News Archive - Page 8 of 130

Complaint on behalf of mistreated horses: One Voice defends Casimir and Gazelle in court

Complaint on behalf of mistreated horses: One Voice defends Casimir and Gazelle in court
14.11.2024
Manche
Complaint on behalf of mistreated horses: One Voice defends Casimir and Gazelle in court
Domestic animals

In September 2023, the manager of an equestrian center in the Manche region was filmed violently beating two horses. For Casimir and Gazelle, we filed a complaint as soon as we became aware of these unbelievably brutal acts, asking that they be confiscated from their torturer and entrusted to us, and that he be banned from practicing. On November 19, at 8:30 am, we will represent them as plaintiff at the Coutances legal tribunal.

In September 2023, Casimir and Gazelle were subjected to a veritable relentless assault at a Normandy riding school. While they were tied to a wall to be trimmed, the manager of the center attacked them, hitting the former on the head with a farrier’s rasp and raining pincers down on the latter’s rump. The two animals, completely distraught, tried to flee their torturer, desperately pulling on the rope by which they were held, to no avail. Like Happy before them, they had no way of escaping this outburst of violence. The video of the event did not go unnoticed. Following its publication on social networks, the gendarmerie opened an investigation.

Training as a pretext for the worst kind of violence

As for the person responsible for these acts, he claims that all he did was to “pull back into line” uncooperative, even dangerous horses, to avoid any risk of accident. In the media, it’s the same old story: his brother tells us that “you can’t train a horse (or any other animal) without being firm sometimes”. It’s a speech reminiscent of the justifications given by the pony club manager who hit Happy. Maltreatment under the guise of education, then. And people for whom it’s obviously easier to brutalize and traumatize the equines in their care than to try and understand the reasons for their malaise.

Casimir and Gazelle must be kept safe

It is unthinkable that someone capable of beating animals up, and finding it perfectly natural, should continue to work with them. To protect Casimir and Gazelle, we have filed a complaint against the stable manager who mistreated them, and demand that they be taken to safety. We are also demanding that the defendant no longer be allowed to work with animals.

On November 19, at 8:30 am, we will be at the Coutances legal tribunal as plaintiff. For Casimir, Gazelle and all the other horses and ponies, sign our petition to obtain pet status.

For Grenoble’s stray cats, inauguration of a second Chatipi on November 22 at noon

For Grenoble’s stray cats, inauguration of a second Chatipi on November 22 at noon
13.11.2024
Isère
For Grenoble’s stray cats, inauguration of a second Chatipi on November 22 at noon
Domestic animals

One Voice, which has been fighting feline straying for many years, has set up three-way partnerships with town councils (or places such as hospitals or retirement homes) and local associations, to microchip, sterilize and care for homeless cats, then release them by providing them with a wooden chalet for hydration, food and shelter.

In Grenoble, this is the second time that One Voice and the town council have worked together to ensure the well-being of stray cats. There will be an exchange with the press for the inauguration of the second Chatipi at noon on Friday, November 22, in the green space at 86 Anatole France street.

Chatipi, a lasting solution to feline straying vicious circle

Chatipi is more than just a cottage: it’s an ethical initiative aimed at creating living spaces for stray cats, helping them while raising public awareness of their plight, their needs and the importance of having them sterilized.

To date, some sixty Chatipis have already been installed throughout France in public areas, in partnership with town halls, or in health establishments such as nursing homes or hospitals.

Indeed, life outdoors remains a cause of great suffering for our feline companions, who fall ill far more often than those living with their families, have to contend with bad weather and sometimes even human malevolence.

In Grenoble, a first project was launched in 2022. To support the town council’s commitment, One Voice has decided to launch a second one. The Chatipi space has been set up in the Mistral district, in Anatole France street, on a site that has been completely transformed: the public buildings have been demolished, and a wooded area will now be home to the Chatipi’s resident cats.

Thanks to a partnership between the city of Grenoble and the Judicial Protection of Youth, young people in rehabilitation have also been involved in the project. It’s a way of bringing together some of the most vulnerable members of society: cats without families and young people in difficulty.

Distribution of tasks and responsibilities

Currently, six cats benefit from the Chatipi space.

