Nine years after EU ban on selling cosmetics products tested on animals, they will once again be dying in the name of beauty

Nine years after EU ban on selling cosmetics products tested on animals, they will once again be dying in the name of beauty

Nine years after EU ban on selling cosmetics products tested on animals, they will once again be dying in the name of beauty
11.03.2022
Nine years after EU ban on selling cosmetics products tested on animals, they will once again be dying in the name of beauty

On 11 March, Cruelty Free Europe (for which One Voice is the French representative), Eurogroup for Animals, and GAIA, all Animal Protection NGOs, will not be happily celebrating the ninth anniversary of the European law preventing the sale of all cosmetics products tested on animals, as chemical products rules look set to render European laws meaningless.

Yesterday, on 10 March 2022, the associations held a vigil for the cosmetic animal testing bans near the European Commission headquarters and the Council in Brussels. The French street artist Ckeja joined them and painted live throughout the event.Despite huge public support for the bans [1], cruel animal tests are now being required by European authorities, including on ingredients used solely in cosmetics. Proposals to extend the scope of chemical safety legislation under the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability look set to massively increase the amount of regulatory animal testing taking place in Europe, including tests for cosmetics’ ingredients, namely make-up, shampoo, moisturiser, soap, perfume and toothpaste.A study carried out in 2021 by the European Centre for Alternatives to Animal Testing found that, based on the data in the EU’s chemicals database, 63 chemical safety assessment dossiers had used the results of new animal testing for cosmetics risk assessment, with this number looking set to increase as the European Chemicals Agency carries out more reviews. This is testing that has taken place since the bans [2] came into place.

« Europe’s leaders often trumpet how brilliant the EU’s cosmetics animal testing bans are – and how they were ground-breaking and a model for the world. However, we know that more and more animal testing is being required by regulators for ingredients in cosmetics, against the wishes of European consumers and cosmetics brands. But we can all stand up and say that we want our bans back and we want them strengthened. How? By signing the Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics European Citizens’ Initiative at www.savecrueltyfree.eu. We have the power! » Kerry Postlewhite Director of Public Affairs of Cruelty Free Europe « Non-animal approaches to ensure the safety of cosmetics and other consumer products have been routinely used in the EU for decades. There is no reason to test ingredients on animals when advanced non-animal assessment strategies are available and offer reliable alternatives to animal testing. With this ECI, we call on the European Commission to commit to actions that can ensure the protection of human health and the environment by managing chemicals without the use of animals, and to invest in human-based, non-animal approaches for regulatory decision-making. » Reineke Hameleers CEO of Eurogroup for Animals « Millions of animals suffer in Europe in laboratories. For nine years, we have seen how safe and how possible it is to buy and use cosmetics products that are not tested on animals. Other methods exist to guarantee their safety and effectiveness. History and progress go in the direction of genuinely stopping, or certainly progressing in, animal experimentation, and this must begin as soon as possible. It is important to sign the ECI to ensure that we do not take a step backwards. There is no more time to lose for animals in laboratories. » Muriel Arnal President of One Voice Sign the ECI to put an end to animal testing Notes: [1] 74% of adults in EU Member States agree that animal testing for cosmetic products and their ingredients is unacceptable in all circumstances. Savanta ComRes survey for Cruelty Free Europe, July 2020[2] As well as the 2013 ban on the sale of all cosmetics products tested on animals, the EU had previously banned the testing of cosmetics products on animals in 2004, and the testing of cosmetics ingredients on animals in 2009ECI Cruelty Free Cosmetics Translated from the French by Joely Justice

One Voice’s national actions in March are calling for respect for wolves

One Voice’s national actions in March are calling for respect for wolves

One Voice’s national actions in March are calling for respect for wolves
10.03.2022
One Voice’s national actions in March are calling for respect for wolves
Wildlife

After having been exterminated for centuries, wolves have come back to France but are struggling to surpass the vital threshold of 500 individuals. The State organises the slaughter of more than one hundred of them each year. One Voice has submitted a plea to the State Council every year to protect them. On Saturday 12 March (or Sunday 13 and Saturday 19 March for some events), in eighteen departments (see below), activists from the Association are raising public awareness of these united and sentient beings that are essential for our ecosystems.

