Tigers belonging to a cirque trainer: Hearing in September

Tigers belonging to a cirque trainer: Hearing in September

Tigers belonging to a cirque trainer: Hearing in September
16.09.2022
Beauvais
Tigers belonging to a cirque trainer: Hearing in September
Exploitation for shows

One Voice will be present at the hearing at the Beauvais Tribunal on 20 September to obtain the definitive placement of the ten tigers seized from Mario Masson following the investigation and complaint by the association in 2019-2020. The circus trainer is accused in particular of mistreatment of animals by a professional, non-authorised opening, and the illegal operation of an establishment (undeclared work, forgery and use of forgery, fraud) — crimes — and of the illegal transfer, keeping, and marking of animals.

An investigation by One Voice of almost two years before the justice system ordered the seizure of the ten tigers

One Voice’s investigation started at the beginning of 2019. At the beginning, we only had a few of the elements, the layout of the places not allowing us to film them accurately; the first case file was therefore dismissed due to lack of evidence. We had to go further. For One Voice to fulfil its function as a whistleblower, the investigators had to take all of the risks and provide irrefutable proof to the justice system.

We therefore gave a constant flow of videos covering six days and nights to the justice system so that our complaint would be taken into consideration. With the investigation by the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB) and Parquet having completed our complaint and our first pieces of information, enough irregularities had been noted for the seizure of ten tigers to be ordered. That is how, on 16 December 2020, we organised the biggest seizure of tigers kept in captivity in Europe in the last ten years.

Since, the tigers have been living at Tonga Terre d’Accueil, our partner. They have gone from their lives in a lorry-cage, to one allowing them access to an outdoor space with grass, woody headlands, varied enrichment, and a caring team.

Twelve indictments from animal mistreatment to fraud via undeclared work, with animal trafficking in the background…

The investigation also revealed multiple shortcomings. Here are the indictments for which Mario Masson will appear on 20 September at the Beauvais Legal Tribunal:

  • mistreatment of an animal by a professional or a refuge (criminal offence);
  • unauthorised opening of an establishment for non-domestic animals — breeding, sale, rental, transit (criminal offence);
  • illegal exploitation of an establishment keeping non-domestic animals (lack of facilities and equipment needed to ensure the welfare of the animals housed, to meet their physiological and behavioural needs) (criminal offence);
  • illegal exploitation of an establishment keeping non-domestic animals (maintenance unsuitable for the species and number of animals in order for them to be kept in a good state of health and upkeep (criminal offence);
  • illegal exploitation of an establishment keeping non-domestic animals (lack of devices intended to prevent risks relating to safety as well as the safety and peacefulness of third parties) (criminal offence);
  • illegal exploitation of an establishment keeping non-domestic animals (not keeping the records of entry and departure up to date for the animals) (criminal offence);
  • illegal exploitation of an establishment keeping non-domestic animals (sporadic keeping of the veterinary care book) (criminal offence);
  • unauthorised sale of non-domestic animals or their products — special protection (criminal offence);

and

  • keeping a non-domestic animal of a protected or controlled species in captivity without having marked them;
  • marking a non-domestic animal of a protected or controlled species with an illegal method;
  • marking a non-domestic animal of a protected or controlled species without dispatching the marking certificate to the administrator of the national record within the deadline;
  • transfer of a non-domestic animal of a protected or controlled species that is unmarked;

We can read between the lines that all of the elements to traffic wild animals are listed, in addition to the mistreatment that permanent imprisonment represents for the tigers, with the aggravated condition of being a professional…

We are waiting for an exemplary sanction, but most of all for the tigers not to be returned to the Massons and for them to finally be placed permanently in a sanctuary.

