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After more than 40 years in the circus and of inaction from public powers, Dumba the elephant has died

After more than 40 years in the circus and of inaction from public powers, Dumba the elephant has died

After more than 40 years in the circus and of inaction from public powers, Dumba the elephant has died
09.05.2023
Germany
After more than 40 years in the circus and of inaction from public powers, Dumba the elephant has died
Exploitation for shows

It is with profound sadness and great anger that we have just learned of the death of Dumba from an intermediary from European Elephant Group. Exploited for her whole life, the elephant had been living in a small enclosure at a settled circus in Germany for a year when she died in March 2022. We had been to see her in October 2021. Subjected to harmful living conditions from the age of two, she had not yet reached her fiftieth birthday.

Her lengthy exploitation in circuses, travelling endlessly in a lorry, and the cowardice of public powers, not to mention the rest, got the better of Dumba, despite the relentless campaign that we led for her.

A life on the road, hired out to the highest bidder…

Alongside our Spanish partner, FAADA, we never stopped following her movements, sometimes in Spain, sometimes in France. On our side of the border, she had been “hired out” by her trainer at the Cirque de Paris for a long time. Under their big top, she had been forced to participate in appalling cynical shows.

At the very start of 2021, after several months of looking for her, we found her shut up in a trailer in Gard in freezing temperatures. Everything about her posture indicated that her legs were hurting her, as confirmed to us by an elephant expert. We immediately filed a complaint and requested Dumba be seized so that she could finally be placed in a sanctuary.

…until the point of exhaustion

Hoping to escape the lawsuits initiated by us, the trainer Kludsky abandoned Dumba in Germany. Placed in a settled circus, the elephant no longer had to participate in shows. But, cooped up in a small enclosure, she did not escape isolation and discontent. To free her, we sought the help of local associations and the German government.

The elephant had been dead for months when we were finally able to get our hands on the report from the veterinarian who had examined her at the end of January 2021. This document, which confirmed that she was suffering from muscle wastage in her legs and felt that it was “of interest and necessary” to carry out additional examinations, should have been given to us long before! We have known for a long time that Dumba was in danger. We alerted the authorities multiple times about the owners exploiting her. They washed their hands of her: the prefect, prosecutor, and even the Ministry. And Dumba has paid a heavy price.

A law complicit in mistreatment

By allowing these establishments to settle down in order to be able to continue to show animals to the public after 2028, the law against animal mistreatment is complicit in exploitation. And what about the inaction of the Ministry of the Ecological Transition, who still have not banned the reproduction of felines in circuses, which are already so numerous in France, one and a half years after the law being passed by the National Assembly? How many more animals will die, stressed out by training, boredom, and imprisonment, before finally being truly rescued?

In memory of Dumba and for all the others, the fight continues.

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

Underground hunting with hounds: One Voice at work to defend foxes and badgers

Underground hunting with hounds: One Voice at work to defend foxes and badgers

Underground hunting with hounds: One Voice at work to defend foxes and badgers
07.05.2023
Underground hunting with hounds: One Voice at work to defend foxes and badgers
Wildlife

Every year, numerous animals are hunted into their burrows, including when their young are down there. During the spring, hundreds of foxes and badgers continue to be victims of underground hunting with hounds because they are considered as ‘pests’ or targeted by decrees opening additional hunting periods; One Voice once again opposes this cruel practice.

Animals cornered in their burrows by dogs that are forced to go down underground, innocent victims grabbed by metal clamps and ruthlessly killed… We have been speaking out for years against the cruel practice of underground hunting with hounds. Like us, more than eight in ten French people are asking for it to be banned for all animals.

Badger cubs in danger

To blow the monstrosity of this kind of hunting wide open, we have taken considerable risks by infiltrating among diggers. The footage that our investigators have brought back from their infiltration is chilling.

The badgers, rooted out from their shelters after endless moments of terror, are slaughtered with sadistic joy. Including the badger cubs, very much present in the setts and still dependent on their parents in the spring. It is for these young animals, who are killed in total violation of the Environmental Code, that we are still fighting this year to get the prefectural decrees authorising an additional hunting period suspended for this season. This would be ideal for the animals from protected species who sometimes hide in the badgers’ setts and who are also threatened with death.

