One Voice supports the “Touche pas à mon Popotte” refuge against the hunters’ relentlessness

One Voice supports the “Touche pas à mon Popotte” refuge against the hunters’ relentlessness
10.01.2025
Gironde
One Voice supports the “Touche pas à mon Popotte” refuge against the hunters’ relentlessness
Wildlife

Since 2022, in the Gironde region, the “Touche pas à mon Popotte” refuge has been plagued by beat hunts that flout safety regulations and terrorize the animals it shelters. Despite a complaint lodged at the end of 2023 and mediation in January 2024, the hunters did it again last December. We have written to the mayor.

While the animals taken in by “Touche pas à mon Popotte” should find a haven of peace, far from the human violence they have experienced, they are regularly disturbed by shootings. In 2023, a hunt had already caused panic among the animals, even going so far as to take place less than 150 meters from a neighboring house, without the owner’s consent. A complaint was lodged. One might have expected that the mediation held at the city hall in January 2024 would have brought peace to the village. That isn’t so…

Animals in danger

On December 30, 2024, the hunters outdid themselves, encircling the refuge in the middle of the fog, without a single beater intervening to ward off the beat hunt. Informed of the operation only an hour and a half before the event, the president of “Touche pas à mon Popotte” was unable to bring all her protégés to safety. Frightened by the cries of the dogs, one ewe fell as she had just started to walk again after undergoing major surgery. How many more victims will be claimed by trigger-happy people who respect nothing and nobody, and certainly not the most basic safety rules? 

Hunting, a deadly problem

Such events are commonplace in the Gironde region, where the French Biodiversity Agency (OFB) has identified numerous breaches of the law. While hunters boast every year about the reduction in the number of accidents caused by their hobby, a few hours in their company is enough to realize that most don’t even follow the meagre “teachings” delivered by the vast joke of the “hunting license”. Drunken fanatics, loaded guns nonchalantly placed in cars or even pointed at people… there’s no shortage of examples of risky behavior. In 2023, we made a request to the Council of State to force the Ministry of Ecological Transition to make this deadly pastime safe. We are still awaiting their response…

In support of “Touche pas à mon Popotte”, we sent a letter to the mayor asking him to ban hunting in his village. To support our campaign, and because 89% of French people believe that hunting poses safety problems (IPSOS/One Voice 2023 poll), sign the petition.

NO to more relaxed wolf shooting: let us all take part in the public consultation!

NO to more relaxed wolf shooting: let us all take part in the public consultation!
09.01.2025
France
NO to more relaxed wolf shooting: let us all take part in the public consultation!
Wildlife

A new draft decree against wolves aimed at further relaxing (yes, it’s possible) the use of lethal shooting and amending the decree of February 21, 2024 is currently out for public consultation.

On the menu: unbridled freedom granted to lieutenants of louveterie and pests and the government’s obstinate bad faith regarding the “non-protectability” of bovine and equine herds. 

Below, we detail the arguments you can use to denounce these delirious and deadly changes. Oppose by taking part in the online public consultation!

At a time when wolf populations are stagnating in France, the perpetual relaxation of the policy of culling wolves poses a real threat to their conservation status. Alas, a new draft decree amending that of February 21, 2024 aims to take an even harder line against them. 

The announcement of the wolf population estimate in December 2024 confirmed that the methods used to implement their “management” in no way met the objectives of reducing predation. Indeed, since 2017, while the lupine population has been growing strongly, the number of predations attributed to it has stabilized. There is therefore no link between the number of wolves and the number of attacks, but that doesn’t matter, because the State wants to please those who want to see them disappear, despite the fact that 82% of French people consider that canids play a key role in the balance of the ecosystem. 

Such is the perfidy of this so-called ministry of “Ecological” Transition that it didn’t even wait for the opinion of the French Nature protection national council (CNPN) on the draft decree (unfavorable, it goes without saying) to be published and accessible to all before unveiling its appalling “draft”, which, like its predecessors, is technically and scientifically unfounded. This clearly deprived the public of an opportunity to apprehend the consequences of these changes on biodiversity.

