News Archive - Page 43 of 147

Cage hens: during the hearing before the State Council, the public reporter proves NGOs right

Cage hens: during the hearing before the State Council, the public reporter proves NGOs right
14.11.2023
France
Cage hens: during the hearing before the State Council, the public reporter proves NGOs right
Other campaign or multi-campaigns of One Voice

Nine animal protection organisations asked the State Council for the partial cancellation of the decree of 15 December 2021 relating to the redevelopment of breeding buildings for caged laying hens. On Friday afternoon during the public session, the reporter appealed to the supreme administrative court to follow NGOs’ requests by cancelling this decree that “amounts to making cage breeding viable”. She added that “retaining a restrictive interpretation of redevelopment would not necessarily serve the economic interests of the sector” while “eliminating cages seems inevitable”.

An awkward commitment for the government…

In 2017, during his presidential campaign, Emmanuel Macron made “a commitment to banning the sale of eggs laid by battery hens before 2022”. In Rungis, during his speech as President, he reiterated his commitment and promise that “eggs sold to consumers will only come from free-range farms by 2022”.

In 2018, the Egalim law meant that almost all of the amendments aiming to ban this farming system were wiped out. The only one that remains is the ban on new or redeveloped buildings for caged hens. This minor step forward is still pending since the Ministry of Agriculture, who initially delayed in issuing an implementing decree and only complied after having been forced to do so by the State Council, published a law in December 2021 that reduced the scope of the ban and which NGOs have therefore decided to attack.

And as a result: we have discovered that the government was working with the industry to limit the idea of redeveloping only to redeveloped buildings that would increase their production capacity, showing contempt for and twisting the terms of the law in a scandalous way. The Minister of Agriculture at the time, Stéphane Travert, effectively made this promise to lobbies in the industry, in a letter that the CIWF was able to present to the administrative tribunal… after two years of proceedings!

The 9 NGOs fighting it out

The contentious decree shows what “constitutes a building redevelopment:

1° Works or improvements to an existing building to make it suitable for farming using laying hens in cages;
2° Works or improvements to an existing building leading to an increase in the number of laying hens who can be kept there in cages. ”

On 10 February 2022, 9 French NGOs, from the coalition that led to the historic success of the European Citizens’ Initiative “for an era without cages”, filed a joint request before the State Council and asked for the cancellation of these paragraphs.

For the NGOs making the request, it was about the illegal restriction of the notion of redevelopment, given that the manager for a building that was already used for breeding caged laying hens could undertake all work and construction, whatever the consequences might be, and escape the ban on redevelopment of article L. 214-11 of the rural and maritime fishing code, on the simple condition that they continue to keep the same number of laying hens.

They believe that the Egalim legal text is very clear: a redevelopment is not an extension. If not, an existing building for breeding in cages could be entirely renovated to be identical and the cages would go back into production for 20 years!

Hope in the decree to come from the State Council

Today, on 10 November 2023, during the hearing, the public reporter defended the partial cancellation of the decree before the State Council as asked for by the NGOs. She believed that “the decree is ignorant to the objective intended by the law”. Citing parliamentary debates and the views expressed by the Minister and the French President, she considered that “the law aimed at putting an end to breeding in cages to respond to society’s expectations while leaving breeders time to adapt to these changes”. For the public reporter, “the cap is clearly set by the law, and the decree contravenes this by allowing reinvestment” while “article L214-11 specifically aims to allow a progressive transition in order to avoid a full-force brutal banning measure.” She decided on the cancellation of the decree which “goes back to making cage breeding viable”. Moreover, she stated that “retaining a restrictive interpretation of redevelopment would not necessarily serve the economic interests of the sector” while “eliminating cages seems unavoidable”.

The State Council must decide. They will deliver their ruling within a few weeks.

Agathe Gignoux, legal affairs manager at CIWF France stated: “NGOs have all their hopes on the decree that will be ruled on by the State Council after today’s hearing, so that the ways in which the government attempted to obstruct the progress expected by citizens and obtained in parliament will be sanctioned. We would expect the government to support transitions rather than perpetuate systems that lead French breeding to an impasse”.