Foxes: victims of endless persecution

Wrongly considered as pests, foxes can meanwhile be hunted down underground all year round. Mistakenly
unpopular, these animals that are in fact intelligent, social, and essential for biodiversity are hunted down day and night, killed by any means with no limit on cruelty and sometimes even hung. And it is not unusual for traps aimed at small canines to make them collateral victims.

There are many more animals considered as ‘pests’, labelled as a species likely to cause damage and hunted relentlessly. We are defending them too, and are fighting to put an end to this massacre of carrion crows and rooks, or even wood pigeons, least weasels, beech martens, or mustelids.

We have been already making a start for several months on the gargantuan task of defending these animals because prefectures and the Ministry for the Ecological Transition are preparing a decree to go over all species classified as likely to cause damage department by department. These animals will then be in great danger for the next three years, subjected to endless hunting. We plan to attack this decree at the State Council as soon as it is published.

On the weekend prior to 15 May (International Badger Day, which we are participating in) we are organising actions to raise awareness throughout France to say no to underground hunting with hounds for badgers and foxes, at tribunals as well as on the streets. Join us!

 

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

‘Surplus’ animals in animal testing: One Voice’s plea to the administrative tribunal

‘Surplus’ animals in animal testing: One Voice’s plea to the administrative tribunal

‘Surplus’ animals in animal testing: One Voice’s plea to the administrative tribunal
03.05.2023
‘Surplus’ animals in animal testing: One Voice’s plea to the administrative tribunal
Animal testing

Almost one and a half million animals suffer every year from being kept captive in laboratories, stocked ‘just in case’ and eventually thrown out, like equipment. This represents a third of animals shut up in cages for animal testing. We have entered a plea at the Paris Administrative Tribunal so that the Ministry of Research implements effective measures to reduce this number by avoiding the birth of ‘surplus’ animals.

Laboratories consider animals as equipment. This is nothing new. What would it be like if they had an ounce of compassion and a long-term outlook? They stock mice and dogs like packets of pasta, in case they are needed, needs assessed any old how, because this waste of life, animals being thrown in the bin, is not their problem. All they do is waste, even when living beings are concerned. We are going to remind them of their commitment to reduce the number of animals passing through their miserable cages. Muriel Arnal President of One Voice

Almost one and a half million of these animals killed in France every year…

Each year, almost two million animals are used in experiments by French laboratories. Six hundred thousand additional animals are exploited for the creation and upkeep of genetically modified lines…

As for the others, they are bred, kept in captivity, then killed, simply considered as projected ‘stock’. And we are not talking about one or two individuals: in 2017 (the most recent available data), there were almost one and a half million animals in France alone! Among the four million who were bred or imported here each year for animal testing, more than one in three is therefore involved. Some will see their tissue taken for post-mortem analysis, which justifies their exploitation in the eyes of the laboratories. For the others in any case, the suffering of life in a cage could have been avoided.

…while the European Union demands that their number be reduced!

Perhaps these animals suffer less than their peers used in experimental procedures – incidentally, they are not counted in the Ministry’s annual statistical surveys (which we have analysed and presented in detail), and any laboratory accredited in animal testing can breed and kill them at their will. But an entire life in captivity in a minuscule cage (scarcely half an A4 sheet for three adult mice!) is unbearable.

The refusal from the Ministry to implement measures to reduce the number of these animals is against the spirit of the regulations and the French State’s commitment regarding the European Directive. The Directive would like everything possible to be done to reduce their number, whether they are eventually used or not.

We are demanding solutions

Last year, German prosecutors launched an investigation to determine whether laboratories slaughtering surplus animals constitutes a crime as long as it involves killing them without adequate justification. The investigation is still ongoing. If these practices are in fact ruled as criminal, Germany will have another reason to prevent the birth of these animals, which will spare them from suffering a life in captivity devoid of interest.

On our side of the Rhine, at the beginning of October 2022, we wrote to the Ministry of Research on the matter. Not having received a response three months later, and represented by the Géo Avocats law firm who will assist us with these issues, One Voice is therefore deferring to the Paris Administrative Tribunal. Thus, we are asking the judge to arrange for the Ministry to apply European regulations by implementing the necessary measures to obtain a notable reduction in the number of ‘surplus’ animals bred and killed shamelessly. The file is being investigated and we are waiting for the date of the hearing. The courts will have to decide.

