The Aude Prefecture decree allowing wood pigeons to be killed by hunters before the ‘conventional’ hunting period has just been partially suspended. A victory for One Voice and beyond, for the birds.
Archives: News
Stray cats: unveiling a website dedicated to the Chatipi programme and a press briefing at the Chatipi in Vannes on 3 March at 2pm
Le Cercle des Chats Libres du Pays de Vannes [Society for Stray Cats in Vannes] in the Morbihan department contacted the One Voice association to take charge of the issue of stray cats in the town. The Association de Défense des Animaux [Association for Animal Welfare], who has fought against feline straying for years, implements partnerships with municipalities and local associations to microchip and neuter homeless cats and release them, while finding them shelter and holding informational panels. The Chatipi programme therefore means that cats without a human family no longer suffer from deprivation. In Vannes, a press briefing will take place at the Chatipi on Thursday 3 March at 2pm, organised by the municipality. One Voice will open their website dedicated to the Chatipi programme to the public on the same day.
Hunters and animal supporters overcome their differences on penned hunting
One Voice’s presidents and the Amis des Chemins de Sologne are united against penned hunting and enclosing nature.
The unprecedented meeting between Muriel Arnal, One Voice’s president, and Raymond Louis, Amis des Chemins de Sologne’s president, will take place on Tuesday 8 March 2022.
Would you dare torture and kill a fish for science ?
In his new book, Laurent Bègue-Shankland explores our relationships with other animals and the way in which our empathy is sometimes put to one side.
Animal experimentation in the Finistère Department: justice calls once more for administrative transparency
On Monday 22 February 2022, the Rennes Administrative Court ordered the Prefect of Finistère to hand over the latest inspection reports on animal experimentation laboratories in their Department…
The death of Mina and of at least two psittaciformes are now added to that of Micha
The death of Mina and of at least two psittaciformes are now added to that of Micha
The death of Mina and of at least two psittaciformes are now added to that of Micha
22.02.2022
The death of Mina and of at least two psittaciformes are now added to that of Micha
Circuses
The images of the prison conditions, complaints, a criminal trial, a very light conviction… Since the ruling, we have done everything we can to obtain the inspection report from the Prefecture of Loir-et-Cher — the Departmental Directorate for Protecting Populations (DDPP) — and we have put ourselves before the administrative tribunal to get the animals removed… After a long and rough legal proceeding, we learned that Mina is dead, along with two birds. The Prefecture services were careful not to inform us of this and are still leaving the animals with the Poliakovs! We have filed a request in the meantime to the Orléans administrative tribunal and a complaint against the trainers, specifically for acts of cruelty and mistreatment by a professional alongside the Blois high court. We are calling for the immediate withdrawal of the animals and access to Mina’s autopsy report.
Edit from 10 March 2022
The decision is being deliberated and is expected to be released within the next week.
Edit from 3 March 2022
The hearing is set by the interim relief judge for 10 March 2022 at the Orléans administrative tribunal.
We had to continue the fight. We asked the Prefecture of Loir-et-Cher twice for access to the latest inspection report, carried out at the centre of the establishment managed by the Bruneau-Poliakov couple, in order to understand in particular the state of health and the prison conditions of the animals that justice had seen fit to abandon. As a matter of fact, in the context of an administrative foreclosure, it is possible to ‘seize’ the animals while leaving them where they are, in the good care of their torturers!
A debilitating proceeding before the authorities
Our requests for access to this report have fallen on deaf ears. We then, almost as always, had to apply to the Committee for Access to Administrative Documents to force the civil service to comply. And, unsurprisingly, they were in favour of our request. With this backing, we had to rewrite to the Prefecture services who had finally this month deigned to send us the report dated 2 June 2021… We then learnt that many more animals that they were keeping are dead. And the report, heavily redacted
incidentally (even the names of the trainers are ‘concealed’, which is absurd), finds significant non-conformities.
Mina and the birds were prisoners for life
Following Micha, Mina is dead, as well as two of the rare birds… All of them are living in minuscule and gloomy spaces, unlawfully, under the eyes and ears of the authorities who have turned a blind eye for more than a decade. Those who redacted the report, agents from the DDPP, who are cynics and willingly detached, conclude that “on the date the report was published, Mina was dead, lifting the non-compliance”.
The Bruneau-Poliakov trainers would never have needed to have had a proficiency certification for the Barbary macaque, even though they exploited her during very lucrative events. She spent eleven years in a 50cm3
cage with no light, which was rarely cleaned. These facts were known by the authorities. What did they do to get them out?! Ticking boxes, again and again, and setting deadlines that were never met… We had to capture images in these unspeakable places; the spoiled food had to be filmed so that their enclosure could be made bigger and enriched with a measly swing.
The amount of major non-conformities from the report is shocking
According to the very criteria of the DDPP, there has always been an issue at staffing level, an issue with the consistency of proficiency certifications and the species kept, a concern regarding regulations, and dysfunctional follow-up veterinary care. But who are we kidding in this country? When will the Prefectures finally abide by the rules relating to the respect and well-being of wild captive animals?!
