News Archive - Page 5 of 128

Survey on French opinion on wolves

Survey on French opinion on wolves
28.11.2024
France
Survey on French opinion on wolves
Wildlife An Ipsos study for One Voice (November 2024)

On December 3, 2024, the day the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention votes on the European Commission’s proposal to lower protection for wolves throughout the Union (the species would thus lose its “strictly protected” status), One Voice is organizing an international unitary event with a number of its partners abroad and at home. This gathering is part of a coordinated national campaign to raise public awareness of these animals in a dozen towns and cities across metropolitan France. Indeed, there are many common preconceptions about wolves, and calls to poach them are now even commonplace among certain farming unions…

French people are not so worried about wolves, which they see as essential to French biodiversity…

A minority of French people are anxious about wolves. Only 32% fear their presence in France, and 8% say they are very worried. This figure is stable overall, depending on the respondent’s gender and area of residence.

Logically, the French respondents also significantly affirm that the presence of wolves in France does not represent a risk to themselves and their families (82%). Men are slightly more fearful of wolves (21% vs. 15% for women). This lack of fear can be explained by the fact that most French people are aware that wolves tend to avoid humans (80%).

Wolves are useful animals in the eyes of the French. They agree that these wild animals play an important role in the balance of the ecosystem (82%), and that they have a rightful place in France’s natural environment (86%). Convinced of the usefulness of wolves, the majority of French people (81%) consider that the return of wolves to France represents a real benefit for biodiversity.

Respondents are fiercely opposed to measures that would jeopardize the conservation of wolves in France…

The findings are clear: 83% of French people are against the total eradication of wolves in France. Only 6% are completely in favor. 83% are in favor of banning the shooting of species in a poor state of conservation, and 69% want to ban exemptions allowing lethal shooting of wolves.

On a national scale, 73% of those questioned consider it unacceptable for the French State to shoot animals from protected species such as wolves, simply because they may represent a risk to livestock farming.

On a European scale, 68% of French people do not want the status of wolves to be changed from “strictly protected” to “protected” by the European Union, as this would lead to a relaxation of regulations for culling them.

The majority of French people claim that wolves are not aggressive and that they prey on unprotected flocks

The majority of French people agree that wolves are not aggressive animals (56%). In the absence of effective protection of livestock herds by their breeders, 84% of French people deplore wolf attacks on unprotected flocks.

In order to protect the flocks as much as possible from wolf attacks, the French would like to see breeders take greater responsibility. They are largely in favor of farmers being more obliged to implement protection measures for their flocks (87%). In the same vein, 85% of French people want farmers to be compensated by public funds if, and only if, they implement measures to protect their herds (human presence, enclosures, dogs, etc.).

The survey was carried out by the Ipsos Institute from October 30 to November 4, 2024 among 1,000 people, constituting a representative national sample of the French population aged 18 to 75. The sample was surveyed online via the Ipsos Access Panel Online (Quota method: gender, age, profession of respondent, area of residence category, region).

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Nantes University : silence on the fate of baboons held in its labs

Nantes University : silence on the fate of baboons held in its labs
28.11.2024
Nantes
Nantes University : silence on the fate of baboons held in its labs
Animal testing

The battle against the Large Animal Laboratory (LGA) at the University of Nantes is far from over. It has taken a year of procedure to receive only part of the documents it is legally obliged to provide. Despite regular speeches advocating transparency in terms of animal testing, the Nantes university remains opaque as to the fate of the primates at the heart of its labs…

Nevertheless, the files we have obtained reveal the appalling fate of seven young baboons… One Voice remains mobilized to gather answers and put an end to this silence !

Photo credit: Cruelty Free International

Satiric, Sheila, Simio and the others arrived between September 2022 and April 2023 at the Large Animal Laboratory (LGA) at the University of Nantes. However, the establishment refuses to reveal what happens to them inside. All we know is that the LGA is renowned for specializing in experimental surgery, particularly in the field of organ transplantation… We can only imagine what they go through every day…

Young and already broken by experimentation

Subjected to grueling experiments from an early age, baboons endure forced feeding, respiratory arrest and other tests provoking extreme levels of distress. Young “Stabilotte” even vomits during experiments, while others panic and try to escape the testing machines in which their bodies are trapped. They are so desperate to escape that four-month-old Shade has already tried to escape through the drainpipes. It was only after the weekend that this attempt was discovered by the employees. Proof, if proof were needed, that animals are left to their fate for days on end.