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

PUMA is joining the Fur Free Retailer programme

PUMA is joining the Fur Free Retailer programme

PUMA is joining the Fur Free Retailer programme
03.05.2023
PUMA is joining the Fur Free Retailer programme
Fashion

The global animal protection association FOUR PAWS and Fur Free Alliance, for which One Voice is the French representative, welcome the sports clothing brand PUMA as a new leading partner. Although PUMA does not currently have any fur-based products in its range, the company is reaffirming its rejection of it by joining the International Fur Free Retailer programme. PUMA, one of the biggest international sports brands, will contribute to raising public awareness of animal welfare and will have a positive impact on the fashion industry.

PUMA has decided resolutely in favour of animal welfare and is paving the way for other brands so that they will follow in their footsteps and adopt alternatives that respect animals. We are eager to continue working with PUMA and other brands to create a better future for animals in the fashion industry. Anne Wessendorf lead of the clothing campaign at FOUR PAWS

Global trend to improve animal welfare

The majority of the public have been rejecting fur for years. A clear reversal of the trend in favour of fashion respecting animals and the environment has also been seen at major fashion houses around the world. Consumers are in favour of ethical and sustainable fashion for which no animals have to suffer.

PUMA has been working in the sustainability field for more than twenty years. In addition to focusing on human rights, climate action, and cyclical trade, our objectives when it comes to biodiversity already reference protecting threatened species as well as their habitats. With the introduction of the PUMA animal welfare policy in 2021, we have taken a significant step to ensure that animals are treated with humanity throughout our whole supply chain. We are also constantly innovating to develop new materials that will help us to avoid using animal skins. This is why we have joined the Fur Free Retailer programme and have phased out kangaroo leather this year.»Stefan Seidel, Head of Corporate Sustainability at PUMA«We are delighted that PUMA is positioning themselves clearly against animal suffering and adopting a fur-free policy. Keeping wild animals in minuscule cages for a fashion item is barbaric, outdated, and unnecessary. PUMA’s decision shows that today’s fashion brands appreciate transparency and innovation, and that they no longer want to contribute to the cruel fur trade. Brigit Oele Programme Manager for Fur Free Alliance

The Fur Free Retailer programme

The Fur Free Retailer programme is the main global initiative aiming to pair businesses that have given up fur with consumers looking for ethical products. The programme is an initiative by Fur Free Alliance (FFA), active in more than thirty-five countries throughout the world. The Alliance is an international coalition of more than fifty animal protection associations working together to put an end to breeding and killing animals for their fur. More than 1500 brands and retailers have now taken part in the initiative.

Translated from the French by Joely Justic

Badger digging: One Voice launches a legal attack

Badger digging: One Voice launches a legal attack

Badger digging: One Voice launches a legal attack
03.05.2023
Badger digging: One Voice launches a legal attack
Wildlife

After an initial victory at the Dijon Administrative Tribunal, One Voice remains fully against badger digging, particularly in the spring when badger cubs are present in the setts. From Charente-Maritime in Oise to Lot-et-Garonne in Meuse, we are launching an extensive legal attack against this type of cruel hunting. The first interim hearings are in Limoges and Toulouse on 3 May, and in Poitiers, Amiens, and Caen on 9 May.

Spring 2023 promises to be particularly dreadful for female badgers and their families. Dozens of prefectural decrees are in the process of being passed, everywhere in France, tosubject them to the hell of underground hunting with hounds right in the middle of the reproduction period. The warnings that we issue as part of the numerous public consultation proceedings and decisions by administrative tribunals in our favour mean nothing: prefectures, hand in hand with hunters, continue their campaign to authorise this type of hunting despite its illegality.

In the face of widespread aggression against badgers by the State and by hunters…

This huge attack has a goal: badgers, including their young, are wrongly accused of all evils to satisfy the morbid passions of diggers.

Like all decrees passed on the subject of hunting, they are subject to public participation procedures. And, in most departments, they are biased: the prefects do not communicate any data on the number of badgers living in the department or any figures on the number of individuals killed by hunters each year.