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

Safety project by the Senate Hunt — Associations that are victims of hunting and animal advocates report on a shameless link and ask for fast governmental action

Safety project by the Senate Hunt — Associations that are victims of hunting and animal advocates report on a shameless link and ask for fast governmental action

Safety project by the Senate Hunt — Associations that are victims of hunting and animal advocates report on a shameless link and ask for fast governmental action
14.09.2022
France
Safety project by the Senate Hunt — Associations that are victims of hunting and animal advocates report on a shameless link and ask for fast governmental action
Wildlife

In December 2021, the success of the ‘deaths, violence, and abuse linked to hunting: never again!” petition filed by the ‘Un jour un chasseur’ collective on an online platform for citizen petitions on the Senate’s site led to the creation of a monitoring project for safety in hunting. In the framework of this monitoring project, the Commission of Economic Affairs and Commission of Law senators heard from many participants linked with the hunting world, including several signatory associations of this press release.

The Senate’s report on the monitoring project on safety in hunting has just been released. It dismisses almost all of the measures requested in the official petition at the start of this project.

This petition, which obtained 122,424 signatures in just two months, proposed five reasonable measures to guarantee the safety of everyone and to fight against the violence and abuse linked to hunting:

  • Wednesdays and Sundays without hunting;
  • more strict training and follow-up for hunters and reinforcement of the safety rules in place;
  • real control over hunting weapons in circulation in the country and an awareness of the danger they represent for public safety;
  • more discouraging sanctions against hunters having caused incidents, physical accidents, or fatal accidents;
  • and an awareness of ‘hunting accidents’ for what they are: condemnable acts, intolerable violence, and in no way unremarkable or insignificant.

These measures, despite being requested and supported by a huge majority of country people, have, almost all, been ignored by the Senate’s task force. The few efforts requested of hunters are the pretext for the establishment of measures limiting freedom of circulation and expression of 98% of non-hunters, without actually ensuring their safety. The irony: the commission has just agreed to new tax benefits for certain categories of hunters, without any link to safety.

This report does not take into account the very strong constraints that hunting has on the 98% of non-hunters, up to 7 days a week and 10 months a year in a large part of France.

The associations that are victims of hunting and protect animals have reported on the commission’s bias having worked on this report, while even the measures needed have been developed from testimonies of victims and those close to the people who have disappeared. This indecency shocks us.

We can only regret the choice by senators to ignore the very strong demand by public opinion for better safety in hunting: on a recurring basis, the surveys show that more than 80% of French people are favourable to a ban on hunting for at least two days a week and during the entirety of the school holidays (IPSOS/One Voice surveys in October 2018 and September 2021).

After having appealed to elected representatives for a result which goes against the tide of societal expectations, the associations that are victims of hunting and for animal protection deem it necessary to appeal directly to democracy so that the wishes of the vast majority of citizens be respected.

We are therefore asking for a referendum on establishing non-hunting Sundays and Wednesdays, safety areas around houses, and a limitation on the range of weapons.

We are also urgently asking for a meeting between the Interior and Ecological Ministries.

Signatory associations:

  • Animal Cross
  • AOC
  • ASPAS
  • AVA
  • Fondation Brigitte Bardot
  • LPO
  • LFDA
  • One Voice
  • RAC
  • Ruraux en colère
  • Stéphane Lamart
  • Un jour un chasseur

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

Nouveau Cirque Triomphe: One Voice vs Gougeon and Mordon at the Bourgoin-Jallieu Tribunal on 14 September

Nouveau Cirque Triomphe: One Voice vs Gougeon and Mordon at the Bourgoin-Jallieu Tribunal on 14 September

Nouveau Cirque Triomphe: One Voice vs Gougeon and Mordon at the Bourgoin-Jallieu Tribunal on 14 September
12.09.2022
Isère
Nouveau Cirque Triomphe: One Voice vs Gougeon and Mordon at the Bourgoin-Jallieu Tribunal on 14 September
Exploitation for shows

On Wednesday 14 September at 9am, the hearing at the Bourgoin-Jallieu Legal Tribunal will take place regarding one of the branches of the case between One Voice and Gougeon. This family of circus performers whose brothers and cousins share the Idéal, Italiano, Nouveau Cirque Triomphe, and Cirque de Paris circuses (where in 2020 we seized the lion who we renamed Jon, and four lionesses, Patty, Marli, Hannah, and Céleste).