In a previous article, we asked ourselves if there truly is any protection for wild animals in France. The answer is crystal clear: it is non-existent.
We are therefore filing a complaint in particular for acts of cruelty, to have access to information on the circumstances of Mina’s death, and above all to obtain the immediate seizure of the other animals, in addition to our interim application.
Translated from the French by Joely Justice
Wood pigeons in the Pyrenees: migratory birds still in the firing line
The Aude Prefecture has published a decree meaning that wood pigeons may be recognised as a species likely to cause damage (previously known as pests). The emergency interim hearing is set for 7 March.
Penned hunting: the reality highlighted by One Voice in eighteen French towns on 19, 20, and 26 February 2022
In eighteen French towns, One Voice’s activists will host stands and organise audience participation events on 19, 20 and 26 February 2022 to raise awareness of the cruelty of penned hunting.
One Voice is in court to fight against the violence suffered by dogs in kennel clubs and to defend their freedom of expression
One Voice is in court to fight against the violence suffered by dogs in kennel clubs and to defend their freedom of expression
One Voice is in court to fight against the violence suffered by dogs in kennel clubs and to defend their freedom of expression
11.02.2022
One Voice is in court to fight against the violence suffered by dogs in kennel clubs and to defend their freedom of expression
Domestic animals
After our investigation into violent kennel clubs, eighteen dog trainers who were dismissed in 2020 continue to attack One Voice. The hearing is on 14 February 2022 at 2pm at the Grenoble Court of Appeals.
After a three-year enquiry into various kennel clubs, in 2017 we published images of violent dog and puppy training. Some dog trainers, feeling concerned or even targeted, and claiming shame was being cast over the whole profession, have sued the association in an attempt to limit their freedom of expression. Despite the resolution proving us right, it is clear that they are looking for something else that ‘clears their names’, which no one has blackened. The appeal hearing took place at 2pm on Monday 14 February 2022 at Grenoble Court of Law.
Edit from 15 February – 3:20pm
The ruling is to be deliberated on 15 March.
In 2017, we reported on the violent training practices at the heart of these kennel clubs, aided by images from the investigation by our colleagues who have been infiltrating this domain since 2014. The dogs were strangled with their leads to make them obey, violently shaken… sometimes even hit. For the dogs trained to bite, using ‘defence’ training, it was even worse: they received electric shocks, were decked out in prong collars, and had to endure being whipped… an unbearable suffering.
Following this publication, many dog ‘trainers’ filed a complaint against us, claiming that we had cast shame on the whole of the profession, even though all we did was show the existing practices and methods considered abusive by canine experts (veterinarians, breeders, and trainers), without revealing the names of those responsible.
Fighting against practices and advocating for non-violence towards animals
In fact, our goal is not to fight against people but against practices. These few training professionals feel personally targeted… and they do not represent the entirety of the profession, seeing as many others among them have supported us in this approach, which aims to clean up the methods used in dog training, steering clear of violence. Perhaps it will take a decision under appeal for them to call into question what they do or do not consider to be abuse.
Once again, another case is very enlightening of our opponents methods
A canine behaviourist advocating for communication rather than submission was prosecuted for defamation by the trainer, having recruited other complainants involved in our case, because she spoke about abuse involving him. However, the court in Agen did acquit her on 26 January 2022.
In the context of this case file, a veterinarian specialising in behavioural medicine and a court expert has incidentally submitted a report analysing the video of an event organised by this same trainer, where the dog, who is muzzled and on a lead, finds itself hanging by its neck for a moment in a demonstration of power and being manhandled on stage until it submits. Right from the first few lines, he ponders his “objective, if not that of a public exhibition, intended to abuse the gullibility of the audience”. He then lists the issues and arguments for each: cruelty, ignorance of canine behaviour; and he ends with no uncertainty:
«In conclusion, here we are witnessing an exercise where violence, a lack of understanding of canine behaviour, and a lack of respect for the animal as a sentient being must be considered as mistreatment, given the acts of cruelty and taking into account the perverse aspects of the demonstration, inflicted publicly upon a pet. I find it hard to believe that a demonstration of this kind can still take place in France nowadays.»
The first time, in 2020, justice was on our side against the attacks from these dog trainers, validating our approach and dismissing our opponents’ requests (ruling on 14 January 2020 at the high court in Valence). We have always highlighted non-violent practices, as recommended by the association’s statute. Eighteen of the trainers appealed this decision and put forward a claim for 91,800 Euros in damages from the association. The hearing will take place at the Grenoble Court of Appeals at 2pm on 14 February 2022.
Translated from the French by Joely Justice
Farming: 9 NGOs take the government, who insist on keeping laying hens in cages, to court.
Today, in the middle of the presidential campaign, 9 NGOs (the Anti-Corrida Alliance/Animal Cross/CIWF France/L214/the Foundation for Animal Law, Ethics, and Sciences (LFDA)/OABA/One Voice/the Society for the Protection of Animals (SPA)/Welfarm) are making a joint request before the State Council against the decree published in December 2021, which limits the ban enacted in 2018 for any new or refurbished buildings for hens farmed in cages.