Yet, digging out in the spring threatens the very existence of these individuals in our countryside. There is a solid scientific consensus on the fact that the young are present in the setts during this period of the year and that killing them is detrimental to the balance of the species. But, preferring to rely on studies led by hunters themselves, the prefects ignore the scientific data and de facto authorise hunters to kill the young, in clear violation of the Environmental Code.

Not to mention animals from protected species such as bats, otters, or even wild cats, who sometimes also live in the burrows of these social architects.

…a pedagogical and legal counter-offensive by One Voice for these animals

Following our investigation revealing the horrors of digging out, we have supported the petition to obtain a ban on this practice on the Senate’s site. But the resulting report ‘revealed’ once again (as we suspected…) that our political representatives will not act without huge mobilisation from everyone. After the success of the first International Day for Badgers, One Voice and its partners are rallying again this year. On 15 May, we are organising numerous actions to raise awareness to rehabilitate these wrongly singled out and martyred animals, and to demand, once again, a pure and simple ban on underground hunting with hounds.

On the legal front, we will systematically attack any decree opening an additional digging out period in the spring. The decrees have already been passed: in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, we have filed an appeal as part of a united front with our partners (FNE Aura, LPO, ASPAS, and AVES).
In the departments of Manche, Oise, Orne, Charente-Maritime and even Haute-Vienne, we have urgently referred to the administrative tribunals to obtain a suspension on these decrees: urgent hearings have thus already been set on 3 May at 2:30pm in Toulouse (in the context of a joint referral with FNE 82, ASPAS, and Aves France, at which the Géo Avocats law firm will represent us) and at 3:30pm in Limoges on the same day, as well as on 9 May at 3:30pm in Poitiers, at 1:30 in Caen, and at 2pm in Amiens

To win this fight, we need you! Join us on the weekend before 15 May, throughout France, and sign the petition specifically demanding a protected species status for badgers!

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

Four Romanian fashion brands commit against fur and join the Fur Free Retailer programme

Four Romanian fashion brands commit against fur and join the Fur Free Retailer programme

Four Romanian fashion brands commit against fur and join the Fur Free Retailer programme
02.05.2023
Four Romanian fashion brands commit against fur and join the Fur Free Retailer programme
Fashion

Four fashion brands in Romania are committing to no longer using fur after having worked with our partner HSI Europe (Humane Society International/Europe) as part of the Fur Free Alliance – for which One Voice is the French representative – thus becoming the first designers from the country to join the global Fur Free Retailer programme. To support a legislative change to put a ban on the production of fur in the country, One Voice went there.

Four Romanian brands committed to animals!

Ioana Ciolacu, Muse um Concept, REDU, and OCTAVIA CHIRU have since taken part, with Gucci, Moncler, Prada, Adidas, H&M, and Zara, s almost 1600 fashion brands, retailers, and designers from twenty-five countries worldwide to have the Fur Free Retailer label.

Killing animals for fur is barbaric, against ethics and in bad taste. When I see fur in fashion, I see bad taste; therefore, no animal should be killed in its name. Because let’s be honest: no creation can justify this ultimate sacrifice.»Ioana Ciolacu, Romanian designer of the contemporary women’s fashion brand of the same name«Muse um Concept feels that nature, animals, and humans must be treated and respected in the same way. The fact that I am not using fur or any other animal materials in my collections is an ethical choice.»Adina Orboi, Muse um Concept designer«For almost eight years, we have mainly been concentrating on protecting the environment and having a positive impact on the planet. With technological progress and sustainable alternatives in the textile industry, breeding animals for fur has become obsolete, inhumane, and unfounded in today’s society.»Andreea Sofronea, designer for sustainable fashion company REDU«We have created our sustainable brand at the heart of a consumer world in order to make a difference. What we want is a future for everyone, a healthy future! Octavia Chiru

Evolution in countries which could be translated at a political level: we will play our part

These announcements have come at a crucial moment in our partner’s campaign to put an end to the fur industry in Romania, with three commissions from the House of Representatives discussing a bill aiming to ban keeping mink and chinchillas. In December last year, the Romanian Senate voted in favour of the bill. In May, One Voice will meet representatives from the House concerned.

