A weekend of action and a website on the figures on animal testing on 24 April 2022 for World Day for Laboratory Animals.
Archives: News
On 14 April on Flight 473, Air France transported 100 monkeys from Mauritius bound for a British laboratory
On 14 April at 6 o’clock in the morning, a passenger flight from Mauritius landed in Roissy, probably full of tourists coming back from their holidays on the idyllic island. What these passengers did not know was that 100 terrified monkeys were just beneath their feet in the hold.
Official opening of the Chatipi for stray cats in Chanteloup-les-Vignes on Saturday 9 April at 11am
One Voice, who has fought against feline straying for years, implements 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 official opening of the Chatipi will take place in Chanteloup-les-Vignes on Saturday 9 April at 11am.
A few less animals in labs in 2020?
The figures from 2020 on animal testing have just come out. Spoiler: the situation is not improving… we can tell you everything.
New investigation: Jumbo and his miserable companions still locked up in the Muller Circus, seen from above
Our investigators have reported images of Jumbo in the Muller Circus in Vitrolles at the beginning of March 2022… taken from above.
Badger digging in Gironde: hunters and the Prefect dismissed
Victory for badgers: the Bordeaux Administrative Tribunal made the opening of an additional hunting period for underground hunting with hounds illegal in Summer 2021.
A total crisis for badgers in Morbihan
To stop the massacre of young badgers in Morbihan, we are calling on you to respond to the public consultation online until 15 April.
Animals in the Franco-Belge Circus still being exploited… We are writing to the Mayor of Péronnas
The Franco-Belge Circus is in Péronnas for a few days. Let’s write to the town’s Mayoress for circuses without animals!
One Voice’s rescue mission for Ukraine’s cats
One Voice’s rescue mission for Ukraine’s cats
One Voice’s rescue mission for Ukraine’s cats
26.03.2022
One Voice’s rescue mission for Ukraine’s cats
Domestic animals
Since 24 February, our teams have been taking action alongside our Ukrainian partners within European and international coalitions that we are part of. Stunned by the start of the war but aware of the danger for the animals — who would inevitably suffer in shelters in the short-term, to a certain extent, from rationing or even starvation, in addition to the risk of bombing — we have offered our help immediately. And when our Ukrainian friends under attack accepted the help we were offering them, we were there.
In the first weeks, the violence of the combat very much moved those in France as it did everywhere throughout the European Union. The generosity of French people was in abundance. And we can see, as can everyone in the media, the exile of millions of Ukrainians, their animals in rucksacks, refusing to leave them behind, while in France the return of the good old days and the lifting of health restrictions raised fears of the first abandonments…
Drawing by Pascal Vaucher de la Croix and Chatal Teano for One Voice – Noé 103
During exchanges with our Ukrainian colleagues, we learnt that numerous monetary donations and donations in kind have been collected, but that their main problem was not either food or money, but transport from the Polish border to their locality in the middle of the country. We are desperate to be able to help them. The support group has been established: the ‘Animals from Ukraine Task Force’ was born, regrouping NGOs from all European countries including One Voice on behalf of France.
Three weeks after the start of the war, it was finally possible to go there to secure the sixty or so cats from the UAnimals refuge, and to prepare for the unexpected, inherent to these situations. We still need to find a place for these animals to stay. We have asked our refuge partners in France as well as abroad.
One month after the start of the war in Ukraine, the rescue mission can begin
So on Thursday 24 March at 8:30am, a call for help arrived: around sixty cats needed to be evacuated from Ukraine. We therefore chartered two vans with two drivers in each so that they could take over the driving and so that they did not have to stop along the way. All of these people were equipped with pet carriers, rehydrated food, towels, large-sized carriers in case they were needed for dogs… and a van with seven seats for potential refugees and their animals — a cause close to One Voice, built around harmony between human beings, animals, and the planet. By 2pm the team was on their way.
Was there a need to quarantine in each country that they travelled through? What would the legal requirements be? Where would the meeting point be? A large part of the logistics was settled before departing, but even so there were still some uncertainties.
