News Archive - Page 49 of 153

Arche de Noël: puppies sacrificed so as to not spend money

Arche de Noël: puppies sacrificed so as to not spend money
18.11.2023
Hérault
Arche de Noël: puppies sacrificed so as to not spend money
Domestic animals

During our infiltration investigation at Arche de Noël from October 2022 to February 2023, we discovered that an epidemic of parvovirus had struck over several months within the organisation and had already killed several puppies. Worse still, instead of closing the establishment temporarily to eradicate the disease, adoptions continued and some dogs even died at their adopters’ homes. Our complaint to get this breeding farm closed obviously deals with this unexpected angle. We need your help to evacuate the animals.

Undeclared breeding, illegal commercial practices, and also appalling health conditions: nothing frightens the boss of this factory.

A deadly and extremely contagious canine disease

Parvovirus is a serious viral illness that affects dogs, leading to vomiting and bloody diarrhoea. As this disease is extremely contagious, animals must be isolated, their spaces must be meticulously disinfected, and strict quarantine measures must be put in place. However, the recurrent presence of rats within the organisation clearly shows its unsanitary environmental state.

Death confirmed within and outside the breeding farm

Since our first visit in October 2022, we learnt that an epidemic of parvovirus had broken out and had already killed 6 Australian shepherd puppies. The presence of the disease was again confirmed to us a few days later, in November, by another volunteer. However, within this fake rescue centre, our investigation revealed that no hygiene measures had been implemented. Unsurprising when we know that some of the care, such as removing stitches, is practised directly on site by the person in charge, with no regard for the most basic standards: disinfecting wounds with sterile material, done by a veterinarian.

At the beginning of January 2023, we were able to speak with a couple of adopters. What an (awful) surprise to learn that they were coming to get a little dog, after the one they had from here just two months before died at their home from parvovirus scarcely forty-eight hours after getting it. As a good trader, Azzopardi therefore obviously offered for them to come and get another puppy to replace the first one.

At the start of February 2023, a sibling placed with a foster family had to be euthanised because it was dying from parvovirus. The irony? According to the boss, the aim of placing it outside of the breeding farm was to protect the puppies from the epidemic. Which means that it was already carrying it when they left the premises and that the disease broke at the family’s home, who had to have it euthanised to put an end to its ordeal. Instead of then closing the establishment to proceed with disinfection and putting an end to this epizootic disease once and for all, the person in charge preferred to spread the animals out away from his premises, posing a serious health risk to the community!

Not wishing to spend money on living beings he considers as goods, he chooses to let them suffer for days until they die, rather than taking them to a veterinarian to provide them with care or to cut their suffering short.

One Voice has filed a complaint against the owner in order to put an end to this massacre.

To find out more about Arche de Noël

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

Arche de Noël: Aria killed because the boss didn’t want to help her

Arche de Noël: Aria killed because the boss didn’t want to help her
18.11.2023
Hérault
Arche de Noël: Aria killed because the boss didn’t want to help her
Domestic animals

During our investigation between October 2022 and February 2023, amongst the many dogs being kept at Arche de Noël, our investigators were struck by Aria. This female American Staffordshire Terrier was not getting along with the other dogs. However, she was enclosed with them, putting all of them in danger. Refusing to contact a behaviourist or trainer – he could not spend money on helping an animal! – the boss finally got rid of her. We have filed a complaint so that the animals can be rescued and this organisation will be closed definitively.

Our investigators met Aria as soon as they arrived at Arche de Noël at the end of October 2022. At the moment that they got them out of the kennel to take them for a walk – the only moment of freedom that some of the animals here experience, less than ten minutes per day, when they are lucky enough to be chosen – they immediately showed their hand. “She is stupid around other dogs”.

Shut up as they are all the time with no enrichment or toys, no affection, piled up on top of each other, is it surprising that the dogs end up developing behavioural issues? This ‘rescue centre’ is usually limited to 49 adult dogs, yet we counted up to 78 of them!