For Frédéric Freund, Director at the OABA [a French organisation for the protection of farm animals]: « the public reporter’s opinion is a significant setback for the Ministry of Agriculture who persists, and has done for several years, in ignoring animal protection NGOs’ constructive comments regarding regulatory laws that are presented to them for their opinions, during meetings at the CNOPSAV (French national guidance council for animal and plant health policies). »

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

Too many local victories? Bern rejects complaint against badger digging

Too many local victories? Bern rejects complaint against badger digging
14.11.2023
France
Too many local victories? Bern rejects complaint against badger digging
Wildlife

To condemn additional hunting periods for underground badger hunting in France, One Voice and its nine partners, animal and wildlife welfare associations, filed a complaint before the Bern Convention Committee on 15 May 2023 for the second World Badger Day. After five months of waiting, under the pretext of periods for underground hunting with hounds being in decline due to the numerous local victories obtained since 2020 before administrative tribunals, the Committee’s Bureau has decided to reject our complaint without consulting the studies that were mentioned.

We regret this (lack of) decision that is unambitious and purely diplomatic. As a consequence, we will now be going back to the Minister for the Ecological Transition, Christophe Béchu, in order to obtain strong political action from his side against the cruelty inherent to this practice of underground hunting with hounds and in line with the positive case law gathered in recent years in favour of badgers.

By ratifying the Bern Convention in 1982, France committed to taking “appropriate and necessary legislative and regulatory measures to protect the species of wild fauna listed in Appendix III,” which includes badgers. This convention provides for exemptions for the “exploitation” of these species, but only on condition that they “do not harm the survival of the species concerned,” that they are selective, and that there is no satisfactory alternative solution.

During hunting season, badgers can be shot until the end of February and dug up until January 15. The prefect may then authorize an additional period of underground hunting between May 15 and the opening of the general hunting season in September, a time of year when young, unemancipated badgers are likely to be present in their burrows… Underground hunting, rejected by 84% of French people according to a recent Ipsos/One Voice poll in October 2023 (a trend confirmed since 2018), is particularly violent and destructive, not only to badgers but also to their habitat, which is a refuge for many other species, including protected ones.

However, as the associations demonstrated in the expert report submitted on May 15 to the Bern Committee, France does not comply with any of these conditions. Indeed, while it authorizes hunting for eight months of the year without quotas (badgers are not subject to hunting plans), it has no idea how many badgers are present on its territory… Furthermore, hunting by digging out is a non-selective, indiscriminate hunting method, in which many badger cubs are killed each year (often directly by dogs introduced into the burrows), as admitted by the hunters themselves who submit their data to the prefectures.

Despite these facts, the Bern Convention Committee decided to dismiss our request « on the grounds that it was largely the same as the one dismissed the previous year (Uncontrolled badger cull in France – 2020/7) and that there had been recent positive developments, namely that several court decisions had canceled additional hunting periods »…

Instead of reminding France of its commitments and urging it to take the political measures necessary for the proper conservation of badgers, which would be genuine “positive developments” for the preservation of this species, the Bern Convention Committee welcomes the “positive developments” generated by the legal action taken by our associations—nearly thirty decrees suspended in the summer of 2023 on this subject—precisely to denounce the French state’s failures!

Since the Bern Convention refuses to condemn France’s actions in any way, and encouraged by the recent decision of the Council of State recognizing the importance of protecting “small” badgers, we are now turning to the Minister for Ecological Transition, Christophe Béchu, to ask him to take strong political action in line with the positive case law accumulated in recent years in favor of badgers. Underground hunting, in addition to causing the illegal death of baby badgers, is a particularly cruel hunting technique, incompatible with the animal welfare considerations to which the government claims to be committed.

Signatories to this press release (8):
ASPAS, AVES France, the Renard Blaireau collective, FNE Aura, Humanité & Biodiversité, LFDA, One Voice, and Sauvetage des Blaireaux.