Edit from 19 September 2022

The hearing has been postponed to 16 January 2023 at 1:30pm.

In 2022, we filed a complaint against Joseph and Stéphane Gougeon, owners of the Nouveau Cirque Triomphe, and against Guy Mordon. In fact, none of them had licences to open or competency certifications allowing them to exploit lions, which they have not stopped doing for years nevertheless.

Joseph Gougeon did not obtain a renewal of his competency certification, which he lost in 2017 following numerous serious irregularities noted in his circus by the authorities. His son, who he entrusted the animals to, did not have one either. Since, the Nouveau Cirque Triomphe has no right to keep lions or even to open the establishment. They decided to ‘give’ the lions up to Guy Mordon, the uncle of Stéphane Gougeon, who himself is at capacity. But, as we discovered, the lions have never actually set foot in Guy Mordon’s circus (although the babies have been born!). They are therefore to blame for having deceived the authorities about this, and for having opened the establishment without authorisation or any competent person.

Imaginative identifications, births, a missing logbook, swapping animals, selling post mortem to an unapproved taxidermist… Did you say trafficking?

On our side, we know thanks to an enquiry that the trainers from this family do not hesitate in lying to traffic animals, since a lion kept by the Gougeons had the same identification as Jon, the lion seized in June 2020 by the association. They let them seize a lion in a bad state to be able to keep the lion identified in the logbook and since moved him to Tonga just before he was to be seized, as ordered by the justice system. He is called Tarzan.

We also know that Joseph Gougeon gave a lion’s remains to a taxidermist, who turned out not to be approved. Our investigation revealed that this taxidermist sold the skins for around 15 to 20 thousand euros each, and that he worked with other circuses. He even confessed to our investigators that it was possible to get a lion put down to order, under dubious pretexts.

Over the years, the Gougeons have not cared about checks, visits, or inspections by the authorities: changing the place, lying… while they should not have been keeping any lions!

During one of the checks for Jon and the lionesses, the issue of the logbook of identifications and health monitoring was posed. The Gougeons then alleged that the book had been forgotten or lost during a trip to their mother’s house…

In 2018, we were already trying to seize the lions and lionesses from the cirque Italiano, big cats kept by other members of this family.

We are waiting for an exemplary punishment and for the animals to be secured

Lies, proof of trafficking… from the birth of the animals to their lives filled with exploitation, enclosed in a lorry-cage, repeatedly moved from one establishment to another, non-existent or very weak traceability, and their skins sold by a reseller with debatable professionalism, the punishment must be exemplary.

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

Official opening of the Chatipi for stray cats at the La Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital

Official opening of the Chatipi for stray cats at the La Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital

Official opening of the Chatipi for stray cats at the La Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital
10.09.2022
Paris
Official opening of the Chatipi for stray cats at the La Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital
Domestic animals

One Voice, who has fought against feline straying for years, is implementing three-way partnerships with town councils or drop-in centres and local associations to microchip and neuter homeless cats and release them, while providing them with a wooden chalet for them to rehydrate themselves, eat, and take comfort. This is therefore what is happening at the La Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris, where the local association, Nine Lives, and the Assistance publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (APHP: the University Hospital Trust in Paris) have signed a convention with One Voice for them to take charge of the problem of stray cats in the Parisian hospital. The Chatipi programme allows cats without a human family to stop suffering from deprivation and teaches about cats as well as about feline straying. The official opening of the Chatipi will take place in La Pitié-Salpêtrière on Saturday 14 September at 6pm.