At just 2 years of age, the animal the experimenters thought amusing to name Satiric is already showing worrying signs of physical deterioration. All of them, physically weakened by repeated experimentation, are suffering from rickets, limping or losing their hair to the point of baldness.

Help us find out what the University of Nantes is doing to them !

Despite all these alarming signs, and as if the ordeal they have already endured were not enough, the seven young baboons have been purchased by the University of Nantes to be subjected to further experiments…

Pending receipt of the additional documents we have requested in order to learn more about their fate at the Laboratoire des Grands Animaux in Nantes, we remain mobilized on their behalf.

If, like one in five French people, you are shocked by experiments on primates, join us : sign our petition for more ethical and transparent science. Together, let’s demand increased funding for alternative methods, and ultimately, an end to primate testing.

Illegal fishing in the Alpes-Maritimes region : One Voice defends injured birds in court

Illegal fishing in the Alpes-Maritimes region : One Voice defends injured birds in court
28.11.2024
Alpes-Maritimes
Illegal fishing in the Alpes-Maritimes region : One Voice defends injured birds in court
Wildlife

In Cagnes-sur-Mer, Saint-Laurent-du-Var and Villeneuve-Loubet in the Alpes-Maritimes region, birds are falling victim to fishermen. Every day, in environments where it is forbidden to attack fish, gulls, swans, flamingos and black-headed gulls are injured by abandoned nets and hooks, sometimes causing the death of these protected animals. On their behalf, we are filing a complaint against a person unknown with the Grasse legal tribunal.

On the Côte d’Azur coastline, biodiversity is theoretically kept safe in many areas, starting with the large birds who populate these lands. Some, such as gulls, swans, flamingos and black-headed gulls, are particularly vulnerable and protected by European and national legislation. Clearly visible signs indicate the rules to be respected. But fishermen don’t care. Whether in the protected areas of Saint-Laurent-du-Var and Cagnes-sur-Mer, or on the coastline of Villeneuve-Loubet, where their deadly pastime is forbidden, they never hesitate to take out their rods. Not content with being outside the law and taking fish’s lives, they also litter nature with waste. Nets, hooks… everything is left behind. And the birds pay a high price.

“Protected” areas turned into places of death

Every day, the gulls, swans, flamingos and black-headed gulls of the Alpes-Maritimes region struggle to feed themselves, due to the pressure exerted on their environment by fishermen. Every day, they are seen caught in nets that sever their legs, with lures stuck in their beaks or with hooks piercing their flesh, when they don’t swallow them… And all this with total indifference on the part of the fishermen, who don’t bother to rescue them, leaving them to struggle desperately in the meshes they have left adrift. Rescues are carried out without them. Veterinarians take care of animals in distress, sometimes in agony. The severity of their injuries means they cannot always be kept alive. Some succumb in excruciating pain, eaten away by infection or gangrene, or strangled by thread, like this young swan who didn’t have time to grow.

For all the fish and birds illegally killed by lovers of this cruel pastime, we are filing a complaint with the legal tribunal in Grasse and calling for the rules that are supposed to allow animals to live in peace to be respected.

Mandral case: five years later, the abusive breeder is brought to justice

Mandral case: five years later, the abusive breeder is brought to justice
26.11.2024
Mandral case: five years later, the abusive breeder is brought to justice
Domestic animals

After years of mobilization, investigations and legal proceedings, breeder-hunter Richard Mandral will finally face the judges. From the Dordogne to the Haute-Vienne region, our investigations have documented the horror he inflicted on his dogs for years. Today, we expect to see a fitting punishment meted out to the man who for too long has benefited from the complacency of the State and the justice system. Hearing on November 29, 2024 at 8:45 a.m. at the Limoges legal tribunal, where we will be as plaintiff.

In the Dordogne region: horror for dogs and carelessness on the part of State services

It was in 2019 that we first came across the dogs kept by Richard Mandral in the Dordogne region: tied up in chains or left to their own devices in muddy enclosures, locked in carcasses of vehicles or cages. At the time, over a hundred of them lay amidst bones, the weakest devoured by the others, starving, injured or sick. Despite an immediate complaint, the breeder-hunter received only a suspended fine for failing to reduce the size of his pack after a formal notice to limit it to 45 dogs.

Subsequently, the Dordogne authorities consistently refused to seize the dogs, despite their own findings as well as our images and the evidence gathered during the rescue of 16 of them. Faced with our numerous complaints and requests, until 2023, the authorities passed the buck, some considering that it was up to the legal tribunal to act, others believing that the situation of the dogs was the responsibility of the administration and therefore of the administrative court.