A python and cockatoos exhibited in a night club: One Voice is filing a complaint

A python and cockatoos exhibited in a night club: One Voice is filing a complaint
13.11.2023
Pyrénées-Orientales
A python and cockatoos exhibited in a night club: One Voice is filing a complaint
Wildlife

On 7 October 2023, the ‘Nova Club’ night club in Perpignan organised a ‘jungle’ event. On the programme: music, dancing, alcoholic drinks, and in the middle of this electric atmosphere… a snake and a parrot exhibited as the main attraction of the event, having photos taken and being relentlessly handled by the crowd, completely illegally. We have filed a complaint and asked that these two animals be entrusted to us.

Sentient beings to attract regular customers

Disorientated by bright spotlights and the volume of noise that can be expected from a group of partygoers, an albino Burmese python found himself unwillingly in the midst of an event in which he was used as a common stunt. The inscription “photos with the snake” in large letters on the event flyer already showed what was going to happen..

The photos taken on 7 October unfortunately did not deny the shameful exploitation that this programme foreshadowed. The large reptile was presented at arm’s length by one or even two people, for long periods of time, so that the night-owls could be photographed with him, some even going so far as to maul him.

And he was not the only one to be handled and shown like a strange object in this hostile environment: a cockatoo with blue eyes also paid the price for the dubious ethics of both the owners and trainers, forced to be passed from shoulder to shoulder to entertain the, in all likelihood, drunk clients, with the risk of overcrowding or an accident.

The law changes, but not the practices that have been made illegal

As if plunging these animals into an advanced state of stress by exposing them to so many stimuli at once wasn’t enough, these actions are illegal. Since 1 December 2021, the law against animal mistreatment has banned animals being presented, whether they are considered to be domestic or not, in night clubs.

Almost two years later, the scarce clear measures of this law that have come into force are not even being followed! Nothing has changed since Micha the bear was used as an attraction in a Parisian restaurant for valentine’s day in 2018 or since a lion cub was shown to the crowd in a night club in Deauville in 2019.

Once again, we are defending these sensitive beings treated as simple toys and filing a complaint before the Perpignan legal tribunal. We are also asking the Pyrénées-Orientales Prefect for the snake and parrot that were victims of the stupidity of the owners of the establishment and the cynical greed of the trainers to be handed over to us as quickly as possible so that their ordeal will end.

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

One Voice is referring to the courts to put the spotlight on the goose neck game in Saint-Bonnet-près-Riom

One Voice is referring to the courts to put the spotlight on the goose neck game in Saint-Bonnet-près-Riom
13.11.2023 Puy-de-Dôme
One Voice is referring to the courts to put the spotlight on the goose neck game in Saint-Bonnet-près-Riom
Exploitation for shows

On 19 September 2023, after having published our investigation footage on the goose neck game organised the previous weekend in a town in Puy-de-Dôme, we have called for a ban on this sadistic practice that involves tearing animals’ heads off in the name of tradition. Today, we are going further by asking the courts to expose the slaughter conditions of these geese, chickens, and rabbits, whose lifeless bodies have been exhibited and assaulted to the applause of the crowd.

Faced with the atrocities that we revealed in September, indignant reactions erupted from all sides. Two regional councillors specifically came down against the mutilations inflicted on the animals that were victims of the cruel game organised by the town of Saint-Bonnet-près-Riom and asked the Puy-de-Dôme Prefect to ban this practice.

Those responsible persist…

But the organisers and participants persist and approve. For them, there is nothing problematic about mutilating animals’ corpses since they are already dead and would be eaten after having been tormented. The town mayor defends this “heritage to be safeguarded by any means” with his heart and soul. Read: violence only comes from those who speak out against it. And while they kill and entertain themselves with the corpses of their victims, there is nothing but “joy”, “love”, and “friendship”! A bloodthirsty pleasure so intense that the mayor and their citizens would be incapable of finding another way to entertain themselves to maintain the “warm atmosphere” of their village.