Despite help from the State that compensates them, hunters and farmers pursue wolves even though their species is legally protected. Groups of armed poachers are even created to kill them. Lately, there is even an agricultural union that has called in two departments to massacre wolves. And each year, bodies are found. Last September, a hanged wolf was exhibited in front of a town hall… The Ministry for the Ecological Transition, under the ‘Wolf Plan’ framework, sets quotas for growing slaughterhouses year after year. Even this year, one in five wolves will be slaughtered, which is tragic for the individuals concerned, for the state of the packs in France, and ultimately constitutes a blow to the international regulations on biodiversity.

Unable to accept cohabiting with wild canines, farmers and hunters put pressure on the authorities to be able to massacre wolves. Why? They do not see them as predators of their own prey. And they only perceive nature and its inhabitants through the prism of the profit that they can make from it in the short term, instead of anticipating the future.

However, wolves are an integral part of our country’s biodiversity. They participate in its preservation as well as in that of our land and all have their place by our side. We must re-learn to tolerate these extremely intelligent, sentient and wise beings who deserve our respect. They have so much to teach us, namely on solidarity which is essential to them.

We refuse to have the rules dictated to our leaders by those few citizens who are hostile to the natural world. We demand that our leaders stop making regular breaches of international regulations for endangered species and definitively prohibit new culling.
Year after year, One Voice attacks the State Council on the decrees allowing the slaughter of more wolves. But even when the Association obtained the annulment of the decree and therefore the illegality of the shootings a posteriori, as the State Council decided again last year, wolves are dead and they only have themselves to blame. One Voice is fighting for them, for their existence, for the preservation of their habitat, for the restoration of their reputation. The petition launched by the Association has already gained over 69,000 signatures.

Our events are subject to change up until the last minute, due to weather or permission reasons. You can consult the event link before going. We update them live.
Department TOWN Facebook Event Precise Location Time (and date if different to 12/03)
74 Annecy https://www.facebook.com/events/1272574779931419 65, rue Carnot 2:30pm to 4:30pm
60 Beauvais https://www.facebook.com/events/507313900966194 15, rue Carnot 3:30pm to 5:00pm
33 Bordeaux https://www.facebook.com/events/975192419791220 Place de la Comédie 1:30pm to 4:30pm on 13 March
05 Digne-les-Bains https://www.facebook.com/events/2765612320407324 69, Boulevard Gassendi 11:30am to 2:00pm on 13 March
14 Falaise https://www.facebook.com/events/491746512349258 Place Belle-Croix 8:00am to 11:00am
17 La Rochelle https://www.facebook.com/events/351115616907425 Cours des Dames 2:30pm to 4:00pm
59 Lille https://www.facebook.com/events/509830144098084 Grand’Place Note: postponed to another date (blocked by heavy goods vehicles)
69 Lyon https://www.facebook.com/events/168124871878046/ Place Saint Jean 2:30pm to 4:30pm on 13 March
57 Metz https://www.facebook.com/events/662604558524230 64, Rue Serpenoise 2:30pm to 4:00pm
34 Montpellier https://www.facebook.com/events/1135115370584520/ Place de la Comédie, in the middle of the march on climate change. Note: postponed to 9 April due to torrential rain
44 Nantes https://www.facebook.com/events/203740421888550 Place Royale 3:30pm to 5:00pm
06 Nice https://www.facebook.com/events/693750618294996 Place Garibaldi 11:30am to 1:00pm
75 Paris / Special event https://www.facebook.com/events/203740421888550 Nation NOTE: One Voice is joining the march organised by Voix des Loups [Voice for Wolves] which will re-join the march on climate change 12:30pm to 4:30pm
76 Rouen https://www.facebook.com/events/487818929592682 Place de la Calende 2:30pm to 4:00pm
67 Strasbourg https://www.facebook.com/events/950394689173859 Place du Corbeau 2:00pm to 4:00pm
37 Tours https://www.facebook.com/events/623194855413009 Place Jean Jaurès 2:30pm to 4:00pm
10 Troyes https://www.facebook.com/events/336367331741981 71, Rue Émile Zola 3:30pm to 5:00pm on 19 March

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

SOS for Ukraine’s animals

SOS for Ukraine’s animals

SOS for Ukraine’s animals
10.03.2022
SOS for Ukraine’s animals
Domestic animals

Since bombs have been raining down on Ukraine, thousands of animals have been abandoned after the mass extinction of their human families, or left in shelters which have become inaccessible. Since the start of the conflict, we have been by the side of our partners, who are on the border and on site, to bring them the best help possible. Help them!