Richard Mandral, for his part, didn’t wait for everyone to come to an agreement: he had left the area a long time ago!

In the Haute-Vienne region, to flee and start again: for an exemplary sentence!

We tracked him down in October 2021 in the Haute-Vienne region and immediately alerted the authorities. With a new region, a new prefecture and a new court, the whole procedure had to start from scratch. It took two and a half years before the Haute-Vienne prefecture finally ordered a seizure. We worked hand in hand with them to find placement solutions for all the dogs mistreated by Richard Mandral.

On March 4, 2024, we were on the spot to get them out of there (nearly seventy). Thirty-five were entrusted to us and placed in partner shelters, while the others were taken in by various organizations. The frightening veterinary findings revealed a lack of care for all the dogs: dirty coats, scabs, alopecia, infestation by numerous parasites: fleas, ticks, ear mange, thinness, bloody diarrhea, sagging teats, loose, worn or broken teeth…

After getting them back on their feet, most of the dogs were adopted. They discover the warmth of a home, the softness of a sofa, the tenderness of kind-hearted humans, the joy of walks and full bowls. “Hunting” dogs are dogs just like the others. Sign our petition so they can finally enjoy the same protection.

To ensure that Richard Mandral never re-offends, we will be present at his trial on November 29, 2024 at 8:45 am at the Limoges legal tribunal. He will be on trial for “mistreatment of animals placed in his care by the operator of an establishment holding animals” and “continued operation of a classified installation subject to declaration not in compliance with a formal notice”. We are calling for a total ban on keeping animals against the man who has made them suffer for decades, and we are not forgetting the birds, rabbits, sheep and goats who remained at his home after the seizure, which only concerned dogs.

Emergency: 500 chamois in the Doubs region to be slaughtered

Emergency: 500 chamois in the Doubs region to be slaughtered
21.11.2024
Doubs
Emergency: 500 chamois in the Doubs region to be slaughtered
Wildlife

500 chamois are targeted by the Doubs Wildlife Management Commission in the hunting plan for the 2024/2025 season. Not only does this decision call into question the harmony of the region’s wildlife, where they are emblematic, but according to our partner ASPAS, it is also based solely on alleged motives and accusations of forest destruction, as well as the absence of predators.

A declining population wrongly accused

These peaceful, self-regulating animals are once again the target of hunters in the Doubs region who wish to kill them en masse this year. To justify this measure, which is a disgrace to animal rights and biodiversity, the region’s wildlife management commission claims that they are “destroying forests”.

And yet, thanks to their seasonally-adapted diet, they guarantee the healthy renewal of the trees. Yet they are perpetually accused of “harming” forest development, in order to justify the mass killing they have been subjected to for several years. Indeed, over the last decade, the “destruction” of chamois in the Doubs region has risen from an average of 300 animals killed in 2014 to 550 in 2023.

And the massacres continue at a time when the chamois population in the Doubs is becoming increasingly fragile. Numbers in the region have fallen from 1396 individuals in 2023 to just 1140 in 2024. That’s a loss of more than 200 animals in less than a year, and yet hunters continue to go after them.

A hypocritical justification

Finally, this cruel decision could not be more hypocritical, as it attempts to justify itself by the absence of large carnivores, even though another hunt is being organized simultaneously in the Doubs region, that of wolves, with the multiplication of prefectoral decrees handing out simple defense shooting authorizations like crazy. As for the chamois’ other potential predator, lynxes, they too are regularly the victims of road collisions and poaching. And, as is currently the case with wolves, the Doubs gunmen also wish to “review their status”… How ironic! They decimate chamois under the guise of the absence of predators, whose slaughter they constantly call for. And yet, even the OFB affirms it: the natural growth rate of their populations is in the order of 10-15% per year in the Doubs ecosystems, and lynxes can “regulate” around 10% of existing ungulate populations. This confirms that chamois hunting plans are drawn up without taking into account the presence of wolves and lynxes, guardians of the ecological balance, which is a scientific error in terms of so-called forest protection.

The decision to cull 500 of the Doubs’ characteristic ungulates makes no sense, since the forests would be much better off if chamois, wolves and lynxes were able to regulate themselves peacefully and efficiently, without the intervention of hunters. To oppose this, sign the petition.

