News Archive - Page 52 of 144

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 Keeping wild animals in minuscule cages for a fashion item is barbaric, outdated, and unnecessary.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
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
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
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
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
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 survey Download 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
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 petition Download the report : Animal testing and primates

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

Meeting at the European Commission on the Save Cruelty-Free Cosmetics ECI

Meeting at the European Commission on the Save Cruelty-Free Cosmetics ECI
18.04.2023
Meeting at the European Commission on the Save Cruelty-Free Cosmetics ECI
Animal testing

As members of the organising committee for the Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI), we participated, on 17 March 2023, in the meeting of members of the European Commission in Brussels. The purpose? To officially hand over the 1.2 million valid signatures, proving the massive interest of European people in animals that are victims of animal testing, and to present requests from animal advocates.

Picture copyrights : European Union, 2023

This is the first step of the ECI process after the collection and verification of the authenticity of European citizens’ signatures at the European Commission.

Spokespeople from European animal defence organisations at the helm of this ECI, Cruelty Free Europe and the ECEAE (two coalitions that One Voice is a member of), HSI Europe, Peta UK, and Eurogroup for Animals have therefore presented the three main areas of requests from our side to five senior officials and their teams. Thierry Breton, European Commissioner in charge in particular of the domestic market, and Vera Jourová, Vice-President of the European Commission and in charge of respect for the values of the European Union and transparency, as well as the general directors in charge of Research and innovation, the domestic market and the industry, and the Environment, listened very attentively to our statement and asked questions. The audience of commissioners and directors seemed to be very attentive to our presentation.

The first focus: the protection of the ban on testing cosmetics on animals

The three pillars that were the subject of a specific development were cosmetics testing, our wish to protect the European directive obtained after a long battle, and banning testing these products on animals once and for all.

The second objective: asserting laboratory animals’ voices by revising the law on chemical products

The second pillar was a warning on testing chemical products. In fact, the European Green Deal 2.0 could have the major adverse effect of increasing testing and thus creating an immediate and drastic increase in the number of animals used. The revision of the regulation relating to classification, labelling, and packaging (CLP) modifies the directive in relation to dangerous substances (67/548/CEE (DSD)), the one relating to dangerous preparations, (1999/45/CE (DPD)), and the (CE) nº 1907/2006 (REACH) regulation. Yet, as defenders of nature and
animals, we support this Green Deal against chemical industries and their pollutant products, while insisting on a reduction in the number of animals tested upon. We therefore think that a third way is possible between these two positions (environmental or industrial associations).

In fact, we are calling on our partners who defend nature not to forget the animals that are already out of sight in laboratories. We have pleaded with the Commission for any new test required to be done so with non-animal methods, (a little like the American law that has just been voted in) in order to respect the spirit of the European Directive, in particular with regard to the 3Rs, calling to reduce their number in European laboratories. While, since the enactment of this directive, the figures have stagnated dismally, they will surely increase!

The third point raised: progressively leaving animal testing behind with real steps

We showed the members of the European Commission who were present that a winning societal perspective on three levels can be achieved: a winning solution for animals themselves (and this is the point of our ECI), where the reliability of science (and therefore health) can be envisaged, and where the industry would also win due to the development of new methods and therefore a new market. For this, deadlines and goals must be set to be achieved in steps because, in this respect, good intentions are no longer enough.

At present, the Commission is analysing our initiative. They have until 25 July 2023 to give their official response. Between now and then, a hearing has been set at the European Parliament for which the date has not yet been set.

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

One Voice is rallying throughout France around World Day for Animals in Laboratories!

One Voice is rallying throughout France around World Day for Animals in Laboratories!
18.04.2023
One Voice is rallying throughout France around World Day for Animals in Laboratories!
Animal testing

For the occasion of World Day for Animals in Laboratories on 24 April 2023, One Voice is organising an event of national importance in more than twenty towns in France to warn about animal testing in our country and its ramifications within the European Union and on a global level. At the same time, action is also being led on social networks. The association is accompanying the rallies by local activist branches with the publication of a report on primates that are victims of testing, and an unpublished Ipsos survey showing that the large majority of French people are ready to leave this kind of thing behind.

Each year, 24 April is an opportunity to raise public awareness on the fate of animals in laboratories throughout the world.

This year, we have decided to focus our attention and that of the French public on primates, captured in the wild, bred, and then transported in aeroplane holds in often disgraceful conditions to France, where they are used in experiments, then re-sent to another corner of the European Union. This time, we are therefore publishing a well-sourced report on the subject, and we are putting forward a petition calling for an end to this situation for macaques.

At a time when the association and its European partners have just handed over more than a million signatures at the European Commission asking for the European Directive banning cosmetics tests on animals to be reinforced, we are publishing an Ipsos survey. This shows to what extent the vast majority of our fellow citizens are calling for an end to animal testing and voting for the development and use of non-animal methods, as well as greater transparency.