The government’s hypocrisy on the “non-protectability” of cow and horse herds

Despite positive feedback from other countries, the French State is once again claiming loud and clear that cows and horses (what about donkeys, by the way?) cannot be protected. 

The administration still believes that, to date, there is no effective protection standard for these animals. And yet:

• It is up to them to create such a reference system.
• The effectiveness of most of the protection measures implemented for this type of herd has been proven in other European countries exposed to wolf predation.
• It follows from these observations that the failure to validate a protection scheme for these farm animals is not due to the absence of effective measures, but rather to the absence of any initiative to draw up such a reference framework.

The changes made to article 6 of the ministerial decree of February 21, 2024 are neither justified nor relevant: 

• The decree does not provide a truly exhaustive definition or criteria for assessing the “means of reducing herd vulnerability” on which the departmental prefect must base his assessment of whether or not a herd is protectable.
• The text contains no details to differentiate between measures to reduce herd vulnerability and protection measures.

The decree’s problematic silence on the prefects’ actual assessment of the “non-protectability” of herds:

• The draft does not specify the form to be taken by the confirmation by the departmental prefect of the “steps taken to reduce the vulnerability” of bovine and equine herds.
• Nor is it announced which entity will carry out the “territorial” techno-economic analysis. The CNPN, in its notice of December 17, 2024, recommends that it be entrusted to independent organizations rather than to “agricultural organizations displaying out of principle the non-protegeability of bovine herds without any technical or scientific basis.”
• This lack of precision is all the more worrying as prefects have a nasty habit of not systematically (let’s be honest, rather rarely) providing proof of the technico-economic analysis leading them to consider a herd as non-protectable. 

Lieutenants of louveterie and pests free to keep the bodies of killed wolves

When the French Biodiversity Agency (OFB) recovers the bodies of wolves, it is at least able to check that lethal shooting is carried out legally (on pastureland with a shooting permit, actual presence of a herd, shooting distances, protective measures in place at the time of shooting, etc.). However, the government wishes to entrust this crucial mission to the lieutenants of louveterie and pests, volunteers in contact with local hunters. On such a sensitive subject, it is irresponsible to give them this power, when we know that it could trigger conflicts of interests.  

• To avoid any conflict of interests, the task of verifying the legality of shooting by recovering the remains should fall solely to the OFB. 
• As the CNPN points out, the exact content of this task is not clarified. However, it is important not to forget that the use of information for scientific purposes must be reserved exclusively for the OFB. 

In short, each new measure is less clear than the last, giving further grist to the mill of detractors of these magnificent animals. 

Express your unwavering support for the wolves as soon as possible by taking part in the consultation – they need it badly!

One Voice and the ATHENAS Center go to court for a young lynx killed with a shovel

One Voice goes to court for a young lynx killed with a shovel
07.01.2025
Niederbronn-les-Bains
One Voice and the ATHENAS Center go to court for a young lynx killed with a shovel
Wildlife

A young lynx was killed in agony after getting lost. The village of Niederbronn-les-Bains, near the Northern Vosges, was the scene of a massacre perpetrated with a shovel. A resident violently attacked the animal. One Voice and the ATHENAS Center denounce this barbaric act and have filed a complaint for the destruction of a protected species. 

A young lost lynx victim of human cruelty

On October 18, 2024, a local resident was surprised to spot a young lynx in the minigolf park.

A fortunate encounter, given that the feline is usually discreet. But lucky for whom? More for the walker from the Bas-Rhin region than for the feline, who, according to Claude Kurtz, a member and specialist of the French wolf-lynx network, was distraught and starving. The defenseless, lost young animal then suffered an excruciating death at the hands of a resident of Niederbronn-les-Bains. 

We won’t let this barbarism go unchallenged

The lynx endured a slow death: he was killed with a shovel in a private henhouse. Who would dare harm an animal like that, moreover one so majestic and rare in France? 