The inauguration will take place in front of the chatipi on Wednesday, September 14 at 6 p.m. at the hospital’s dental emergency room (behind the stomatology modules), in the presence of Christine Welty, Director General of the APHP, and Stella Grosjean, Co-President of the Nine Lives Association. Finally, Mathilde Perrot, head of One Voice’s chatipi program, will represent the association.

Chatipi, a sustainable solution to the vicious cycle of stray cats

Chatipi is an ethical initiative that aims to create spaces for stray cats in order to rescue them while raising public awareness of their distress and needs. Around twenty are currently being developed. Several chatipis have been set up near nursing homes, health centers, and other hospitals to also bring comfort to residents, and near schools because One Voice’s fundamental goal is to educate people about cats.
All too often, these small felines are mistakenly described as independent animals, when in fact they are very affectionate, loyal, and dependent, which makes them vulnerable when abandoned.

However, stray cats are not solely the result of abandonment. This vicious cycle stems from misconceptions about cats, particularly the belief that they have an intrinsic need to reproduce in order to be happy, which leads their human families to not always have them spayed or neutered. As a result, many cats are born in the wild. These kittens, when they survive, are in any case affected by hunger, cold, and disease. They are neither identified nor spayed or neutered, as their humans are sometimes not even aware that these kittens exist. However, under these circumstances, litters only multiply. Municipalities and communities must manage these individuals facing misery, which also affects biodiversity.

Division of tasks and responsibilities at La Pitié-Salpêtrière

One Voice, which invented the Chatipi concept, provides the shelter and covers the veterinary and food costs for around fifteen cats at the start of the operation (sterilization, identification, tests) as well as the educational sign. The APHP built the concrete slab and assembled the chalet provided by One Voice, which was then fitted out by Nine Lives. The local association will manage the trapping of cats for sterilization and their daily health monitoring.

The website dedicated to the Chatipi program was launched at the beginning of March 2022 and provides a wealth of information about this educational program on cats.

When France Culture distributes propaganda on animal testing

When France Culture distributes propaganda on animal testing

When France Culture distributes propaganda on animal testing
09.09.2022
France
When France Culture distributes propaganda on animal testing
Animal testing

France Inter did it last winter; France Culture is following in their footsteps: for a programme on animal testing on Wednesday 7 September, ‘La Science – CQFD’ [a French podcast on science] welcomed two people in support of continuing animal testing, without inviting anyone to oppose them. We have written to France Culture to request a right of reply.

Photo: Macaques saved from a laboratory by One Voice in 1996

You might have hoped that the media in this area would contact One Voice or other specialist associations in order to allow a debate to be held properly. The live presence of an opposing party knowing the subject sufficiently had the advantage of discouraging lies and misleading messages.

An appalling programme

Unfortunately, not content with its success last winter on France Inter, Radio France recreated the experience a few days later on France Culture. The ‘La Science – CQFD’ programme welcomed Ivan Balansard (Gircor President) and Francelyne Marano (former Francopa President and distinguished scholar).

And there is plenty to fuel our disappointment: the episode does not mention either the problems relating to the current function of ethical committees, or the illegal laboratory practices approved in recent years by the Ministry of Research, or even the recent classification of crab-eating macaques (the primates most used by French laboratories) on the list of species threatened with extinction.

Instead, we hear things that are supposed to be reassuring such as a statement that cats and dogs are used mostly for veterinary research (as if that justifies the treatment in store for them) or that the regulations and checks are very rigorous (forgetting to mention that sanctions are almost non-existent).

Do public officials have the right to lie on air?

And, more bothersome, the lies. Francelyne Marano presents staff training as very comprehensive, even though the lack of training is the most frequent non-conformity noted during inspections (for 50% of laboratories among the 450 inspection reports seen by One Voice).

Ivan Balansard maintains that the inspections are almost never announced even though the surprise inspection rate has never passed 30% in France, far behind other countries in the European Union, according to the latest report from the European Commission.