One Voice, which invented the Chatipi concept, provided the chalet and cat flaps, and is paying for several kilos of kibble and veterinary expenses (sterilizations, microchipping, tests) for the cats at the start of the project, as well as the educational panel.

For its part, the town council has made the site available, carried out the construction work around the Chatipi (site preparation, tree planting) and is responsible for site management and maintenance.

The Cosa Animalia association and its volunteers are responsible for feeding the cats on a daily basis, and for trapping and transporting them to the veterinary clinic for treatment and sterilization.

As part of a partnership between the city of Grenoble and the Judicial Protection of Youth, the chalet and supporting floor have been assembled and fitted out by local young people undergoing rehabilitation. These young people may be called upon to assist the managing association in the upkeep of the Chatipi in the future.

The inauguration will take place on Friday, November 22 at noon in the green space at 86, Anatole France street. It will be attended by Andrea Argemi, president of the Cosa Animalia association, Sandra Krief, deputy mayor, responsible for animal welfare, Gilles Namur, deputy mayor, responsible for public spaces – nature in the city – biodiversity and freshness, revegetation, Thierry Chastagner, deputy mayor, responsible for Grenoble’s civil security, and Mathilde Perrot, head of the Chatipi project for One Voice. Representatives of the Judicial Protection of Youth and the young people who took part in the project are also expected to attend.

One Voice website dedicated to the Chatipi program provides a wealth of information on this educational program in favor of cats.

Sign the petition to demand an emergency plan for feline straying.

Two hearings to be held against the massacres of wild boars, unjustly considered dangerous

Two hearings to be held against the massacres of wild boars, unjustly considered dangerous
12.11.2024
France
Two hearings to be held against the massacres of wild boars, unjustly considered dangerous
Hunting

While wild boars are already hunted down during the hunting season, the prefects of the Hautes-Alpes region and Corsica have authorized a new, unlimited attack on them. Beat hunts are becoming permanent and arbitrary, based on unfounded decisions. On November 14 and 21, we’ll be before the judges in Marseille and Bastia.

Wild boars know no respite. Even though they have been hunted since June, they have also been targeted in certain regions by prefectoral decisions authorizing administrative beat hunts at every turn.

In the Hautes-Alpes region, such administrative beat hunts can now be organized “by any means” since October 15, and throughout the year, in hunting zones that were initially prohibited…

In Corsica, shooting is allowed from September 30 to December 31, day and night, and cages have been installed to capture them more easily. Even the use of light sources, which panic the animals and leave them no chance, is tolerated.

An inappropriate response to “overpopulation”

Considered “too numerous” and “dangerous” by the State, adults and young boars are massacred in all seasons.

Constantly persecuted, wild boars are allegedly decreed to be “overabundant” by prefects. These decisions are completely at odds with scientific data showing that it is hunting itself that increases wild boar numbers: for every animal killed, additional births are systematically observed… Incessant stalking causes the death of the strongest males, who usually monopolize the females. This in turn leads to a greater diversity of young males when they come into contact with the females, further boosting fertility.

False and unlawful grounds

To justify the unjustifiable, prefects are prepared to go to any lengths. After the dogs in the Aveyron region, they have now moved on to wild sows and their young, which are said to behave “suspiciously towards human beings”. In the decree, the PACA region considers them to be “evil”, despite the fact that this term has been legally abolished.

In reality, wild boars are harmless by nature. And it’s the constant stalking that causes them to flee, increases their movements, and sometimes even leads them to defend themselves when they try to protect themselves.

To fight against their massacre, we will be present at the Marseille administrative court on November 14 at 2:30 pm, and at the Bastia administrative court on November 21 at 2 pm. And to oppose the persecution of wild animals, sign our petition for a radical reform of hunting!

Who’s afraid of pastoralism?

Who’s afraid of pastoralism?
12.11.2024
Who’s afraid of pastoralism?
Wildlife

Enemies of wolves regularly pit them against pastoralism, as if this form of farming were the guarantor of a healthy mountain environment. However, today’s herd densities and intensive grazing methods are actually putting pressure on the environment, its resources and the wild species that live there. Let’s stop telling stories: if there’s one species to fear in the alpine pastures, it’s our own.