L214 and One Voice take legal action against La Peyratte’s pheasant and partridge farm for hunting

L214 and One Voice take legal action against La Peyratte’s pheasant and partridge farm for hunting
21.11.2024
Deux-Sèvres
L214 and One Voice take legal action against La Peyratte’s pheasant and partridge farm for hunting
Wildlife

Two and a half years ago, at La Peyratte, our association investigated a pheasant and partridge farm destined to be slaughtered by hunters and, with our partner, challenged the authorization for expansion given by the prefecture. On Tuesday November 26, 2024, at 10:30 a.m., we will be at the Poitiers administrative court to defend the birds who have fallen victim to this exploitation and to demand the annulment of the text.

During the spring and summer of 2022, we discovered the terrible conditions in which birds were kept, bred for the sole purpose of being shot. At La Peyratte, pheasants and partridges are locked up in tiny cages from which they desperately try to escape, only managing to injure their legs on the wire-mesh floors. Their suffering is compounded by an ecological problem: the discharge of their faeces into the water of an already fragile wetland ecosystem. Not content with these violent attacks on animals and nature, the establishment has chosen to expand in order to exploit not 37,000 but 95,200 birds. Hand in hand with L214, we immediately demanded the cancellation of the prefectoral decree that was granted to validate this shameful project, even though breeding had already taken place there illegally.

« Regulation », a shameless lie

No initial request for expansion, no study prior to construction to assess the impact on the environment… As usual, hunters and breeders are in cahoots and believe themselves to be the masters of the world. Anything goes when it comes to satisfying their deadly hobby, for which they continue to fight tooth and nail in the name of the so-called need to « regulate » species. What hypocrisy! Their arguments are all the more inaudible as they « produce » themselves in battery cages living targets unable to flee in order to better kill them.

On November 26, 2024, at 10:30 a.m., we’ll be taking the voice of the pheasants and partridges of La Peyratte to the administrative court in Poitiers to demand the cancellation of the decree allowing the expansion of their farm.

Sign our petition calling for a radical reform of hunting, with ten simple and urgent key measures.

Marineland has applied to the French Ministry of Ecology for a permit to export the orcas Wikie and Keijo, One Voice rises up and recalls the law

Marineland has applied to the French Ministry of Ecology for a permit to export the orcas Wikie and Keijo, One Voice rises up and recalls the law
23.11.2024
Antibes
Marineland has applied to the French Ministry of Ecology for a permit to export the orcas Wikie and Keijo, One Voice rises up and recalls the law
Exploitation for shows

We were informed by our partners at Tilikum’s Spirit at the weekend: Marineland has applied to the French Ministry of Ecology for a permit to export the orcas Wikie and Keijo to a park in Japan, with which – and this has been confirmed by the IGEDD report – Marineland has a contract. One Voice has written to the Ministry to remind them of the existence of an enforceable court order, as well as a pending appeal… obviously! Our team at One Voice remains extremely vigilant and attentive, and is deploying all possible means of action.

According to our information, to comply with this contract, the dolphinarium refuses to lose any more money by keeping these orcas, and has therefore decided to take action. We therefore immediately wrote to the Ministry of Ecology to inform the new arrivals in these key positions (the instability of the government over the last few years clearly hasn’t helped in this matter) that a court ruling (from the Grasse court) prevented any relocation of the orcas.

And even though Marineland has appealed this decision, what the judge of the Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal will say is not yet determined. We’ll have to wait until December 5 to find out. It’s a safe bet that he won’t appreciate Marineland initiating action.

Marineland’s insistence and repeated lies prove that it wants to get rid of the animals as quickly as possible.

Especially since this is not the dolphinarium’s first attempt. It was mentioned at the hearing on October 29, 2024 that the Antibes facility had considered violating the court ruling a year ago… And in a dark irony, at the same time as their lawyer was trying to convince the judge of her good faith, sea lions and seals from the Côte d’Azur basins were sent abroad, as well as in the days that followed, on November 6 and 8.

Since the law does not oblige parks to part with animals, this was a deliberate choice on Marineland’s part!

We also reminded the Ministry that the law passed in 2021 did not oblige dolphinariums to part with cetaceans if they were carrying out scientific programs on these animals, which was already the case in all of them. This is one of the things we’ve deplored from the outset. But it is also proof that Marineland and Parques Reunidos, which runs it, have no thought whatsoever for the well-being of Wikie and Keijo, but reason solely in economic terms.

As the health assessment for Wikie and Keijo has not yet been completed, how can they be moved?