This individual had the misfortune to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and suffered from indifference, worse still, from human malice towards wildlife and its noblest representatives. 

One Voice has joined forces with the ATHENAS Center to file a complaint for the destruction of a protected species. We will obtain justice for this feline and continue to fight so that they can all live in peace. 

Trafficking in wild animals: One Voice files a complaint for a black panther

Trafficking in wild animals: One Voice files a complaint for a black panther
07.01.2025
Nord
Trafficking in wild animals: One Voice files a complaint for a black panther
Wildlife

In September 2019, a young black panther escaped from a house in Armentières where she was being illegally kept by a man known to the police. After many twists and turns, which could have led to a tragic outcome, she was finally taken in by a sanctuary. On Thursday, January 9, 2025, at 2pm, we will be at the Lille legal tribunal to have the seriousness of the facts, which fall under wildlife trafficking and against which we have filed a complaint, recognized.

On September 18, 2019, residents of Armentières, in the Nord region, were stunned to observe a black panther pacing across the rooftops… Barely six months old, “Louise” had just run away from a private home. Sequestered at a private individual’s place, her claws amputated from her front paws, she was trying to escape the unbearable life to which her “owner”, in search of exoticism and without the slightest authorization, had forced her since she was a baby.

After being captured by the fire department and entrusted to the French Animals Protection League, she was temporarily transferred to the Maubeuge zoo… But other adventures awaited her: just a few days later, she was stolen from the zoo and vanished into thin air. Hearings and searches carried out by the Belgian police led to nothing, leaving us to fear the worst for a long time. Had the kidnappers got rid of the panther to eliminate any chance of tracing her back to them? 

It wasn’t until January 2020 that she finally reappeared after being handed over by individuals to a sanctuary in the Netherlands. There, she was renamed Akilla, leaving behind her former first name and the “lap cat” past that went with it.

A deadly illegal trade

The man who had imposed this unnatural existence on her had already been sentenced to three months’ imprisonment for the unauthorized keeping of a monkey, among other offences. So why stop there? Regarding Akilla, the consequences could have been far more serious. She could have – provided she wasn’t shot in the street by her “owner” like Mévy – spent the rest of her life cloistered in a zoo, going in circles behind glass to entertain the gallery. A fate reminiscent of that of the caracal removed from the Athénas center in 2021, or of Maya. Worse still, she could have been killed to enrich the taxidermists and their accomplices.

Such is the face of wildlife trafficking, which still has its place on the international trade podium. Circus performers, skin traders, poachers, traffickers of all kinds and unscrupulous private individuals stick together and are all involved in this dark business. And it’s the animals who pay the highest price. We will continue to defend them relentlessly as long as they remain the playthings of infamous transactions.

To ensure that Akilla’s voice is heard and that she is the last victim of the man who wanted to reduce her to a common apartment cuddly toy, we’ll be at the court hearing in Lille on January 9, 2025, at 2pm.

 

Photo : Facebook page SDIS 59

No longer hunted (for the time being), but still disturbed: no tranquility for capercaillies

No longer hunted (for the time being), but still disturbed: no tranquility for capercaillies
03.01.2025
Plateau de Beille No longer hunted (for the time being), but still disturbed: no tranquility for capercaillies
Wildlife

In the middle of the winter break, a race on the Plateau de Beille will put an end to the much-needed peace of the capercaillies, forcing them to draw on their energy resources during what is supposed to be a “quiet” period for them. Once again, as the populations of these emblematic birds decline drastically, humans continue to disturb them.

No respite for capercaillies when it comes to winter sports

No sooner has hunting finally been suspended (and then only for 5 years, after so much struggle!) than the capercaillies continue to be harassed.

What better illustration than the organization of a night trail run on their last wintering grounds in the area? 

Will these birds never have peace? When they and other galliformes aren’t being hunted down by gun-toting individuals, sportsmen “thirsty” for “extreme” adventures come and violently dislodge them at a sensitive time for their natural cycles.  