Pastoralism. A gentle word that evokes for many the communion of shepherds and flocks at the heart of grandiose landscapes. This bucolic image almost makes you think that sheep, cows and goats grazing all together in the open air will never end up in the slaughterhouse. And even that all these animals together represent the future of our mountains! Let’s set the record straight. At a time when some farmers’ unions are attacking wolves, accusing them of endangering pastoralism and, through it, the preservation of the environment and biodiversity as a whole, it’s time to remind people about certain truths that are light years from common preconceptions.

No longer a traditional practice

Pastoralism is often described as “extensive” and praised for its positive impact on the environment. It may have its origins in the early Neolithic period (some 6,000 years ago) in the mountains of our country, but it no longer has much in common with that of our ancestors. Gone are the days of traditional transhumance, when shepherds would accompany their animals for days on end to summer pastures, regularly changing their stopping place and looking after each member of the small group. Only a handful of shepherds and breeders still operate in this way, trying to maintain a certain mobility in a territory monopolized by large-scale farmers.

With the advent of industrial livestock farming, most flocks have considerably increased in size: some are as large as 2,000 ewes and their lambs. Now transported to higher altitudes in livestock trucks, they trample in summer pastures in the same place for months on end, often without the slightest guarding or protection measures, even though these are subsidized! This situation leads to overgrazing of the meadows, with dramatic consequences. “Scientific studies show that, on a local scale, pastoral activities can have a negative impact on soil and plant communities structure, on the nutrient cycle, and on high mountain safety (avalanche risk). On a larger scale, pastoralism can lead to declining populations of invertebrates (especially soil fauna) and vertebrates with which livestock compete (regional scale), and even contribute to increasing the risks associated with flooding (soil erosion) and global change (global scale)”, explain researchers Philippe Gaubert and Sean Heighton in the report we are publishing. So we’re a long way from, and often the exact opposite of, the famous ecosystem services put forward by pastoral stakeholders and users…

Wolves are not the “bad guys”

Yet these same stakeholders and users – industrial breeders and hunters, in this case – have no qualms about attacking wolves, accusing them of undermining their so-called heritage and natural practices. To maintain their stranglehold on all living things, they do not hesitate to spread untruths about both the benefits of modern pastoralism and the misdeeds of wolves, with whom they refuse to cohabit.

Upon consideration, it’s wildlife, including large predators, that is the victim of pastoralism. Not the other way around. In the report by our two conservation specialists, we understand that between the over-exploitation of plant resources, the increasing scarcity of forests, the health risks associated with the use of dewormers with a delayed effect, the transmission of diseases by domestic animals, the pressure on ecological restoration zones, the deterioration in the quality of waterways, it takes a brave one to manage to survive in highly anthropized and aggressive areas…

And when a few wolves manage to do so, they’re attacked and shot at, as if they were nature’s worst adversaries. We must be dreaming… Because, without fanfare, they are in fact the true guardians of biodiversity...

Read our detailed report, and join us in stopping the persecution of wolves by signing our petition.

No to the presence of children at bullfights and cockfights

No to the presence of children at bullfights and cockfights
13.11.2024
No to the presence of children at bullfights and cockfights
Bull fighting

This Thursday, November 14, Senator Samantha Cazebonne’s bill to ban the presence of minors under the age of 16 at bullfights and cockfights will be examined by the Senate. This proposal is supported by One Voice, which has infiltrated bullfighting schools on several occasions.

While awareness of respect for animals and their welfare has just been introduced into the curriculum for Year 2 classes in 2024, paradoxically, these same children, in the middle of psychological development, can still witness scenes of unheard-of violence at bullfights and cockfights.

Infiltration of bullfighting schools

On several occasions, One Voice has investigated bullfighting schools, veritable “training centers” for teaching youngsters to become animal torturers and killers. From as young as 6 years old, they can be confronted with young cows, or even calves, incited by adults to torment them. Killing by inexperienced teenagers is slow and painful, and amounts to a veritable torture session.