Photo: UAnimals

The media has relayed deeply moving images of Ukrainians leaving their country with their pets in their arms. Escape, yes. But not without them. Not without their best friends, fully-fledged members of the family. Unfortunately, crossing the border with a dog or cat makes exile even more difficult still. Thus, many refugees face a terrible dilemma: leave their animals behind or stay by their sides, under bomb attacks… those who made the choice to leave were heartbroken. The others stayed, risking their own lives… and many have already lost theirs.

Today, thousands of cats and dogs are roaming the streets without anyone to take care of them. And those who found themselves in shelters before the start of the war are also deprived of food and care due to logistical issues to get it to them. Volunteers are dedicating their bodies and souls to try to help them, until the ultimate sacrifice: their own existence.

We are making use of everything to take part in rescues. At the start of the conflict, we immediately got in contact with the Ukrainian association UAnimals, our partner, to see how we could help bring them the best and most effective help possible. More than anything, it is about being by their side to save lives. Join our action with them as well as with our previous partners, Otwarte Klatki in Poland, and Magyar Szőrmellenes Liga in Hungary, in order to lend a helping hand to the accessible shelters! Transporting food to all of the cats and dogs in distress is a huge challenge. Thank you.

Make a donation

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

The decree allowing the massacre of wood pigeons when they arrive after migration has been partially suspended!

The decree allowing the massacre of wood pigeons when they arrive after migration has been partially suspended!

The decree allowing the massacre of wood pigeons when they arrive after migration has been partially suspended!
09.03.2022
The decree allowing the massacre of wood pigeons when they arrive after migration has been partially suspended!
Wildlife

The Aude Prefecture has published a decree allowing wood pigeons – referred to as ‘palombes’ in the Pyrénées-Orientales department – to be considered as a species likely to cause damage, a new term for ‘pests’, and under this title they can be killed by hunters before the ‘traditional’ hunting season. With multiple arguments in hand, we challenged this decree, and it has just been suspended until 31 March inclusive. A half-hearted victory, but a victory all the same for these birds, and one that we share with the whistle-blower that called on us.

It seems that the Montpellier Administrative Tribunal was affected during the hearing by the argument the crops do not sprout until the month of April. This point calls into question the very existence of the damage to crops by wood pigeons in February to March, a critical (and current) juncture of the published decree. Among other things, the President highlighted a “file that’s not been done well”, particularly due to the lack of clarifying documentation in his eyes.

The decision is worded in such a way that we understand that these are the dates that ultimately mattered to the urgent applications judges:

«Article 2: The execution of the decree of 25 February 2022, under which the Aude Prefect has, on one hand, classified the wood pigeon as a pest and, on the other, defined the terms under which they can be destroyed, has been suspended as it concerns the period from 25 February to 31 March 2022.»

We are very happy with this suspension, although partial. It means hundreds of wood pigeons can fly in peace.

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

Stray cats: unveiling a website dedicated to the Chatipi programme and a press briefing at the Chatipi in Vannes on 3 March at 2pm

Stray cats: unveiling a website dedicated to the Chatipi programme and a press briefing at the Chatipi in Vannes on 3 March at 2pm

Stray cats: unveiling a website dedicated to the Chatipi programme and a press briefing at the Chatipi in Vannes on 3 March at 2pm
02.03.2022
Stray cats: unveiling a website dedicated to the Chatipi programme and a press briefing at the Chatipi in Vannes on 3 March at 2pm
Domestic animals

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.

_Photo credit: Vannes Town Council_

A press briefing will take place in front of the cat chalet on Thursday 3 March at 2pm at 8 rue de la Salle d’Asile in Vannes.

Mr Thépaut, the deputy mayor in charge of climate, biodiversity, and finance, and town councillor Mrs Manchec who is appointed to environment and nutrition, will be present, as well as the two local associations involved in the project, represented by the President of the Cercle des Chats Libres du Pays de Vannes, Mrs Marie-Christine Vidal (whose association had not yet been created when the project began), and the President of SPA [Society for the Protection of Animals] in Vannes, Mrs Marie-France Le Gallou, a signatory of the convention. Mr Sylvain Gillet, a veterinarian at the Vannes pound who is responsible for neutering, is also invited. Finally, Mrs Cécile Gillet who is responsible for the Vannes office represents One Voice.

On the same day, One Voice will launch their website dedicated to the Chatipi programme fighting against feline straying, currently being developed in around thirty towns, linked here: www.chatipi.fr

Chatipi: a lasting solution for the vicious circle of feline straying

Chatipi is a plan with the ethical aim of making the creation of areas for straying cats in towns possible, and of rescuing them while raising awareness among citizens of their suffering and needs. 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. Fundamentally, One Voice’s goal is to educate on cats to move towards a lasting solution to this problem.