Action will be taking place in Amiens (80), Angers (49), Annemasse (74), Bayonne (64), Bordeaux (33), Caylus (82), Chorges (05), Falaise (61), Gannat (03) where a demonstration will take place, La Rochelle (17), Langres (52) (where two actions will take place), Lille (59), Lyon (69), Montpellier (34), Nantes (44), Nice (06), Paris (75), Strasbourg (67) (an event for which we are not the organiser but which we are joining), and Troyes (10). Some branches will offer dramatizations with laboratory technicians and animals. Our partners in Toronto are themselves organising action in Canada in around fifteen towns.

Please check the national event or each local event
before going there to ensure that no changes have been made.

03	Gannat (21 and 22/04)	15 avenue des Portes Occitanes	from 21/04, 10am to 22/04, 4:30pm
05	Chorges (23/04)	Rue Grande	10am to 3pm
05	Briançon (23/04)	Cité Vauban	9am to
06	Nice (22/04)	Place Masséna	2pm to 4pm
10	Troyes (29/04)	71, rue Emile Zola	3pm to 5:30pm
17	La Rochelle (22/04)	Place de l’Hôtel de ville	2pm to 5pm
33	Bordeaux (23/04)	Place de la Comédie	2pm to 5pm
34	Montpellier (29/04)	Place de la Comédie	10:30am to 1pm
44	Nantes (22/04)	Place Royale	3pm to 5pm
49	Angers (29/04)	Rue Lenepveu	2:30pm to 5:30pm
52	Langres (28/04)	Langres Market	9am to 5pm
52	Langres (24/04)	Langres Market	8am to 7pm
59	Lille (29/04)	Place Richebé	2pm to 4pm
61	Falaise (22/04)	Address to be confirmed	9am to 11am
64	Bayonne (22/04)	Carreau des Halles	3pm to 5pm
67	Strasbourg (22/04)	Organisation: 269 Life, Infoseite Black Forest for Animals e.V, Pro Anima	1:30pm to 4:30pm
69	Lyon (29/04)	Place Saint Jean	1:30pm to 4pm
74	Annemasse (02/09)	postponed
75	Paris (22/04)	Place de l’Hôtel de ville	2:30pm to 4pm
80	Amiens (22/04)	Place René Goblet	2pm to 4pm
82	Caylus (29/04)	10 Avenue du Père Evariste Huc	10am to 12pm

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

Mani, the victim of a trap, almost lost a leg. One Voice is filing a complaint

Mani, the victim of a trap, almost lost a leg. One Voice is filing a complaint
17.04.2023
Mani, the victim of a trap, almost lost a leg. One Voice is filing a complaint
Domestic animals

At the beginning of February, Mani was found dying, a snare failing to sever his leg. Even though they are permitted by law, these traps nonetheless cause their targets to suffer. Each year, thousands of animals are trapped simply because they would cause damage to human activities. Mani was its collateral victim.

Mani’s story

On 12 February, upon returning home, a couple glimpsed a listless cat in their garage. Upon approaching him in amazement, they realised that the back right leg of the animal was trapped in a snare. Acting as a tourniquet, the foot was extremely swollen. Taken in by the Pattes Pas Trouille Association and taken to the vets, they guessed that this cat, given the name Mani, had spent at least three days with the trap around his leg! They also noted a wound due to severe constriction, oedema, venous stasis (when the blood does not circulate correctly in the vein), and even gangrenous lesions. At that point, the worst was to be feared and amputation would be considered.

A question remains hanging in the air… How could Mani have freed himself? Could he himself have broken the metal wire by struggling, completely terrified? These traps have been designed to immobilise foxes or even badgers, which is unlikely… Did the trapper prefer to cut their equipment, not wishing to bother helping a suffering animal?

A case that is unfortunately not isolated

Although Mani had the chance to find help and to be cared for, this is not the case for thousands of wild animals who die each year following entrapment. Killers or not, these traps are completely legal. They are used to kill species likely to cause damage, animals accused of committing alleged damage to human interests, while they are simply trying to survive in the wild, which has been degraded by humans.

Depending on the model, these traps snap the neck, clamp a limb, or imprison the victim in a box. While animals do not die at the time, they will be slaughtered by the trapper after long hours of waiting and of terror. As well as making animals unfairly considered as ‘pests’ suffer, these torture instruments are not selective and there are many collateral victims. Last month, a wolf (belonging to a protected species) was found dead, crushed in a fox snare. A few weeks ago, Cooper, a border collie, was caught in a leghold trap which are in fact banned.

Against all odds, after two months of recuperation, Mani is better. Weeks of meticulous care, antibiotics, pain relief, ointments, cortisone, baths, dressings, but also and above all, weeks of suffering: necrotic flesh, decomposition, and loss of muscle and tendons before them regenerating. Today, this survivor is okay and his leg was saved. Many are not so lucky.

This beautiful black feline has since joined a loving family and will no longer need to fight to survive in the outdoors. Unlike him, millions of stray cats continue to suffer every day in our streets and countryside.

For Mani and so that the ordeal that he has been through are not forgotten, we have filed a complaint and we will also represent Pattes Pas Trouille. To put a stop to these barbaric practices and to demand an urgent national plan for them alongside us, sign our petition.

Translated from the French by Joely Justice