HSI/Europe is happy to have been able to work alongside designers and Romanian fashion brands and congratulates them for having made this crucial decision to join the Fur Free Retailer programme. By committing to a future without fur, they have shown that they are in tune with the growing majority of ethical consumers who think that animals do not have to suffer in the name of fashion. The Romanian political world has also had the opportunity to take a stance against the cruelty of this industry by supporting the bill aiming to ban breeding animals for fur. We hope that their vote will allow this barbaric trade to definitively be put into the dustbin of Romanian history. Andreea Roseti National Director of HSI/Europe for Romania

Romania is one of the rare member states of the EU where keeping animals for fur is still authorised. This practice has been banned in nineteen countries in Europe, including fourteen member states among which France has been since November 2021, following public and political concerns for animal welfare and the spread of zoonotic diseases. The fur industry in Romania is in decline, with the number of animal fur breeding farms having fallen in a spectacular fashion, going from more than one hundred and fifty in 2013 to thirteen in 2022. Nonetheless, two large mink breeding farms and a dozen chinchilla breeding farms are still active, producing around one hundred thousand mink skins and fifteen thousand chinchilla skins every year.

Last year, a secret investigation by HSI/Europe showed the suffering of the animals and their terrible living conditions within these breeding farms. Chinchillas are also kept in small, dark, dirty cages, the females being forced into an almost permanent reproductive cycle for the duration of their short lives, before being killed by having their necks broken or in improvised gas chambers.

Everywhere in the world, people are more and more outraged that it is possible to imprison and kill animals on an industrial scale just in the name of fashion. In recent years, other public, political, and scientific concerns have intensified after mink from more than 480 fur farms in Europe and North America tested positive for the virus causing SARS-CoV-2 – including the cases where the virus transmitted to humans. Foxes and raccoon dogs, species commonly bred for fur, are also susceptible to the virus.

The popular demand for a ban on breeding and importing fur on an EU scale has also been clearly shown throughout the last ten months with the Fur Free Europe European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) having gained more than 1.7 million signatures. The European Commission must respond to it within three months and take measures as a consequence.

The reality of fur:

  • More than 100 million animals are killed each year worldwide for their fur, which is equal to three every second.
  • Breeding animals for fur has been banned in 19 European countries, including the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, Slovenia, Luxembourg, Malta, Ireland, Estonia, France, Italy, and, since 22 September 2022, Latvia. Political debates on a possible ban are also happening in Romania, Lithuania, and Poland. Two other countries (Switzerland and Germany) have implemented laws so strict that this practice has effectively stopped, and three other countries (Denmark, Sweden, and Hungary) have imposed measures that have put an end to breeding certain species.
  • The Fur Free Retailer programme is the main global initiative aiming to put businesses that have given up fur with clients who are looking for ethical products. The subscription is free. It aims to advise and encourage businesses to no longer use fur and to promote responsible consumption. Initiated by the Fur Free Alliance, a coalition of more than fifty animal protection associations, it is represented in Romania by the Humane Society International/Europe and in France by One Voice.

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

No respite for wolves, slaughtered even during the cubs’ feeding period

No respite for wolves, slaughtered even during the cubs’ feeding period

No respite for wolves, slaughtered even during the cubs’ feeding period
25.04.2023
No respite for wolves, slaughtered even during the cubs’ feeding period
Wildlife

In France, it is possible to kill wolves all year round, with no consideration for reproduction and cubs’ feeding periods, even though they are considered a protected species. Every year, a quota of individuals to be slaughtered is set. This year, 174 could therefore be killed under the context of overriding shots for their protection. On 21 April 2023, 27 had already been killed, of which 3 were poached. However, several scientific studies agree that shots are not the solution to protect herds. Effective protection measures exist; our European neighbours apply them successfully even though the number of wolves is much higher in their area than in France.

Wolves are sociable animals. They generally live in packs, established by a couple who will be the only ones to reproduce, only once per year. After birth, the female wolf spends the majority of the time in their lair close to the young for six to eight weeks. During this whole period, the other members of the group, and in particular her partner, take care of her and feed her. The birth and upbringing of the wolf cubs is truly a family affair. Each individual has a crucial role to play, whether it be the preparation of the lair before birth, games to teach them the rules, providing them with solid food once they are weaned, or even looking after them while their mother moves around. The loss of a member therefore unbalances the whole structure and organisation of the pack.