In fact, we too often inaccurately describe these little felines as independent and self-sufficient animals, even though they are vulnerable when they have been abandoned (which happens much more frequently and far less visibly than it does for dogs).

That being said, feline straying is not only caused by abandonment. This vicious circle begins with erroneous assumptions about cats, 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. There are around eleven million stray cats in France. 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 the human families concerned are sometimes not even aware that these kittens exist. And so litters only continue to multiply in these circumstances. Municipalities must manage these individuals faced with this misfortune, which also have an impact on biodiversity.

Sharing out tasks and responsibilities in Vannes

There will be fifteen residents in the Chatipi. The cats haven’t yet been moved in as the chalet has only just been assembled. One Voice, who invented the concept of a Chatipi, provided the chalet, information boards, and cat biscuits at the beginning of the operation. They also guaranteed the initial veterinary fees for fifteen cats (neutering, microchipping, testing). The town council provided the concrete flooring, assembly, and construction of the chalet. The Cercle des Chats Libres du Pays de Vannes and the SPA Vannes organised capturing them to get them neutered. They are also the ones who will be responsible for the maintenance of the chalet, feeding, health checks for the cats, and long-term veterinary costs. The cats will be identified under the name of the town council.

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

Hunters and animal supporters overcome their differences on penned hunting

Hunters and animal supporters overcome their differences on penned hunting

Hunters and animal supporters overcome their differences on penned hunting
28.02.2022
Hunters and animal supporters overcome their differences on penned hunting
Wildlife

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.

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.

The two presidents of the associations will put their differences aside to better unite in the things that bring them together: nature and biodiversity in France and in Sologne in particular, where penned hunting is a curse.

Whilst the Amis des Chemins de Sologne, hunters by the way, have been fighting against fencing in this territory for years as it prevents wild animals from moving around freely, One Voice fights against all hunting and has carried out an undercover investigation into hunts in closed parks to report on the extreme cruelty.

The two associations have been consulted by parliamentarians, in particular within the framework of the proposed law against fencing in nature. They hope that hunting in closed properties, leaving no chance of survival for the animals trapped inside and preventing the animals from having free movement, will soon be a thing of the past. A ban in Sologne would be a strong sign.

They are calling on parliamentarians to at least responsibly vote for this ban, or failing that, to prohibit fencing of properties, which prevents animals from being able to move around to enter and leave.

It was agreed that Raymond Louis would receive Muriel Arnal, founder of One Voice, at the headquarters of the Amis des Chemins de Sologne, and that after a short press conference they would go out in the field, as close as possible to the fenced properties.

Translated from French by Joely Justice

Would you dare torture and kill a fish for science ?

Would you dare torture and kill a fish for science ?

Would you dare torture and kill a fish for science ?
25.02.2022
Would you dare torture and kill a fish for science ?
Animal testing

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. Thanks to a robot fish and an experiment inspired by the work of Milgram on obedience to authority figures, he shows that the experiment is not as passive as he imagined: many people genuinely chose to put their empathy to one side towards the fish, going so far as to inflict suffering and death on it for the benefit of a scientific objective that they found to be legitimate.

Laurent Bègue-Shankland, Professor of Social Psychology at Grenoble-Alpes University, has recently published a book on our relationships with other animals (Face aux animaux, Odile Jacob, 2022). The first part of the book talks about the way in which we consider ourselves to be outside of and above the animal kingdom, which gives us the impression that our desires and our comfort should come before the most basic needs of other animals, even at the risk of supporting acts of cruelty towards them. The second part of the book discusses an experiment carried out to study the way in which supporting science and profit prospects for humans can be the reason why most people put their empathy to one side to inflict suffering upon an animal.

Obedience to authority figures

The experiment in question is inspired by well-known work by Stanley Milgram, who, in the 1960s, asked numerous people to inflict stronger and stronger electric shocks on other people when they made a mistake in a learning task. The electric shocks were fake and the victims, who pretended to be in pain, were in on it with the researcher. Apparently unsuspecting of the ruse, and despite the cries and pleas of their victims, the majority of the subjects went so far as to inflict a 450 volt shock under the supervision of the white-coat researcher.

Some people believed that the subjects actually knew that the electric shocks were fake, and that the results of the experiment were therefore biased. To assess this possibility, two researchers developed a particularly cruel version of this experiment, which we know less about, by asking students to administer real electric shocks to a puppy. Three quarters of the subjects went so far as to inflict the maximum shock of 450 volts to the poor puppies despite their very real pleas.