In principle, the government has a free rein to refuse to send them to this Japanese amusement park/hotel, since the experts appointed by the court have not been able to assess the state of health of the Antibes cetaceans. And in any case, the court rulings obtained by our association prevent any departure to any destination whatsoever before the said assessment has been completed.

One Voice and its partners are extremely concerned for the animals. Under Japanese law, there is no protection for dolphins and orcas. At the park Marineland chose for Wikie and Keijo, day after day, Ran is losing her mind… and her health. And at Loro Parque (Tenerife, Spain), where the IGEDD report saw another fallback solution of the worst kind, the tanks are tiny and Keto has just died in them… Yet another victim of an industry which, while it exploits them, crushes individuals as if they were mere carcasses fit for the scrap heap.

One Voice files a complaint for Koukou, a horse who died following an administrative beat hunt

One Voice files a complaint for Koukou, a horse who died following an administrative beat hunt
19.11.2024
Yvelines
One Voice files a complaint for Koukou, a horse who died following an administrative beat hunt
Hunting

On the night of November 5 to 6, a lieutenant of louveterie and pests carried out an administrative wild boar beat hunt just a stone’s throw from the Maisons-Laffitte racehorse training center. Close to the houses, the shots frightened the residents, but not only… The next day, the horse Koukou was found dead, leaving Quenelle, the mare in his company, traumatized. We are lodging a complaint and calling for the suspension of the prefectoral decree which led to this tragedy.

It was past 11pm when violent detonations were heard outside the home of a resident of Maison-Laffitte, in the Yvelines region. The woman – source of our partner Futur Asso, who informed us of the events – rushed outside in the dark to try and understand what was happening. Not far away, she clearly heard Koukou and Quenelle, her two horses, restless in their paddock, suffering from the same anguish. That’s when she spotted figures brandishing flashlights in the shadows, obviously on the lookout for something. They then climbed into a vehicle, not caring that the area was reserved for pedestrians, bicycles and horse riders. When they reached her, they got out. One of them was wearing a uniform indicating that he belonged to the “hunting police”. A sign of authority that should reassure, and yet… Torn between fear and anger, the whistle-blower called out to the lieutenant of louveterie and pests and those accompanying him. But all she received in response to her legitimate arguments and concerns about the use of weapons in the middle of the night, just a few yards from homes and a racecourse, was a contemptuous reply: “I do what I want, I have authorization from the prefecture”. Shocked, the local resident could only receive confirmation from the municipal police that the operation was indeed authorized, and that it was “surprising” that she had not been informed…

A dead horse, a traumatized mare

The next morning, when she went to feed her two companions, she was horrified to discover Koukou’s lifeless body. At 26 years old, Koukou led a peaceful existence in a meadow, enjoying excellent health. Just the day before, he was in great shape… until the lieutenant of louveterie and pests arrived. Upset by his sudden death, the woman didn’t have the courage to face the additional ordeal of requesting an autopsy. Yet all the evidence suggests that it was the intense stress of the night that killed him!

This shock did not spare Quenelle, who was at his side when he died, struck down. Since then, the mare has started showing signs of piroplasmosis. According to the vet, the disease, which she had probably been carrying for years, may have been reawakened by the stress caused by the event.

When the guns are out, no one is safe

This isn’t the first time a horse has died at the hands of armed men. In December 2023, Memphis was shot and killed, adding his name to the long list of collateral victims of this hobby whose enthusiasts don’t give a damn. To the blood they spill, the terror they impose, the suffering they inflict, they add denial, threats and arrogance.

In support of Koukou’s family, we are lodging a complaint and writing to the prefecture to ask it not to renew the mandate of the lieutenant of louveterie and pests involved in this administrative beat hunt, which is fatal for the wild boars targeted and dangerous for all humans and domestic animals in the vicinity. Sign our petition for a radical reform of hunting to put an end to these tragedies!

Justice reopens the trap of traditional hunting: banned a few months ago, the capture of larks is now authorized “for scientific purposes”

Justice reopens the trap of traditional hunting: banned a few months ago, the capture of larks is now authorized “for scientific purposes”
18.11.2024
Justice reopens the trap of traditional hunting: banned a few months ago, the capture of larks is now authorized “for scientific purposes”
Wildlife

On November 13, 2024, the Pau administrative court rejected our request to suspend the prefectoral orders authorizing the capture of skylarks using « pantes » (nets) and « matoles » (cages) in the Landes and Pyrénées-Atlantiques regions. This decision marks an alarming backward step in the protection of birds, leaving the field open to practices that were thought to be a thing of the past. However, our request has reduced the number of birds who can be killed: 4 out of 5 larks offered to hunters have been saved. We will continue to challenge these decrees!