On Friday, after thirty hours on the road, the vans arrived in Poland. Our six team members met up in the vicinity of Krakow, around 270 kilometres from the Ukrainian border leading to Lviv, to finish assessing the situation and to have a rest for a few hours before D-day.
Today, twenty cats have been saved!
So at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning, our team met on the border closest to Lviv, where the checkpoint in Budomierz, French firefighters, and numerous facilities gave them advice.
Particularly, that the donations that we had brought should be properly labelled, with many packages going off due to lack of transport from the Polish border into Ukraine, since the flow is mainly in the other direction. The equipment and food were therefore able to return to Lviv with our Ukrainian friends. On site, we were also informed that the refugees authorised to pass the border should have an official place to stay to be able to cross. The only people present were therefore waiting for their friends. But it was better to be prepared for any eventuality than to have to deny anyone our help.
In the morning, our contact in Germany confirmed that they could pick up a number of cats on the journey back to their delegation, allowing a shorter journey for the animals. The main van then entered Ukraine, heading to Lviv, to fetch around twenty cats from the camp; a human can only legally bring five of them back to Poland at once… At midday, they were in the van, in the safety of the other side of the border, with passports in order.
The first part of the team therefore took care of the cats and, as we publish this article, they are now on their way to Berlin. They should arrive late at night to begin their new life. The other part of the team is waiting until tomorrow when it might be possible to retrieve the other surviving cats to take them far away from the war, under more favourable conditions. We have also kept the transport carriers for the dogs. Anything to be reactive and deliver the most effective aid.
Translated from the French by Joely Justice
Samba — the eternal exploitation of a circus elephant
Samba — the eternal exploitation of a circus elephant
Samba — the eternal exploitation of a circus elephant
25.03.2022
Samba — the eternal exploitation of a circus elephant
Exploitation for shows
We have been following the Cirque d’Europe for more than twenty years, to protect Samba. This autumn, it was reported to us as sometimes being in Salouël, sometimes in Mouroux, or even in Malesherbs… More recently, in mid-February, we noticed it in Marolles-en-Hurepoix, then in Goussainville in the last few days, where one of our investigators visited. He filmed the elephant, when she was not hidden by the circus staff.
On 14 March 2022, the Cirque d’Europe had then parked their lorries and camper vans in Foussainville, as they have done for years, and as another ten or so other circuses do. The town does not seem very vigilant of the misery of the animals subjected to travelling and training, so it is a key stop-off for circus performers…
Samba, always hidden away
As they do every time, the employees of trainer Max Aucante position the lorries in such a way as to hide the maximum amount of the animals, and in particular Samba of course. Animal advocates should not be able to film her.
A fight lasting over twenty years, led for Samba by One Voice teams
In the spring of last year, the appeal hearing of our summons of the prefect of Bouches-du-Rhône took place to obtain the withdrawal of the circus’ opening licence. The Court of Appeal did not rule in our favour… but we have not stopped the fight despite this.
In January, we reached out to the Ministry of the Ecological Transition with a letter explaining for the umpteenth time how appalling Samba’s life is and how she is inevitably suffering in such conditions. We demanded that the Minster intervene for her to finally be put into a sanctuary.
Because it has been more than twenty years that One Voice has been defending this elephant… and we will never stop. She should be at Elephant Haven where, since our participation in this wonderful project back when it started, a place is waiting for her. This sanctuary awaits only her. Samba will be able to live there in semi-freedom, far from the lorries, the stares, sticks, being hit with a cattle prod, and from forced isolation.
Is the Ministry of the Ecological Transition’s policy to let circus performers have all captive animals in French circuses? To let them send them abroad? The legislative decree of the 30 November 2021 law relating to circus animals is still not published (this is not the only one)! This certainly allows the government to claim victory even though their exploitation will continue outside of France until death ensues… (there is no doubt that there would then be no need for a law and for decrees). Out of sight, out of mind… but not for us!
Translated from the French by Joely Justice