Let us say it once again: bullfighting is forbidden in France, as it is tantamount to cruelty and severe mistreatment to animals. Only a few towns in the south of France are authorized to hold bullfights because of an exemption. How can we explain the fact that children cannot attend such illegal “shows” in some regions, but can do so in others, and are even allowed to take part in the killings?

One Voice supports senators Samantha Cazebonne and Arnaud Bazin and their co-signatories, who have the courage to put forward this proposal.

Sign the petition calling for a ban on the presence of children in bullrings and the closure of bullfighting schools, and call out to your local mayor.

Thousands of macaques in distress: revelations about their transport conditions to laboratories

Thousands of macaques in distress: revelations about their transport conditions to laboratories
13.11.2024
Thousands of macaques in distress: revelations about their transport conditions to laboratories
Animal testing

One Voice reveals the information and photos gathered by our friends at Animal Rights on the conditions under which monkeys are flown in to supply European and American laboratories. Reports and images reveal the brutal and deadly reality of this international trade, centered around Brussels airport, one of the world’s hubs for sending laboratory animals to Europe and the United States. In 2024 alone, several thousand macaques passed through the airport.

Endless flight hours in unbearable conditions

As we reported in 2023, long-tailed macaques are captured from the wild in Mauritius for use in laboratories around the world. But before they get there, they endure a harrowing journey. They are locked up in small wooden crates, shipped by the dozens, even hundreds, by airlines such as BinAir, SkyTaxi, and RAF-AVIA. These boxes, with simple openings for ventilation, isolate each primate in a space so cramped that they can’t even stand upright normally. The photos speak for themselves: huddled beings, terrified and clearly exhausted by these extreme conditions.

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Serial injuries, stress and death

Inspection reports¹ reveal some chilling facts: during a shipment to the UK in July 2023, it was noted that the macaques traveled in a hold with a temperature of 10°C, far too cold for them. The inspector admitted that this temperature did not comply with standards, yet the shipment was authorized.

And that’s not all… On another trip, one of the macaques suffered from anal prolapse, a serious, hemorrhagic injury. However, the inspector approved the transfer, describing the injury as “minor” and considered that further treatment would suffice. The photos show a different reality: the monkey and the walls of their cage are covered in blood. Here’s an absurdity: European regulations prohibit the transport of “farmed” animals with anal prolapse, but do not apply to those intended for laboratories, which can therefore be transported with mortal wounds. Animal Rights has filed a complaint for allowing these monkeys to board these flights.

And it doesn’t stop there. Last July, on a flight to New York JFK, a macaque was found dead in its crate on arrival. In fact, in some reports, our closest cousins, when found dead on arrival, are simply crossed off the list on the delivery note and considered as “units” deducted from the total, which will certainly not be charged…

France is also concerned by this trade, of which macaques are the first victims…

Call to action: let’s put an end to this sordid trade

We call on Brussels airport to put an immediate stop to the monkey trade. These practices must stop!

Join us in demanding an end to the use of macaques in laboratories by signing our petition.

¹The information was obtained in the form of inspection reports received from the Flemish Animal Welfare Department for the period January 2023 to August 2024. These reports concern monkeys sent from Brussels airports to the UK, Germany, France, Spain and the USA.

Four lionesses and a tigress locked in a circus trailer: Free Life and One Voice take legal action

Four lionesses and a tigress locked in a circus trailer: Free Life and One Voice take legal action
11.11.2024
Allier
Four lionesses and a tigress locked in a circus trailer: Free Life and One Voice take legal action
Circuses

In January 2023, in the Allier region, we investigated the conditions in which the animals exploited by the Ricardo Zavatta circus were kept. The lionesses and a tigress were vegetating in an empty trailer from which they never left, deprived of everything. Illegal acts and a source of great suffering for these felines. With our partner Free Life, we immediately filed a complaint against the Gougeon brothers. On Thursday November 14, at 9 a.m., we’ll face them at the Bourges legal tribunal.