Dangerous overpopulation for the animals

Everyone knew that Aria did not get along with the other dogs and yet nothing was implemented to help her. They continued to enclose her with the others, and she continued to fight. As if this situation was not dramatic enough, she was also a victim of violence from the boss. When she was finally isolated from her companions, in reality she was shut up in a storage kennel, among crates and all kinds of other objects.

On several occasions and without those responsible reacting to the seriousness of the situation, Aria attacked other dogs and she was placed in solitary confinement as a punishment – even though this is what she needed for her well-being, and what was necessary to ensure the safety of the other dogs.

Slaughtered because no one wanted to help her

Then one morning, when arriving at the site, Aria was unaccounted for. She was no longer in her kennel. We learnt that she has been ‘euthanised’ out of pure convenience, after having been beaten and isolated for weeks. A behaviourist or trainer had never been contacted to come and help her and alleviate her unease. For the manager, she was nothing but a financial money pit, a dog you could not do anything for. What good would it do to spend money on helping her? Aria did not present a danger to humans and even sought out their affection. Her only ‘wrongdoing’: being apprehensive of her canine companions. But how can she be blamed for having expressed her distress in the only way that she had been taught to – violence?

In a situation of generalised abuse, where dogs are exploited for breeding and birds are enclosed for the personal pleasure of the boss in catastrophic health conditions, there is no time to lose or money to be wasted for those who need help.

One Voice is filing a complaint against the owner in order to put an end to these animals’ ordeals. Sign our petition to ask for the closure of this breeding farm.

To find out more about Arche de Noël

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

The State’s lack of action to stop feline straying: One Voice is going to court

The State’s lack of action to stop feline straying: One Voice is going to court
15.11.2023
France
The State’s lack of action to stop feline straying: One Voice is going to court
Domestic animals

On 30 November 2021, a new law was created to fight against animal mistreatment in France. However, almost two years later, its aims are clearly not being met. Pet animals, among others, are not to be outdone: the sale of cats and dogs in pet shops will be banned from 1 January 2024, but puppy shows are still allowed, and commitment certificates continue to go nowhere. When it comes to stray cats… they can be left dying for even longer, while the Ministry of Agriculture couldn’t care less.

While the requirement to neuter stray cats that have been taken in by communities was initially planned for, it has been quashed under pressure from local councillors. Instead of this, there are campaigns led on an experimental basis by the State in cooperation with mayors and presidents of local volunteer communities. An initial step all the same… yes, but…!

Even writing a report seems to prove too complicated for the State…

To begin this experiment, the government must hand a report providing a detailed assessment on the issue of feline straying to Parliament, estimating the cost of capturing and neutering as well as financial methods, all while presenting recommendations to respond to this problem. All of this is to be done no later than six months after the enactment of the law… so by 1 June at the latest. We have written to the Ministry of Agriculture several times, who have not deigned to respond to us, thus showing their disdain for the suffering of stray cats. One year later, last June, the government announced that the work was underway. If the Ministry does not want to face up to their responsibilities, we will force them to before the courts. Now that the deadline has passed by a year and a half, we have today filed a plea before the Paris Administrative Tribunal so that it can order the government to hand over this document.

A life of misery

While waiting, stray cats continue to breed and to suffer. When they are not under the protection of a volunteer, they fight daily to find something to eat and lay dying for days when they are ill or injured. Instead of helping them, many towns do all they can to get them to disappear in a heartless way: they ban feeding them, they destroy their shelters, but above all they will not pay a penny to get them neutered and take this weight off their shoulders. When they are finally captured, it is not to be cared for and loved: they are sent to a pound, where they are left to die. After the legal limit for keeping them there has passed, they are quite simply slaughtered. The arrival of the Olympic Games this summer does not bode well, since sporting events often generate large-scale eradication campaigns.

To put an end to this infuriating cycle of suffering and mass slaughter, there is one solution: obligatory neutering, as is already the case in neighbouring Belgium and Spain. Ask for an urgent national plan for stray cats with us: sign our petition.