… we are counter-attacking

We are taking these decapitation enthusiasts at their word and referring to the Clermont-Ferrand legal tribunal to find out how these geese, chickens, and rabbits were killed. Were they slaughtered in an establishment dedicated to this activity and following hygiene rules specific to food? With each participating family having to, according to our sources, personally provide one or two animals to the organisers, this seems very unlikely… We are asking the legal system to make a decision. For our part, we maintain that there should not be any need to “celebrate” decapitating animals, whether they are dead or alive.

Continue to rally alongside us for the victims of this practice from another era by signing our petition to ban these morbid events throughout France.

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

Underground hunting: are we moving towards a cancellation in Manche and Orne following the suspension?

Underground hunting: are we moving towards a cancellation in Manche and Orne following the suspension?
13.11.2023
France
Underground hunting: are we moving towards a cancellation in Manche and Orne following the suspension?
Wildlife

This year, the unbearable persecution that badgers are subjected to has taken a serious hit. Dozens of departments had authorised them being dug out as part of ‘additional periods’, outside of the hunting season, in spring and summer. The legal system has urgently suspended almost 30 decrees following our requests, allowing the lives of 4000 badgers to be saved. From now on, judges will rule on the merits of the case files and, we hope, will cancel the laws. On 14 November 2023 at 11:15am, the Caen Administrative Tribunal will open the hearings with three case files: Orne for the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 seasons, and Manche.

Underground hunting with hounds

In these departments, hundreds of badger cubs that have only just been born are preparing themselves to be subjected to the hell of underground hunting with hounds. Year after year, the State has shown their extreme familiarity with the hunting social circle. Underground hunting with hounds sadly illustrates this statement: despite rulings, prefectures persist in authorising this cruel practice for the pleasure of a small number of people, at the risk of resorting to ruses that do not fool anyone.

In Manche and Orne, this is exclusively with intervention by us and AVES, our partner on this case file: on 10 May and 4 August 2023, the Caen Administrative Tribunal suspended the prefectural decrees. Clear decisions that have swept away authorities’ arguments and immediately put an end to the additional digging out that was requested. And the results were the same almost everywhere in France, making 2023 a record year for badgers.

The stake: a pure and simple end to additional periods

On 14 November, the Caen Administrative Tribunal will definitively decide on the decrees that they themselves suspended, a few weeks before the State Council unambiguously stated an absolute ban on killing young badgers. Although the Nantes Administrative Court of Appeal has just confirmed that the additional period for underground hunting with hounds in 2021 in Calvados was illegal, we are hopeful that the one in Caen will not retract their statement and that they will cancel the decrees.

And we will not stop at national jurisdictions: because this morbid hobby violates the Bern Convention, which protects badgers, we have filed a complaint alongside ten other associations against France before the Bern Committee. More than ever, these actions allow us to envisage the end of digging out badgers in spring and summer.

Today, 84% of French people oppose hunting animals in their burrows. To help us to give them a voice and to save as many badgers and their cubs as possible, support us and sign our petition to say stop to underground hunting with hounds, including outside of the additional periods!

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

We will defend the animals from the Franco-Belge Circus before the courts.

We will defend the animals from the Franco-Belge Circus before the courts.
12.11.2023
Bas-Rhin
We will defend the animals from the Franco-Belge Circus before the courts.
Exploitation for shows

From 13 to 14 September 2023, the Franco-Belge Circus occupied a car park in Strasbourg. An illegal set-up with lionesses and baboons bored out of their minds, minuscule cages… Once again, Serge Muller is renowned for the lack of importance he attaches to the well-being of those that he exploits. We have filed a complaint against his establishment for mistreatment committed by a professional.

In September, many people who were concerned about the set-up of the Franco-Belge Circus in the car park of a business park in Strasbourg, in Bas-Rhin, warned us. The town council, who has opposed welcoming set-ups with animals for a long time, immediately brought forward a complaint, much like the manager of the Intersport shop whose car park the circus performers had occupied without any authorisation to be there.

A few weeks before, the trainer had called the association, threatening to take legal action if we did not take down the footage of its circus animals posted on social networks. Intimidation, as always.