Both are public agents, however. So you would think that them lying on air of a national public media would not be allowed.

We are requesting a real debate be held

In view of this information, we have written a letter to France Culture, to ask for a new episode to be prepared on animal testing which will include specialists opposing these practices – a group which we belong to.

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

An injured wild boar, knocked down and then finished off with a dagger: open letter to the Bar-sur-Loup Mayor

An injured wild boar, knocked down and then finished off with a dagger: open letter to the Bar-sur-Loup Mayor

An injured wild boar, knocked down and then finished off with a dagger: open letter to the Bar-sur-Loup Mayor
07.09.2022
Bar-sur-Loup
An injured wild boar, knocked down and then finished off with a dagger: open letter to the Bar-sur-Loup Mayor
Wildlife

After a collision with a motorcyclist who left it disorientated, a wild boar was shot down then finished off with a dagger by authorities. An execution that is not only unnecessary, but which also led to lengthy agony for the animal. We are writing to the Bar-sur-Loup Mayor.

Mr François Wyszkowski
Bar-sur-Loup Mayor
Place de la tour
06620 Le Bar-sur-Loup

Vannes, 7 September 2022

Dear Mayor,

Our association has been alerted as to the disgraceful treatment that was given to a wild boar injured on a public road last week in Bar-sur-Loup.

In the middle of the night, on the Gourdon road, a motorcyclist hit a wild boar. Fortunately, the motorcyclist was not injured. The wild boar, clearly in shock, was still conscious and could have walked away unscathed.

However, the police made a call to a wildlife control officer who shot point-blank at the wild boar without killing it outright. He therefore was in agony for several minutes before finally being finished off with a dagger and left for dead on the side of the road.

It is unacceptable that this animal was shot when it clearly was not fatally injured by the collision. In this case, the human intervention responsible for his slow agony will have caused more suffering than the shock caused by the accident.

No legal regulation can justify the cruelty with which this wild boar was treated. This systematic answer to a lethal solution testifies to the lack of value given to the life of a sentient individual and of a broken relationship with wildlife.

Wild boars are indigenous animals, their presence is therefore absolutely necessary and legitimate. Difficulties linked to cohabitation between wild animals and human activities could be resolved in an ethical manner and with respect for biodiversity.

We thank you for your attention to this letter and ask that you accept our highest consideration, Mr Mayor.

Muriel Arnal
Founding President of One Voice

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

Petting zoo at the European Fair in Strasbourg: open letter to Jeanne Barseghian

Petting zoo at the European Fair in Strasbourg: open letter to Jeanne Barseghian

Petting zoo at the European Fair in Strasbourg: open letter to Jeanne Barseghian
06.09.2022
Strasbourg
Petting zoo at the European Fair in Strasbourg: open letter to Jeanne Barseghian
Other campaign or multi-campaigns of One Voice

Open letter to Ms Jeanne Barseghian, Mayoress of Strasbourg, concerning the animals displayed at the petting farm at the European Fair in Strasbourg.

Ms Jeanne Barseghian
Mayoress of Strasbourg
1 parc de l’Étoile
67076 Strasbourg

Vannes, 6 September 2022

Dear Mayoress,

Our association has been alerted to the implementation of a petting zoo displaying several domestic animals as part of the European Fair in Strasbourg from 2 to 11 September 2022.

In our capacity as an association with the main purpose to protect and defend animals and the environment, we are concerned by the treatment in store for them.

In fact, the images that we have been sent show several animals (rabbits, horses, sheep, chickens) exhibited to visitors in enclosures or cages. This set-up poses a problem not only concerning the welfare of the animals but also regarding the message that it conveys.

This environment is totally unsuitable for the animals’ welfare. Displayed to be seen and touched by everyone, the animals have no way of escaping from the noise and bustle. Moreover, the animals kept in cages, such as rabbits, can be constantly bothered by visitors. The hens are kept in a cramped cage without a perch or any environmental enrichment.

