demand a ban on these mass killings and remind him that the law is not optional, especially when thousands of lives are at stake!

Hunts at the authorities’ initiative in complete discretion

A few weeks ago, exasperated residents contacted us, tired of this organised rampage in the municipality of Frossay. Despite our research, it was impossible to find any orders authorising these operations, which were never published by the Prefect. How many towns in the region and in France are affected by these covert interventions?

In Frossay, these orders even authorise the officially appointed huntmasters to invite dozens of trackers –up to a hundred– to come and join in the “fun”. A new order dated 12 May gives the huntmaster authorisation to slaughter wild boars two days later using lead or buckshot, accompanied by 40 people! All this is done in complete secrecy, with no possibility for citizens or associations to take legal action in the hope of saving the animals, even though the judges often cancel these operations. This is yet another scheme to slaughter animals, put obstacles in our way, and prevent citizens from being informed about these killings.

For an end to these hunts and transparency from the prefectures!

These covertly organised days offer armed men a new privilege: to kill whenever they see fit. The protection of crops and public safety are now nothing more than pretexts: in reality, it is solely a matter of satisfying a minority of rifle-bearing people who want to prolong their morbid “passion”.

Faced with this abuse, the prefecture’s inaction is a clear political choice. Organising mass hunts without informing the public is condemning the animals without any possibility of appeal. We are sounding the alarm: transparency is not optional, especially when many of these animals do not survive.

Sign our petition now for a radical reform of this practice and join us in writing to the Prefect to demand a ban on these mass hunts and an end to this unacceptable lack of transparency!

Dear Prefect,

Every month, you authorise hunts of wild animals at the authorities’ initiative in the municipality of Frossay. However, these orders are never published in the prefecture’s registry of administrative acts (RAA). This practice is illegal, as these acts only come into force once they have been published.

This is particularly evident in the technical documentation of 26 November 2024 relating to the officially appointed huntmasters, which states that “the entry into force of a prefectural order authorising a hunt at the authorities’ initiative (this is a regulatory act) is subject to the publication of the order in the RAA of the Prefecture. The prefectural order comes into force the day after the text is published in the RAA”.

How many orders have been adopted in this way at the departmental level in recent months? How many animals have been killed in complete secrecy, without citizens or associations being able to take action to challenge these, often illegal, orders?

We ask you to put an end to these illegal mass killings, whose sole purpose is to allow hunters to indulge their passion out of season.

Allowing the officially appointed huntmasters to be accompanied by up to a hundred men of their choice to carry out these operations opens the door to massive abuse and contributes to turning this exceptional procedure into a disguised hunting season, which is unacceptable.

We also ask you to put an end to the lack of transparency and to publish all orders authorising hunts at the authorities’ initiative in the prefecture’s registry of administrative acts in sufficient time to allow any interested citizen to take legal action before the animals are killed.

Yours sincerely,