At the start of 2023, we spent six days investigating the Ricardo Zavatta circus when it was in the Allier region. We discovered four lionesses and a white tigress with skin problems, all penned in a trailer. Like the tigers we rescued from Mario Masson’s clutches after nearly two years of investigation, they had no access to the outside world at any time, forced to turn round and round endlessly to survive the intense stress of confinement. What about the “relaxation” park where they should be able to relieve their numb limbs for at least four hours a day? In almost a week, the circus owners have not installed it once, in flagrant violation of regulations. Other shortcomings: the felines were not provided with scratching posts or facilities for climbing to heights or bathing. Nothing to help them out of their suffering, to the point where they were reduced to trying to scratch the bars… On their behalf, we filed a complaint with our partner Free Life.

Control and seizure finally organized…

Unsurprisingly, the trainers left the region after we took legal action. It wasn’t until June 2023, when the Gougeon brothers had set up illegally in the town of Santranges, in the Cher region, that the French Biodiversity Agency inspected the circus. The inspectors found everything we had been denouncing for the past six months. Not only did the animals still have no access to the outside world, but some were not even identified, leaving the door open to all kinds of trafficking… A rare event: the lionesses and the tigress were finally seized by the authorities and placed in a refuge.

…while other animals are still going through hell

How long have they been suffering like this, trapped alive? The passing of the November 2021 law failed miserably to put an end to the ordeal of animals exploited by trainers. The breeding of wild animals, which was supposed to have been banned on December 1, 2023, is going as well as ever, and the authorities are turning a blind eye to our efforts to ensure that Samba and Jumbo are placed in a sanctuary before they die, like Dumba, or are sent abroad to places to die, like Baby. We will not abandon them in the face of these laws, which are systematically flouted without any reaction from the authorities!

On November 14, at 9 a.m., we’ll be at the Bourges legal tribunal to speak out on behalf of the four lionesses and the tigress mistreated by the Gougeon brothers. We demand that they be definitively confiscated and that they be given the right to retire in an environment that respects their needs.

Council of State hearing on November 8 for circus animals

Council of State hearing on November 8 for circus animals
07.11.2024
Paris, France
Council of State hearing on November 8 for circus animals
Exploitation for shows

Itinerant or not, circuses exploiting animals impose on them a life of violence and despair. Yet French law considers that spending one’s life behind bars and under the threat of the whip is tolerable under certain conditions, when the prison is fixed. In this respect, we have submitted a priority preliminary ruling on the issue of constitutionality to the Council of State. Tomorrow, November 8 at 2pm, it will decide whether it should be referred to the Constitutional Council.

The law of November 30, 2021 could have put a definitive end to the exploitation of wild animals in circuses, as is already the case in many countries. Instead, the law makes an aberrant distinction: it bans the use of wild animals in traveling circuses from 2028 onwards, presenting this as a major step forward, while allowing permanent circuses to continue. A crucial distinction. And fatal to all the felines, elephants, monkeys, etc., locked up in circus tents.

Permanent or travelling circuses: equal suffering for animals

This same law also announced in article 46 that “foster solutions for animals are offered to their owners. These solutions guarantee that the animals will be taken in under conditions that ensure their well-being.”

Yet our leaders seem absolutely determined to change their aims. The 800 or so wild animals in circuses are not likely to be left in peace anytime soon. Last year, the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion itself proposed the sedentarization of itinerant establishments – a heresy we’d been denouncing for months – through the decree of July 3, 2023 “making equivalent the certificates of capacity for presentation to the public of animals of non-domestic species within itinerant establishments and the certificates of capacity for presentation to the public of animals of non-domestic species within fixed establishments”. In short, circus performers are being offered the chance to “retrain”. Once the cage-trucks are safely parked, confinement and violent training can continue. As for the retirement of animals and their placement in sanctuaries, we can forget about it!

We challenged this decree immediately after its publication last year. As part of this request, we are drawing attention to the distinction between permanent and itinerant establishments, and have filed a priority question of constitutionality. A hearing will take place tomorrow, November 8 at 2pm at the Council of State, which will decide whether it should be forwarded to the Constitutional Council for analysis.

Join us in calling for a ban on the exploitation of animals in circuses.