Furthermore, this ‘educational petting zoo’, aimed mainly at children, totally misses the point. What example does this give to young generations? The animals are considered as simple objects that we can touch and bother without worrying about their wishes and needs. This reification of animals conflicts, on numerous aspects, with the education of future generations to be more respectful of their environment and the individuals with which they share it.

This situation tarnishes the image of your local council, despite being committed to animals in other ways. If it is essential to introduce animals to young generations, this must be carried out in an ethical manner by respecting their needs and their individuality. For all of these reasons, we are asking you to renounce the exhibition of animals in such conditions in future by making more educational displays a priority.

We thank you for your attention to this letter and ask that you accept our highest consideration, Mayoress.

Muriel Arnal
Founding President of One Voice

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

The animal testing industry makes propaganda

The animal testing industry makes propaganda

The animal testing industry makes propaganda
05.09.2022
France
The animal testing industry makes propaganda
Animal testing

We often have a habit of representing people who practice animal testing as monsters void of empathy. However, the situation is more complex: lobbyists and the industry seem to manipulate public opinion just as well as those who practice animal testing.

Wednesday 15 June in Marseille. In the halls at the international FELASA 2022 congress there is the same happy look as any other conference, the same cheery networking fed by petits fours and pleasantries. The speeches are generally well done, to the point that you would almost agree with the comments on the importance of animal welfare and the rhetorical fallacies repeated excessively.

But if we read between the lines, that which is implicit and remains unsaid is blindingly obvious: we are talking about exploitation, about discrimination so anchored in society that it is no longer even considered an injustice. All year long, these people keep animals captive and make them suffer in various ways.

Propaganda even in magazines

Among the material suppliers and financers present at the congress, we find Ellegaard in particular, a producer of Göttingen minipigs. These minipigs are used to a great extent in various research domains. On the Ellegaard website, you can see a chain of images of cheerful piglets: playing with a ball, being stroked by a laboratory technician and so on. Never a dead pig, never one drop of blood, never the slightest sign of suffering.

Even in their professional journal and in their pamphlets, the rural images follow one after the other and are much the same, except when it talks about experimentation itself. To illustrate a model of heart failure, we must make do with a diagram taken from a scientific article. The worst images that we could find were, in number 60 of the business’ magazine, a tiny image of a blood test and a sutured foot.

Sterilised footage

The pamphlet from the company BASi is of the same ilk: on one side, animals with fuzzy edges cut on a computer and superimposed on a white background; on the other, as a demonstration of the use of sale cages, a figurine of a pig. The photographs were not even available on the manufacturer website.

And there is still the same problem among other manufacturers, who prefer to show inhalation towers and other restraint devices without animals, and to offer drawings or diagrams to illustrate these procedures.

Regarding Fine Science Tools (whose acronym FST is also the acronym for forced swim test), we only see surgical instruments in their catalogue and on their stand. We may be told that these instruments are the same as those used in human surgery – but we allow ourselves to doubt this when it comes to the “decapitation scissors”.

Nauseating indecency

Further, the business representatives smile and joyfully allow us to take a photo of the cuddly toy rats that are particularly cute. Their skulls are kitted out with various instruments and they seem to be there to draw attention to the stand.

And the publicity goes even further in indecency. Tecniplast sings praises for its cages with a photograph that is reminiscent of the famous Creation of Adam painting, showing God and man’s fingers touching. Except it is the gloved finger of someone who practices animal testing and a rat’s paw, pressing against the plastic box in which it is going to spend its life. This rat has certainly been killed by now.

Buttering them up

And it is not over. Because in addition to masking the reality of the experiments and make believing in a special and positive relationship between animals and people who participate in their exploitation, the industry does not forget to present it all as humanitarian work.