Unacceptable living conditions

On site, the lion, lionesses, and tigers kept by the head trainer share a ‘relaxation’ area placed in full sunlight, even the tarmac. And never mind the tigers by the way, who are solitary animals who do not share territory with lions in the wild, since they do not even live on the same continent. To make yet more profit off their backs, circus performers force them to cohabit in this ridiculous space. When they are not there, they are left languishing in dingy lorries that transport them from town to town or they are subjected to being hit by the trainer to subdue them. Wherever they are, they cannot escape being watched by humans, boredom, and the impossibility to run and jump. Why are we surprised, in such circumstances, about the incessant pacing of the lionesses grappling with their angst?

A bit further away, goats and horses are not entitled to any more respect. There, a dog is chained to a fence, its neck raw from pulling on the lead…

Problems that we have been reporting on for a long time

Already in March 2020, two camels collapsed in the middle of the show when they were forced to do laps. In the cages that keep them prisoner, the tigers and the lions have been showing the full extent of their suffering for a long time.

On 26 September, we also brought a complaint against the establishment belonging to the brother of the owner of the Zavatta-Muller Circus who, among others, keeps Jumbo.

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

Illegal animal adverts online: One Voice is filing a complaint against Leboncoin

Illegal animal adverts online: One Voice is filing a complaint against Leboncoin
07.11.2023
France
Illegal animal adverts online: One Voice is filing a complaint against Leboncoin
Domestic animals

It is no secret to anyone that the sale and rehoming of animals on the internet is often done completely illegally. What is even more vague, however, is the scale of this trafficking. Since April 2023, more than 4500 adverts regarding more than 11,000 animals have been flagged by our partner as they are not following the law: unidentified animals being given away, often before the legal age, or even without giving the obligatory information… One Voice is filing a complaint against Leboncoin and asking for a ban on animals being rehomed online, which is the main cause of abandonment and slaughtering in pounds.

A few months ago, the École du Chat Libre in Toulouse [a French stray cat organisation] asked for our help with painstaking work in taking down illegal adverts on Leboncoin. So that this work was not done in vain, we have united forces by initiating a legal proceeding in order to put an end to this shameful trade involving living beings.

Although identifying cats and dogs is compulsory, in fact, on the internet, no checks are carried out and many puppies and kittens are given away without being microchipped. However, this obligation makes it possible to limit discrepancies with animals coming from “puppy factories”, those given away before the minimum age, or those coming from a private individual that refuses to neuter their animals. It also contributes to putting an end to the irresponsibility of those acquiring the animal, some of whom would abandon an un-microchipped animal with no qualms a few months later.

A ridiculed legal obligation and it is still animals that are the victims

However, since 2021, the law has been very clear: hosting sites must implement a checking system prior to the publication of an advert in order to verify the microchip or tattoo number of the animals. Adverts with a fake number cannot therefore be put online, and even less can those regarding cats and dogs that are un-identified! Despite this, dozens of non-conforming adverts flood the site every day! Although the majority of them are taken down, how many are passing under the radar? No less than five complaints have been filed along with our partner, the École du Chat Libre in Toulouse. A sixth will be sent very soon.

Working towards the end of selling and rehoming animals on the internet

One month ago, Leboncoin stated that they were putting an end to the trade of wild animal species. It is hard to celebrate when we know that we have had to wait until 2023 to achieve such a step forward, and that it was therefore completely possible to obtain a parrot or tortoise just a few weeks ago.

Cats and dogs do not have any such ‘luck’. Less scrupulous sellers continue their fruitful business without batting an eyelid, with the complicity of this platform. Once again, it is the animals that pay the highest price: given away online to the first person that comes along, with no verification, while thousands of them are killed in pounds every year due to there not being enough space in rescue centres.

You can act too!