Justice authorizes hunting with pantes and matoles « for scientific purposes »

Despite the Council of State’s ban on these methods last May, the prefects of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques and Landes regions have, as last year, authorized the capture of skylarks using pantes and matoles until November 15, under the pretext of « scientific purposes », under pressure from hunting lobbies. Clearly, these « experiments » are just a pretext for discreetly reintroducing them. The aim is clear: to give the impression that these methods are legitimate, in order to revive their use on the basis of alleged scientific validity. And curiously enough, it’s the hunters themselves who are responsible…

Our hopes were pinned on justice: by taking our case to court, we hoped to put an end to this aberration. But the judge refused to suspend the decrees, citing a lack of urgency.

As a result, hunter-trappers will be able to continue their cruel pastime: they capture a skylark, tie them up with rope and lock them in a cage. Hiding nearby, they pull on the rope, causing the bird to cry out in pain. Attracted by their cries of distress, several dozen other skylarks – as well as other birds – rush to help. But just then, the trap snaps shut: nets snap sharply from either side, trapping all the gathered birds. Some are injured, others die.

A success in spite of everything: catch quotas reduced

Nevertheless, between the filing of our request and the hearing, we managed to get the Landes Prefect to sign two decrees reducing the skylark catch quotas. Initially set at 18,000 captures, the quotas were finally reduced to 3,200 birds eligible for trapping. This last-minute U-turn reveals the fragility of the initial justifications and the difficulty of defending the indefensible. Our action forced the State to justify itself, to abandon similar decrees in other regions, and above all to drastically reduce the number of birds that could be trapped by means of a new decree.

The fight goes on

This decision in no way signals the end of the fight. We will continue to fight to abolish these archaic practices, backed by the 83% of French people who are calling for a ban on these methods, which are a relic of the past (Ipsos/One Voice 2022 poll).

Your support is essential: sign our petition for an in-depth reform of hunting and to prevent the reinstatement of these particularly cruel methods!

Complaint on behalf of mistreated horses: One Voice defends Casimir and Gazelle in court

Complaint on behalf of mistreated horses: One Voice defends Casimir and Gazelle in court
14.11.2024
Manche
Complaint on behalf of mistreated horses: One Voice defends Casimir and Gazelle in court
Domestic animals

In September 2023, the manager of an equestrian center in the Manche region was filmed violently beating two horses. For Casimir and Gazelle, we filed a complaint as soon as we became aware of these unbelievably brutal acts, asking that they be confiscated from their torturer and entrusted to us, and that he be banned from practicing. On November 19, at 8:30 am, we will represent them as plaintiff at the Coutances legal tribunal.

In September 2023, Casimir and Gazelle were subjected to a veritable relentless assault at a Normandy riding school. While they were tied to a wall to be trimmed, the manager of the center attacked them, hitting the former on the head with a farrier’s rasp and raining pincers down on the latter’s rump. The two animals, completely distraught, tried to flee their torturer, desperately pulling on the rope by which they were held, to no avail. Like Happy before them, they had no way of escaping this outburst of violence. The video of the event did not go unnoticed. Following its publication on social networks, the gendarmerie opened an investigation.

Training as a pretext for the worst kind of violence

As for the person responsible for these acts, he claims that all he did was to “pull back into line” uncooperative, even dangerous horses, to avoid any risk of accident. In the media, it’s the same old story: his brother tells us that “you can’t train a horse (or any other animal) without being firm sometimes”. It’s a speech reminiscent of the justifications given by the pony club manager who hit Happy. Maltreatment under the guise of education, then. And people for whom it’s obviously easier to brutalize and traumatize the equines in their care than to try and understand the reasons for their malaise.

Casimir and Gazelle must be kept safe

It is unthinkable that someone capable of beating animals up, and finding it perfectly natural, should continue to work with them. To protect Casimir and Gazelle, we have filed a complaint against the stable manager who mistreated them, and demand that they be taken to safety. We are also demanding that the defendant no longer be allowed to work with animals.

On November 19, at 8:30 am, we will be at the Coutances legal tribunal as plaintiff. For Casimir, Gazelle and all the other horses and ponies, sign our petition to obtain pet status.