In the Afstal journal, Marshall (who we know in France for its dog breeding for laboratories) depicts a small girl embracing her grandmother. The message written is aimed at those who practice animal testing: “Thank you, your work with the ferrets creates cures and saves lives”. Evidently, they are not talking about the ferrets’ lives.

These are not monsters – but their actions are monstrous

With all of this propaganda surrounding us, we can understand that researchers and laboratory technicians think that their work is commendable. To tell the truth, even without this propaganda, we know that the prospect of helping to advance science helps people to put their empathy towards animals to one side.

So there is no need to talk about the violent people and sociopaths (who exist in the animal testing environment as they do elsewhere): force of habit and lack of empathy can prevent almost anyone from seeing the horror of their own actions.

Also, when a document entitled a caring career manages to pass off the image of a person cleaning a plastic box full of mice amongst around ten other identical boxes on a shelf as benevolent, it has to be said that the fight is far from over.

This article is the third in a series which will present different aspects of the FELASA 2022 congress:

  1. Transparency and communication strategies in animal testing
  2. Language elements and rhetorical fallacies in animal testing
  3. The animal testing industry makes propaganda
  4. The ethical short-sightedness of animal testing
  5. Will there soon be more primates in laboratories?

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

One Voice is campaigning for laboratory dogs in around fifteen towns in France!

One Voice is campaigning for laboratory dogs in around fifteen towns in France!

One Voice is campaigning for laboratory dogs in around fifteen towns in France!
01.09.2022
France
One Voice is campaigning for laboratory dogs in around fifteen towns in France!
Animal testing

One Voice is organising coordinated national action in around fifteen towns in France against the breeding of dogs destined for laboratories in Mézilles in Yonne and Gannat in Allier.Like every year in the first weekend of September, a rally will therefore happen in front of the Auxerre Prefecture; and in Gannat, the first anniversary of the ‘#FreeTheMBRBeaglesFrance’ will be celebrated in front of the breeding farm from this weekend.For other towns: Dignes, Nice, Troyes, Aix en Provence, La Rochelle, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Blois, Nantes, Metz, Strasbourg, Lyon, and Lille, the address, date, and time of our audience participation events are outlined at the end of the report.

At the Breeding Centre for Biological Matter (CEDS: Centre d’Élevage du Domaine des Souches) in Mézilles near Auxerre and in the Gannat breeding farm, many male and female beagles and golden retrievers suffer in their pens but this is nothing compared with what awaits. These dogs are destined for laboratory scalpels.

In 2017 in Gannat in Allier, the American giant Marshall BioResources (MBR) recommenced beagle breeding, before buying back the biggest dog breeding farm for laboratories in France, the one in Mézilles in Yonne, in 2021.

A purchase justified by the Vice President for Europe at MBR:

“One beagle in ten used in Europe [in laboratories] is imported from the United States[…] The majority of these beagles are Marshall beagles. Nowadays, the logistics are becoming a major problem since, under the pressure from activists, the possibilities of importation are becoming more and more tricky. More and more costly.

Our proceedings have avoided these breeding farms getting any bigger, and thus avoided this fate for thousands of individuals. Our investigation footage means that year after year the public can see how many dogs suffer in these breeding farms. Our actions have meant that the horror of transporting dogs for laboratories can be highlighted.

Our country is one of the ones that tests the most on dogs in Europe. The figures are increasing.

The collection of signatures on the SaveCrueltyFreeCosmetics ECI has just come to an end; we have succeeded in getting 1,413,383 European citizens involved for a Europe without animal testing! This is a massive initial victory, but the fight is not over. We still need the public to rally at key moments following events on a European level.

France must resolutely look to the future and call for an end to this suffering.

National action listing all participating local One Voice activist branches.

Consult the event before going there.
They are updated live and can be changed up until the last minute.