Shots that put the survival and diversity of the species in danger

However, in France, wolves can be slaughtered all year round, even during the birthing period. Contrary to the opinion of the French National Council for the Protection of Wildlife [Conseil national de protection de la nature], who in December 2019 stated:

«The fact that there is no longer a period when shooting is prohibited, in particular during the reproduction period, seems inconsistent with the protected status of a species for which the conservation status remains vulnerable.»

During the consultation, the Council added:

«The long-term regulation of the wolf population seems to us to be contrary to national and common law, and the biology of conservation.»

According to them, failing banning them, shots should at a minimum be done “mainly between July and December” and be “accompanied by qualitative and quantitative expertise on predation”.

For us, no shooting is justifiable. But the State, who authorise the slaughtering of wolves all year round, could at least follow these minimum recommendations… Owing to malnutrition, diseases, or even climatic conditions, the survival rate for wolf cubs is just 60% during the year following their birth. Due to perpetual shooting, the survivors can subsequently find themselves without their mother or a member of their family, putting their learning and survival in danger once more.

As well as being slaughtered, wolves are also regularly victims of road accidents, as was the case already for several of them this year. They must also face the traps placed in the wild, which take numerous victims each year. Last March, a female wolf was found strangled to death in a fox neck snare. We have filed a complaint for her.

Help us to push this fight forward: sign our petition to put a stop to the persecution of wolves.

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

Official opening of the Chatipi for stray cats in Gagny on Friday 21 April 2023 at 11am

Official opening of the Chatipi for stray cats in Gagny on Friday 21 April 2023 at 11am

Official opening of the Chatipi for stray cats in Gagny on Friday 21 April 2023 at 11am
18.04.2023
Official opening of the Chatipi for stray cats in Gagny on Friday 21 April 2023 at 11am
Domestic animals

One Voice, who has fought against feline straying for years, is implementing three-way partnerships with towns or drop-in centres and local associations to microchip and neuter homeless cats and release them, while finding them a wooden chalet for them to rehydrate themselves, eat, and take comfort. The town council of Gagny, a town situated in Seine-Saint-Denis, contacted the One Voice Association to take responsibility for the issue of stray cats in the town with the help of the local Gagny Pet and Co. Association. The Chatipi programme therefore means that cats without a human family will no longer suffer from deprivation. The official opening of the Chatipi will take place in Gagny on Friday 21 April at 11am.

The official opening will take place on Friday 21 April at 11am in front of the Chatipi set up on Allée Georges Guyonnet in Gagny, near the station. It will happen in the presence of the Mayor of Gagny and the local council, the town service managers, town departments (Town Planning Policies, Celebrations and Ceremonies, Technical Services, and Animal Rights), the Gagny Pet and Co Association (signatory of the Chatipi convention), the Studies and Construction Association, and the Jacques Prévert Socio-Cultural Centre in Gagny. Finally is Lola Rebollo who is in charge of the feline straying campaign for One Voice and who will represent the association.

Chatipi: a lasting solution for the vicious circle of feline straying

Chatipi is a plan with the ethical aim of creating areas for stray cats in order to keep them safe while raising awareness among citizens of their suffering and needs. Around twenty are currently being developed. Several Chatipis have been established near residential care homes for the elderly, nursing homes, or hospitals to bring comfort to the residents, and close to schools as One Voice’s goal is fundamentally to teach about cats. In fact, we too often mistakenly describe these small felines as independent animals, when they are very affectionate, loyal, and dependent, which makes them vulnerable in the event of being abandoned.

That being said, feline straying is not only caused by abandonment. This vicious circle that involves eleven million cats per year in France at first glance begins with erroneous assumptions about them, particularly that they have an intrinsic need to reproduce in order to be happy, which leads to their human families not always getting them neutered. Many cat births take place in the wild. In any case, these kittens, when they survive, are hit by hunger, cold, and illness. They are neither microchipped nor neutered, because their humans are sometimes not even aware that these kittens exist. And so, litters only continue to multiply in these circumstances. Towns or drop-in centres must manage these individuals faced with this misfortune, which also has an impact on biodiversity.