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

Against all odds for Samba, the last ‘circus’ elephant, whose suffering has broken the State’s indifference

Against all odds for Samba, the last ‘circus’ elephant, whose suffering has broken the State’s indifference
14.11.2023
France
Against all odds for Samba, the last ‘circus’ elephant, whose suffering has broken the State’s indifference
Exploitation for shows

While the Cirque d’Europe circus reappeared for the second time in November 2023, after almost 6 months with no news of Samba, we are worried about the government’s shift regarding the law against mistreatment – already lacking – which has been confirmed again and again. According to a leaflet boasting of the merits of the show combining the exploitation and training of endangered wild animals, a note to towns requires them to accept circuses with animals despite the imminent implementation of the 2021 law (which should ban them from moving around) and implies that any checks would only aim to prove the absence of suffering… A practical exercise in Épinay-sur-Orge.

In July, the publication of our latest investigation footage, along with the announcement of our complaint to which testimonies from veterinarians specialising in elephants were attached, sparked things off… Or rather, Max Aucante, Samba’s trainer, had done a runner, before the planned performances had even started.

Since then, we feared that the last circus elephant in France would be sent abroad, like Dumba, then Kamala, and around the same time Bambi and Rosa as well as Nelly and Brigit, and finally Baby… with authorities helping or turning a blind eye. Samba’s ordeal would have continued, and we would then no longer have had any legal leverage to offer her a better life.

Authorities are waiting for a ‘thank you’ from Samba and those who defend her…

Also, when the Cirque d’Europe circus was brought to our attention in Morangis, a suburban town next to Orly Airport, we didn’t think twice: we went there to confirm their presence and filmed them… prey to stereotyping. Since then, we had a bit more hope, but there wasn’t enough time for a check of any kind to take place.

Capturée, battue, dressée, exploitée… Nous avons retrouvé Samba, entre piste et camion, à deux pas d’un aéroport… ce qui n’a rien de rassurant. Que va devenir la dernière éléphante de cirque que nous défendons depuis plus de 20 ans? #UnSanctuairePourSamba #CirquesSansAnimaux pic.twitter.com/24RsiI5p9B

— One Voice (@onevoiceanimal) November 2, 2023

Yesterday, a supporter let us know of their presence in Épinay-sur-Orge, still in the Paris region. And there, once again, the pitfalls are piling up. The town published a press release stating that a veterinarian would be there “so that the animals’ suffering would be reduced”. The initial reaction was to celebrate, but why would we still let ourselves be fooled like this?

…or a “tide”?

A memorandum from the Ministry of the Ecological Transition, which we knew about and dated back to mid-October 2023, “relating to the checking procedure for travelling establishments keeping animals from a non-domestic species with a view to showing them to the public” specifically aims to put pressure on communities who refuse the presence of a circus with animals in their town.

The wording of this document and the accompanying email are totally biased. There was already a previous one a few years ago, between the ministerial measures and the law against animal mistreatment being drawn up.

This update is harmful: it presumes that the checks that it plans to carry out “will guarantee the absence of animal mistreatment”! In travelling establishments, this is specifically targeted.

An overwhelming step back after the passing of the weak 2021 law

Nothing surprises us any more when this so-called ‘Ecological’ Ministry, who has still neither written nor published any kind of implementing decree, even though the implementation of the law was supposed to take place on its second anniversary at the end of the month. Neither for the animals kept in lorry-cages nor for the rest of them either (feline straying, dolphinariums, etc.). It is no longer about resistance: we went past this stage a long time ago.

The captive animal portfolio, from their exploitation to their disappearance in the wild

The rare progress made in 2020-2021 has been reduced to nothing. Circus performers’ proficiency certifications are now the same as those for zoos, and the regulations of those is about to be reviewed at a cut-rate. We are going to go to the State Council to fight against this dumbing down.

Worse, a leaflet glorifying the circus, written, created, and published by them, is being distributed by prefectures.

We will never stop calling out State ministers and junior ministers who follow each other’s lead: there has only been a guilty silence in response to our letters… But for Samba and all the others, after more than twenty years of persistent fighting, nothing will stop us.

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

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