A declining population prey to human disturbance

These discreet cocks of the woods are experiencing a sharp decline in their populations and are classified as “vulnerable” by the IUCN. It is vital to protect them from human disturbance, particularly in winter. At this time of year, they spend more than 80% of their time in the trees, saving energy by limiting their movements. 

And yet, a race is organized at their resting places in Piparlan and Artaran. The passage of numerous participants will undoubtedly scare them away and disturb their peace, causing a potentially fatal expenditure of energy. 

Given that mountain activities are one of the causes of the decline in their numbers, the trail run organizers should at the very least have sought prefectoral authorization, since such an event will cause disturbance with serious consequences to these birds of the Ariège mountains.  

Shouldn’t we be thinking of the creatures who inhabit our summits before we shamelessly, selfishly and irresponsibly appropriate them? 

Call on the organizers and elected representatives who support this event like this: 

“Aren’t you ashamed to tolerate and organize such a devastating event for capercaillies in the middle of their winter rest period?”

On Facebook: 

VO2max Tarascon 

Office de tourisme des Pyrénées Ariégeoises

Ville de Tarascon-Sur-Ariège 

Ariège, le Département

La Région Occitanie / Pyrénées-Méditerranée 

Beille & Chioula 

Communauté de communes de la Haute-Ariège 

On X : 

@ariegeledpt

@Occitanie 

Sur Instagram : 

@vo2max_tarascon 

@pyreneesariegeoises

@tarasconsurariege

@ariegeledpt

@laregionoccitanie

@beillechioula

@cc.hauteariege

 

One Voice goes to court for badgers targeted by digging operations in the Rhône and Vendée regions

One Voice goes to court for badgers targeted by digging operations in the Rhône and Vendée regions
24.12.2024
One Voice goes to court for badgers targeted by digging operations in the Rhône and Vendée regions
Wildlife

With 2024 still to come to an end, the prefects of the Rhône and Vendée regions are rushing to set complementary underground hunting periods in their regions for 2025. These decrees are designed to please hunters at the expense of badgers and their young, whom the State refuses to leave in peace. Even if it means going against the courts. To defend them, we are calling for the suspension and, with our partners, the annulment of these texts.

Bias and opacity

In the Rhône region, badgers are hunted down and extracted from their burrows to be violently killed. This ordeal will continue until January 15, 2025. But that wasn’t enough for the prefect! To ensure that hunters are not deprived of their cruel games for too long, he has ordered a complementary period of underground hunting from May 15 to August 15, 2025. An order based solely on the opinions… of the Departmental Federation of Hunters and the Departmental Hunting and Wildlife Commission. As for the report resulting from the public consultation, which is often taken by storm by trigger-happy hunters, it doesn’t even appear on the prefecture’s website. So much for transparency! We have immediately made a request to demand the suspension of this decision, and will be taking joint action with LPO AURA, FNE Rhône and FNE AURA to obtain its annulment.

Summer-long massacres?

The Prefect of the Vendée region is planning to allow badgers on his territory to be dug up from May 15 to September 14, 2025, giving them even less respite. We are ready to challenge this outrageous decree to have it suspended and then, in partnership with AVES, annulled. Even if it is published at the last minute, as the prefectures are doing to prevent us from rescuing the animals they are sacrificing to the hunters.

Justice is on the animals’ side

The persecution by the authorities who are supposed to protect them and of the hunters won’t change a thing: the complementary underground hunting period is living its last days. In 2023, we had already saved no fewer than 4,000 badgers, and repeated this feat in 2024. The Council of State itself has reiterated the absolute prohibition on killing young badgers, who remain dependent until they reach sexual maturity, and not until they are weaned, as the diggers wanted to persuade us so they could prey on their parents for longer and longer. Across France, the courts have ruled in our favor, and more and more texts are being declared illegal. We’re not stopping there!

To save badgers from the danger that threatens them in the Vendée region, take part in the public consultation open until December 27. And sign our petition to abolish underground hunting!