Sharing out tasks and responsibilities

One Voice, who invented the Chatipi concept, provides the chalet and the cat flaps, 30 kilos of kibble, and the veterinary fees (neutering, microchipping, tests) for 15 cats at the beginning of the operation as well as the educational board.

The town, which has taken responsibility for the creation of the concrete base, has incidentally organised an integration project with the Studies and Construction Association and the Jacques Prévert Socio-Cultural Centre in Gagny to carry out the set-up and assembly of the chalet.

The health monitoring of the cats will be handled by the local Gagny Pet and Co Association, who will take care of catching them to be neutered, feeding them, long-term veterinary fees, and cleaning the chalet. In total, 20 cats should benefit from the Gagny Chatipi.

The One Voice website dedicated to the Chatipi programme was launched at the beginning of March 2022 and gives a lot of information regarding this educational programme on cats. Sign our petition calling for an urgent plan for feline straying.

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

New Ipsos/One Voice survey: French people are largely against animal testing

New Ipsos/One Voice survey: French people are largely against animal testing

New Ipsos/One Voice survey: French people are largely against animal testing
18.04.2023
New Ipsos/One Voice survey: French people are largely against animal testing
Animal testing

The results of the Ipsos/One Voice survey from April 2023 that we are publishing are indisputable: French people are calling for an end to animal testing. In more detail, the results all go along the same lines. One Voice is delighted with such enthusiasm in favour of animals on the occasion of World Day for Animals in Laboratories (on 24 April). This shared opinion by French people gives hope to the idea of the European regulations being revised currently, and, with our daily commitment, we offer support to obtain true transparency on testing and on developments by non-animal methods industries.

Not only are the vast majority of French people against animal testing (three in four), but they are against it no matter what the products tested may be (medications, drugs, or even chemical products – such as household products or cosmetics), as well as the species of animals concerned. French people also support the development and exclusive use, when they exist, of non-animal testing methods. Finally, they are clearly calling for more transparency. More precisely still:

A strong opposition to the principle of animal testing

French people are very largely (74%) unfavourable towards even the principle of animal testing, 43% of those state that they are even completely against it. This opposition is not only a majority, but it is also growing strongly. In 20 years, it increased from 10 percent (comparison of results with those from a survey carried out by IPSOS for One Voice, by telephone, from 31 January to 1 February 2003, compared with a representative sample of the French population aged 15 and above).

A significant perception gap is shown between men and women. A higher proportion of women are generally against animal testing compared with men (85% versus 63%).

Beyond opposing the principle, clear support for a ban on certain practices linked with animal testing

In more depth, we see support for a ban on animal testing intended to test different types of products. This is the case for chemical ingredients or products (66% +11 percent vs 2003), harmful products consumed by humans such as tobacco or drugs (66%), or even still for medications (65%). Whatever the type of product on which they are questioned, French people support a ban on animal testing.

French people are also very widely in favour of an end to capturing and breeding animals destined for testing. The majority of respondents support the closure of breeding farms in France and for those destined for laboratories, whether it be dog breeding farms (85% support their closure) or primate breeding farms (80%). The capture of wild animals is also the subject of a significant rejection: 81% of French people support a ban on capturing primates in the wild in Asia and sending them to France to conduct experiments.

Support for a ban on animal testing which varies according to animal species, but which systematically remains a majority

The desire for a ban on animal testing varies according to the species on which the testing is carried out. Domestic animals elicit more desire for a ban (85% for dogs, 84% for cats), just like horses (84%) or primates (81%).

If the support for a ban on animal testing is lower for other animal species, this is still the case for a majority of respondents for insects (55%) or rodents (65%).

Whatever the species of animal, we note that women are systematically more favourable towards a ban on experiments than men, each time with a deviation of more than 10 percent (91% of women are also favourable of a ban on testing on dogs, versus 80% of men).

French people vote for the development of alternative methods in animal testing

Generally speaking, French people support the idea that we must look to develop alternative methods to animal testing so that we no longer have to inflict it upon animals (81% support this position versus only 19% who consider these experiments to be a necessity for human health). We note once again that women are the most critical of animal testing: 86% of them support the development of alternative methods while only 14% prioritise experiments for human health purposes.