For Milgram, these experiments proved the complete submission of subjects to authority, who were no longer responsible for their acts since they were in an “agentic state”. However, after the experiment, and before knowing about the ruse, the majority of the subjects said they were satisfied to have been able to help with scientific research. In fact, apparently they were not in a state of blind obedience and their apparent cruelty was perhaps due to the fact that they had put aside their own reluctance to inflict suffering on another person, as long as they deemed the stated scientific objective and the researcher who embodied it to be credible and legitimate.

Torturing a fish for science

Laurent Bègue-Shankland set up his own experiment to test this hypothesis, featuring a (fake) fish and the progressive administration of a toxic substance into its aquarium, with 750 people from a range of profiles recruited from the general public. The subjects believed that it was to test the acceptable dose of a product that helped people who were suffering from a memory impairment. In contrast, the software that was used to carry out the experiment was made so that the subjects had the maximum amount of empathy towards the fish
which they could see in its aquarium a few metres away and whose heartbeats were reproduced on a screen and with high-pitched beeps.

Would you administer this product to the fish thinking that it could kill it? If you were to respond, you would probably say no – or that you wouldn’t use the maximum dose in any event. However, while only 12% of those questioned thought that they would go to the maximum dose, 53% of subjects who were actually put into the experiment went all the way, administering a dose that the software indicated had a 100% chance of killing the fish. This percentage was variable according to the subjects’ level of “social dominance” and their level of speciesism (measured on a six-point scale devised by Oxford University), but also according to their attitude towards science: the subjects from the pro-science group would generally go further than those from the group who were critical towards science.

A filmed interview was done with each subject at the end of the experiment. The Maison des Sciences de l’Homme [Human Sciences Centre] in Grenoble/the Alpes released extracts of these interviews on their Youtube channel, which showed that most people, even among those who went all the way to ‘kill’ the robot fish, felt guilty about what they had done, and they justified it by saying that the objective of the experiment was important, or that the fish didn’t feel pain like other animals that are more similar to us (which is not true).

Rather than blind obedience, it was therefore a matter of them voluntarily distancing their own empathy to respond to what they thought were commendable scientific objectives, even if it meant inflicting huge suffering on this fish.

Animal experimentation and empathy

Perhaps this same process is the endeavour of those who are learning to carry out animal experimentation and are making it their occupation: rather than sadists in white coats, these people are surely convinced that what they are doing is useful and good, and this justifies them putting their own empathy towards the animals aside. Nowadays, animals are incidentally so standardised that it would be very difficult in most cases to recognise them as individuals.

Is animal experimentation ‘necessary’ for human health? In some cases, clearly not – from cosmetic ingredient testing, which still happens despite European regulations, to pharmaceutical enterprises, which are difficult to trust given the number of times they have been condemned in the past , it is difficult to see how those who champion animal experimentation still manage to defend it.

Science isn’t the problem – self-criticism is part of its DNA and one day it will overcome the problems that have corrupted the system for a long time. The real problem is elsewhere: among those who try to convince the public that, without animal experimentation, research will come to a halt – among those who, in addition to refusing to acknowledge the merits of certain non-animal methods that are already available, cannot imagine the paths that science could take if money was redistributed in a way in which it doesn’t oblige us to condone acts of cruelty at the expense of our own moral values.

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

Animal experimentation in the Finistère Department: justice calls once more for administrative transparency

Animal experimentation in the Finistère Department: justice calls once more for administrative transparency

Animal experimentation in the Finistère Department: justice calls once more for administrative transparency
23.02.2022
Animal experimentation in the Finistère Department: justice calls once more for administrative transparency
Animal testing

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 within the next two months to Nicolas Marty (who has since become responsible for the One Voice campaign), having made the same request to all prefectures in May 2020. This time, it is the University of Western Brittany and the experimental fish farm unit at the National Institute of Agricultural Research in Sizun in particular who are affected by the requested reports.

Already fifteen rulings requesting transparency

After the Committee for Access to Administrative Documents gave positive feedback on this communication in October 2020, and after around fifteen rulings along those lines were made by ten tribunals concerning other Departments since Autumn 2021, we should hardly be surprised by this result. However, many prefectures, guided by the Department of Agriculture, continue to resist these disclosure requests, citing in particular the “security risks” of disclosing these documents.