By sending a letter to the managing director of Bon Coin. You will find a short template here. You can send it either via their contact form or by mail to the address stated on the letter.
By copying and pasting this post to share on Twitter/X: Animals are not objects!@leboncoin put an end to trading them.Rescue centres are overflowing, dozens of innocent animals are killed every day in pounds.With @onevoiceanimal, I say no to adverts for living beings.#RefusePetShops https://one-voice.fr/news/annonces-illegales-animaux-en-ligne-one-voice-porte-plainte-contre-leboncoin/

While waiting for a complete ban on rehoming animals on the internet, we have filed a complaint so that obligatory checks finally have to be implemented. Join our fight and sign our petition for better protection for our companions.

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

Mountain Galliformes: more than a thousand birds spared from hunting

Mountain Galliformes: more than a thousand birds spared from hunting
06.11.2023
France
Mountain Galliformes: more than a thousand birds spared from hunting
Wildlife

So that the birds at the mountain tops get some respite, we have made sure that hunters did not get any. Since the end of August, we have attacked numerous decisions made by prefects or directly by hunters’ federations with emergency interim proceedings. Their aim is to allow the killing of black grouse, rock partridges, hazel grouse, rock ptarmigans, and grey partridges in the Pyrénées. Judges have announced numerous suspensions, thus sparing the lives of a considerable number of mountain Galliformes.

In the Alps, more than a thousand birds will not be riddled with bullets

The Grenoble and Marseille Administrative Tribunals (ATs) have suspended hunting, sometimes based on our reasoning linked to the intolerable nature of hunting animals that are already shaken up by the consequences of global warming and the constant disruption linked with tourist numbers in mountain ranges, and sometimes on more technical arguments. More than once, prefects have simply given carte blanche to hunters and left them to determine the quotas of animals to be killed themselves.

The absurdity of continuing to kill individuals whose species is in a poor state of conservation also hits home when it comes to hazel grouse in Isère and before the Marseille judge whose rulings made it possible for black grouse and rock partridges to be spared in their masses.

Despite a few steps back, the fight continues

There are unfortunately several downsides when it comes to the Pyrénées and Alpes-Maritimes departments, where we clashed with the against-the-tide line of reasoning from the Montpellier, Toulouse, Pau, and Nice Administrative Tribunals, who rejected our requests. The disappointment is particularly bitter because, due to a lack of suspension, the bloodbath of partridges, grouse, and rock ptarmigans has in fact happened.

But we are not discouraged yet. Although the cancellations that we will obtain a posteriori will not bring the birds back to life, they will be used in future appeals to potentially spare the next ones. In fact, given the energy used by the State to pander to hunters’ every whim – as evidenced by a new decree just after the suspension of the previous one in the Pyrénées-Orientales, where questionable experiments were aimed at reviving the traditional hunting of larks, lapwings, etc. – there is no doubt that the massacring of mountain birds, even though they are threatened everywhere, will be authorised for the 2024-2025 season.

In total, the lives of 20 hazel grouse in Isère, 422 rock partridges (6 in Haute-Savoie, 219 in Savoie, 35 in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, and 162 in the Hautes-Alpes) and of 723 black grouse (201 in Haute-Savoie, 404 in Savoie, 45 in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, and 73 in the Hautes-Alpes) will be saved with our actions! How is it accepted that we, animal defenders, have to end up hindering the prefectures who authorise this themselves?

Our rallying helps to give these fragile animals visibility, silent witnesses to their own decline, and to protect them from guns. No bird or animal has to die at the hands of a small group of humans for their entertainment. We will continue to hammer this home until the State listens to reason.

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

Stella, the wolfdog threatened with death in France, could live safely in Italy

Stella, the wolfdog threatened with death in France, could live safely in Italy
05.11.2023
Italy
Stella, the wolfdog threatened with death in France, could live safely in Italy
Wildlife

At the beginning of May 2023, we received a concerning report: a wolfdog found herself in a pound and was at risk of being euthanised if no solution was found. After the initial misunderstandings, we put a chain of solidarity in place in order to find a placement solution. On 3 June, Stella arrived at our Animanatura sanctuary in Italy. Thus begins a new life, sheltered from all danger.