When alternative methods exist, French people also want animal testing to be banned. 87% are in favour of this, of which 59% are even completely in favour. They also show great support (83%, of which 52% are completely in favour, up 12% versus 2003) for the implementation of an independent authority aiming to carry out checks that tests on animals are necessary and cannot be replaced with other methods.

In order to develop these alternative methods, they massively support a progressive transfer of public funds allocated for animal testing to scientific bodies who are developing research methods without animals (89% of French people are in favour, of which 54% are completely in favour).

In favour of alternative methods, French people support the authorisation of putting medication having been tested according to alternative methods to animal testing on the market (84% are in favour, of which 46% are completely favourable).

A call for transparency within animal testing

Almost 9 in 10 French people think that it is important that the consumer is informed on the existence of animal testing, when it took place, on products that they buy. 56% of them even consider this information to be very significant.

As well as this survey, One Voice is organising action to raise awareness throughout France and is publishing a very densely sourced report on the use of primates in laboratories, after their capture, breeding, and transport, and France’s major role in this international trade. A petition has also been made available
to the public to put a stop to this trade of long-tailed macaques, an endangered species that is particularly used in testing.

Download the graph results of the surveyDownload the results overview

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

One Voice is publishing a new report on primates in animal testing

One Voice is publishing a new report on primates in animal testing

One Voice is publishing a new report on primates in animal testing
18.04.2023
One Voice is publishing a new report on primates in animal testing
Animal testing

In around twenty pages of rigorously sourced information, One Voice is exposing the ordeal inflicted by animal testing on thousands of primates each year. And calling on France to move towards the end of testing on animals, starting with putting a stop to the use of long-tailed macaques.

3000. This is the number of long-tailed macaques to have been subjected to experiments in France in 2020. These primates are the most often used in animal testing and the only ones to also massively be victims of being captured in the wild. Since 2008, One Voice investigators have infiltrated numerous macaque breeding farms in Cambodia, where European laboratories place their “orders” for animals to test on. Individuals are trapped, held down on the ground, then shut into cages to “produce” offspring which will be subjected to all kinds of experiments on the other side of the world… Whether it be in Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam, or Mauritius, the reality is the same. And this happens even though long-tailed macaques were declared as a species in danger of extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2022.

Conspiratorial airline companies

After an initial period of being imprisoned in breeding farms, the monkeys are shoved into wooden boxes, piled up one on top of the other in plane holds. Despite a relentless campaign by One Voice against transportation by Air France, the airline company had for a long time been the only one of this calibre in Europe to continue with these horrific flights. It was only in 2022 that we could claim victory, with Air France announcing that they would stop transporting primates to laboratories from June 2023.

France at the centre of the industry

Meanwhile, primates continue to be unloaded in France. But our country is often just one step. Within the Silabe platform, an establishment linked with the University of Strasbourg, hundreds of animals were kept in quarantine before being sold to other countries in Europe.

Monkeys were then exposed to new sources of stress and suffering. In French laboratories as in foreign ones, researchers only tear them away from isolation to implant electrodes in their brains, carry out toxicity tests for medications for human use on them, or even use them to take their cells, their blood, and their tissues. After having suffered years of torture, the monkeys are killed, without ever having known anything other than the cynical reality of animal testing.

Advances attacked by testers

With the ban on importing new primates born to parents captured in the wild into the EU and the refusal from airline companies to transport monkeys to laboratories, 2022 set an enabling environment for putting a stop to testing on animals. But, even though these advances had already been difficult to pull off, the industry, very active with the media and political circles, remained opposed to any progress in favour of animals, and did not hesitate to ensure that regulations were not applied. Vigilance and action are still needed.

Backed by a new survey that shows a French public opinion that is more favourable than ever for an end to animal testing, which echoes the procurement of more than one million valid signatures from European citizens, One Voice is launching a week of action in favour of primates used in laboratories. And is calling on France to stop all uses of long-tailed macaques with a new petition.

Sign the petitionDownload the report : Animal testing and primates

Translated from the French by Joely Justice