On this point, the ruling by the Rennes tribunal is very clear:

« The mere disclosure of these documents is not, in itself, likely to encourage intrusions, damage, or any other malicious act against the establishments concerned »

Equally, moral prejudice, private life confidentiality, or business confidentiality cannot be used to justify anything other than the concealment of the names of those who work in the inspected establishments, and the inspectors who control these establishments.

The Department and laboratories claim to have already been ‘transparent’

Last year, animal experimentation lobbies published a ‘transparency charter’ which continues to be approved by more and more establishments. The Department of Agriculture (we are still wondering why they are in charge of the welfare of animals in laboratories) displays more and more texts on the page that they dedicate to animal experimentation – in particular we note the publication of the handbook of laboratory inspections this Autumn and, very recently, several lines of text concerning the results of the inspections carried out in 2019 and 2020.

Smoke and mirrors

Smoke and mirrors if ever there was, because at the same time as these few very superficial additions, they spare no time or energy in trying to prevent the public from having access to first-hand information on these inspections and on the follow-up they are given: be reassured, the Department is watching — but don’t ask too many questions.

We can hope that with the accumulation of these rulings that request transparency, the culture of administrative opacity and the omerta that surrounds animal experimentation will disappear, so that the public can have a concrete idea of what happens inside these laboratories, in Finistère and elsewhere. One Voice will continue to fight for this.

 

Photo : Adobestock
Translated from the French by Joely Justice

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
Exploitation for shows

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.

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

Wood pigeons in the Pyrenees: migratory birds still in the firing line

Wood pigeons in the Pyrenees: migratory birds still in the firing line
20.02.2022
Wood pigeons in the Pyrenees: migratory birds still in the firing line
Wildlife

Wood pigeons are targeted by hunters. Once again, hunters want to be able to kill animals outside of the official hunting season. To do this, their aim, with the agreement of the Aude Prefecture, is to get them recognised as a species likely to cause damage (previously referred to as pests). The arguments are still misleading; hunters want to shoot them down on their return to the coast from Spain, where these migratory birds by definition do not cause any damage to crops.

In Aude, a prefectural decree plans to classify wood pigeons (Columba palumbus) as a species likely to cause damage from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022. If this decree becomes enforced, these birds will still be, slightly more so, victims of hunters and the like. In fact, they can be killed:

  • Without formal closure of the hunting season for this species, so from 20 February 2022 in Aude, until 31 March 2022;
  • Under individual prefectoral authorisation from 1 April to 30 June 2022.

Since a reminder is necessary, let’s clarify: wood pigeons are migratory birds. The European Parliament and Council Directive 2009/147/CE of 30 November 2009 concerning the conservation of wild birds, named ‘Birds’, strictly forbids all hunting during their mating season and their prenuptial migration.

Prenuptial migration (their return journey from the South towards nesting grounds further North) for wood pigeons begins in… mid-February. This is therefore the reason that a ministerial decree (on 19 January 2009) imposes a closure from 20 February in all departments (after local exceptions between 11 and 20 February).

The Directive (a provision included in French law in order to allow the classification of ‘pests’) permits exceptions if:

  • The wood pigeons are scattered in a symptomatic way across the department;
  • Their presence is harmful to a protected interest:
    • Public health and safety;
    • Protection of flora and fauna;
    • To prevent significant damage to agricultural, forestry, or aquafarming activities;

No alternative solution to the ‘destruction’ is satisfactory

But where are these exemptions in the decree proposal ?

The consultation on the decree proposal does not specify how these conditions are fulfilled.

In fact, hunting wood pigeons in the month of March is a tradition. The hunters from the Aude region place themselves mainly on the coast in order to await the passage of these birds from elevated firing positions. This zone, mostly made up of forests, heaths, and vineyards, isn’t likely to be affected by wood pigeons. Only the protein (peas, chickpeas), oleaginous (sunflower and rapeseed), and cereal (corn, wheat) crops are sensitive and are only present in the North-West of the department.

According to the whistle-blower in the region who asked us for help, the authorities estimate that there would be more than 1000 occupied firing posts (some days from dawn until dusk) during the Spring migration: 20-30,000 birds are ‘taken’ each season, including around 5000 in the town of Leucate alone.

We are faced with what should be labelled as a misappropriation, a setback of this sordid and pathetic regulation of so-called ‘pests’, with the one and only goal of maintaining this traditional practice of wood pigeon hunting in the month of March in Aude. But what wouldn’t we do, in the prefectures, to please those who claim to be protecting nature with their gunfire ?!

Translated from the French by Joely Justice