On 2 May 2023, we were contacted by a wildlife specialist. A pound asked her to take charge of a hybrid wolf, dependent on specific legislation. Due to lack of space, she cannot take the animal, named Stella, in, and has already contacted a number of approved establishments, which do not have the possibility – or the desire in some cases – to participate in this rescue.

In France, problems are regulated with lethal injections

In the pound since March and with no opportunity for placement, time was running out for Stella who was at risk of being slaughtered if a solution was not found quickly.

Faced with the urgency of the situation, we got ourselves organised and in less than twenty-four hours, a place was secured in our Animanatura Wild Sanctuary which already welcomed lions Céleste, Hannah, Marli, and Patty in May 2022 who we saved from the Cirque de Paris Circus three years ago.

A new life in Italy

Stella’s transfer was finally authorised by the authorities with some difficulty! After having taken her in and scheduled her vaccinations and neutering, issued her with a passport, organised transport, built a temporary welcome park in Italy, even though everything was ready, we thought that everything was going to be cancelled due to an internal disagreement within the administrations responsible for approving her departure, with some comparing Stella to a wolf or a hybrid, and others to a dog… This would have all been for nothing without our willpower and the determination of our local ally, who we thank warmly.

Stella was finally authorised to leave French soil on Friday 2 June in the morning. After a long journey, she arrived in Tuscany the next day. She is currently living in her transition park. Soon, she will find herself in a more spacious park that we are building for her, where she will spend the rest of her life in semi-freedom, cared for and protected from any dangers.

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

Kennel in Vendée: yes, a request for an extension has been filed for 120 ‘hunting’ dogs!

Kennel in Vendée: yes, a request for an extension has been filed for 120 ‘hunting’ dogs!
04.11.2023
Vendée
Kennel in Vendée: yes, a request for an extension has been filed for 120 ‘hunting’ dogs!
Domestic animals

A few weeks ago, we alerted the public to the plans to extend a dog kennel used for horse and hound hunting in Vendée. Faced with the owner’s denial, we are persisting: yes, a request for an extension has been filed with the prefecture. Whether the owner has finally given up on it or he is simply looking to comply with regulations, this changes nothing for the fact that he was well and truly unlawful until that point. And the dogs will be exploited for their whole lives like simple tools to be used in a type of hunting that spreads terror and suffering in forests.

After the publication of our article on the desire of a kennel owner to go from having around fifty to more than 120 dogs, the press relayed their version: he never wanted an extension, but simply wanted to follow regulations. An explanation that is not convincing and changes nothing for the fate reserved for the dogs.

A ‘non-existent’ extension… but which was indeed the subject of a request!

The owner stated: he did not want any increase in size for his kennel, only to comply with the law. As a reminder, since December 2021, a simple statement to the prefecture is enough to operate a kennel of between 1 and 49 dogs. For between 5 and 249, a stricter system is used: registration.
While the kennel in question was subject to the registration system, and therefore could not house more than 49 dogs, the owner said that he had…. 89! It therefore took many months for him to comply with the law.

Additionally, in the case file submitted for public consultation, the owner himself stated: “the registration request to be able to keep 120 dogs was made more than 4 months ago”. Going from 89 dogs – of which 40 were being kept illegally – to 120: is this not the exact definition of an extension? How could anyone know that 40 dogs were being kept illegally?

Dogs: simple tools to serve huntsmen

This kennel would be a paradise for dogs because it is clean and the animals are not shut up for the whole day but they get to come out for 1.5 to 2 hours per day. While living in 5 to 9 square metre spaces… This example should not make us forget the reality of hunting with hounds: famished dogs left abandoned in cages, in the mud, mistreated, almost everywhere in France, as we have been documenting for years.

Whatever the state of the kennel, the aim is the same: to exploit dogs to the limit so that huntsmen can chase after terrified animals for hours on end. The dogs are often injured, the deer try to escape at all costs, and their ordeal ends in a bloodbath with a hunter driving a dagger into their back. We will never abandon them without at least getting their voices heard!

Sign for ‘hunting’ dogs

Translated from the French by Joely Justice