Department Town Online event Precise Location Time
03 Gannat – 02 & 03/09 https://www.facebook.com/events/786203849234085 15 Av. des portes Occitanes From 02 Sept. 3pm to 03 Sept., 6pm
04 Dignes – 04/09 https://www.facebook.com/events/1586861908395824/ Plan d’Eau in Dignes les bains 11am to 1:30pm
06 Nice – 10 /09 https://www.facebook.com/events/1954225988120340 Place Massena 12:15pm to 1:15pm
10 Troyes – 03/09 https://www.facebook.comevents/409220567978979 71 Rue Émile Zola 3:30pm to 6pm
13 Aix en Provence – 04/09 https://www.facebook.com/events/1060952324793429 Allées de Provence 11am to 12:30pm
17 La Rochelle – 03/09 https://www.facebook.com/events/750811346190084 Cours des Dames 2:30pm to 5pm
33 Bordeaux – 04/09 https://www.facebook.com/events/1721999478134043 Mirroir d’eau 2pm to 4pm
34 Montpellier – 03/09 https://www.facebook.com/events/370232428608142 Place de la Comédie 10:30am to 12pm
41 Blois – 04/09 https://www.facebook.com/events/414434970560539 Les 3 Clés 3pm to 4:30pm
44 Nantes – 10/09 https://www.facebook.com/events/763399314774934 Town Centre 11am to 12:30pm
57 Metz – 03/09 https://www.facebook.com/events/1111640606143032 64 Rue Serpenoise 2:30pm to 4pm
67 Strasbourg – 11/09 https://www.facebook.com/events/5290623120975066/ Rue du Corbeau 2:15pm to 4pm
69 Lyon – 24/09 https://www.facebook.com/events/1772838746381806 Place St Jean 3:00pm to 5:00pm
59 Lille – 10/09 https://www.facebook.com/events/1234890957244923/ Place Richebé 4pm to 6pm
89 Auxerre – 03/09 https://www.facebook.com/events/1357352751435732 Rue du Temple 11am to 1pm

Translated from the French by Joely Justice

At this very moment, an airline company based in Malta is sending monkeys to American laboratories!

At this very moment, an airline company based in Malta is sending monkeys to American laboratories!

At this very moment, an airline company based in Malta is sending monkeys to American laboratories!
01.09.2022
International At this very moment, an airline company based in Malta is sending monkeys to American laboratories!
Animal testing

Our partner Action for Primates has been informed that a plane belonging to Maleth-Aero — an airline company based in Malta — has just left Cambodia with 360 long-tailed macaques on board and is heading towards Houston in Texas, destined for laboratories. We think that this airline company, whose parent company is AELF FlightService, has recently stepped in to take over the trade given up by others like Egyptair. We, Action for Primates, One Voice, PETA US, and Stop Camarles, are determined to track and campaign against all airline companies who continue to take part in this cruel and inhumane trade.

During the last week, the same plane carried out another flight from Cambodia and one from Vietnam to the Dulles International Airport in the United States. We suspect that on these two occasions, the airline company transported monkeys for the research industry in order to be subjected in particular to toxicity testing (poisoning). After a stopover in Tbilisi in Georgia, the monkeys were made to take a journey totalling more than 21 hours including several hours on the ground. We have contacted American authorities to take part in our investigations when it comes to the welfare of the monkeys on board these flights.

Numerous airline companies, recently including Egyptair, Air France, and Kenya Airways, have put a stop to their involvement in this brutal worldwide trade. Subjecting sensitive and intelligent animals to the stress of being transported over long distances through numerous climates and time zones in order to send them to laboratories is inhumane.

Long-tailed macaques (native to Cambodia) have recently been classified as being an endangered species. They have therefore been put on the IUCN Red List. What is it that threatens them on an international level? The global research industry, the demand for which comes particularly from the United States, Japan, China, and the EU…

Send an email to Maleth-Aero urging the airline company to stop transporting monkeys for research purposes and for toxicity testing: charter@maleth-aero.com and admin@maleth-aero.com

Translated from the French by Joely Justice