Incitement to poach wolves: legal power struggle with Coordination Rurale 87

Incitement to poach wolves: legal power struggle with Coordination Rurale 87
21.10.2024
Incitement to poach wolves: legal power struggle with Coordination Rurale 87
Wildlife

Last July, the Coordination Rurale de Haute-Vienne (CR 87) syndicate published a communiqué and posters on its website inciting hunters and farmers to illegally cull wolves. Almost three months later, the incitements to hatred are still online. We take the agricultural union to court. Hearing at the Limoges judicial court on November 6 at 2:00 pm.

“1,000€ bounty to anyone who brings back a dead wolf”, proclaimed the Coordination rurale de Haute-Vienne syndicate online – via posters and press release – on July 26, 2024. We immediately sent a formal notice by a bailiff to the union, so that they would stop calling to poaching, reminding them of the law and confirming that we would lodge a complaint against them and the poachers if a wolf was illegally killed in the region.

Although we never received a reply, we did learn through the media that our letter had been received:

“I received the summons this morning (Thursday August 1). They’re warning us, but there’s nothing more they can do. As far as we’re concerned, we’re not going to take down our posters”, boasted Thomas Hégarty, President of the CR 87, to the press. And so, the CR 87 sticks to its guns, demonstrating that it has no hesitation in officially flouting the law to persecute wolves.

In order to defend these wonderful animals, who should have their place in nature, and because we can’t let the agricultural lobby go after them in defiance of regulations and in the name of the sacrosanct “protection of livestock farming” (need we remind them that farmers supposedly devastated by the death of their ewes are not traumatized when it comes to sending them to the slaughterhouse?), we have taken the Coordination Rurale de Haute-Vienne to court. Rendezvous at the Limoges legal tribunal on November 6 at 2:00 pm.

Support our fight for the wolves, who only want to live in peace: sign our petition.

CNRS project: a national primatology center to “produce” half of the macaques destined for French laboratories

CNRS project: a national primatology center to “produce” half of the macaques destined for French laboratories
30.10.2024
Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
CNRS project: a national primatology center to “produce” half of the macaques destined for French laboratories
Animal testing

Already this summer, One Voice revealed that the current Rousset primatology station would be transformed into a national primatology center at taxpayers’ expense, to the tune of 30 million euros. The center is now looking for a director with proven project management experience to ensure its success. The aim is to “produce 40% of French academic research needs in cynomolgus macaques”.

To combat this project, which is totally at odds with the European Directive that calls for a reduction in the number of animals used in experiments, One Voice has set up a working group made up of various experts, including primatologists and veterinarians.

After having spent 10 million euros to import 500 Mauritian female monkeys for the CNRS, the French government is doing it again with the creation of this national-scale experimentation laboratory.

The emerging project seems to have a sad fate in store for the monkeys of the national primatology center.

In order to learn more about the fate that awaits them, One Voice has taken the lead and is requesting all documents concerning the monkeys, to ensure greater transparency on this project.

CNRS guarantees French leadership in primate experimentation

If there’s one area in which France excels, it’s animal testing. Since 2020, our country has used more than half of all monkeys registered in Europe for testing. Although three quarters of French people remain firmly opposed to animal experimentation, the CNRS is delighted to be able to eventually breed 40% of the crab-eating macaques used for testing in France.

This means almost tripling its monkey capacity, from the current 600 to 1,740. And let’s not forget that, once the procedures have been completed, the animals are generally slaughtered, making way for new sufferers.

Crab-eating macaques, an endangered species

These little monkeys are the sad favorites of the pharmaceutical industry. They even have the right to the little name of “cynomolgus macaques” in this field.

However, they have been classified as an “endangered” species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species since 2022. Despite alarming signals, they continue to be the most widely used primate species for testing. Rather than changing its practices and becoming a leader in alternatives to animal testing, France is maintaining its course of action.

The Covid-19 epidemic has unfortunately put the spotlight on these monkeys, which have fallen prey to the biomedical industry. If nothing is done, their population could be halved within the next forty years.

We must continue to stand up for the victims of these painful procedures!

As we await a transparent response to the projects in question, we’re counting on you to help us put an end to these cruel and outdated practices. Keep writing to the authorities, calling on the Minister and the CNRS!

And join us in calling for an end to the use of macaques in laboratories by signing our petition.

Download the letter to the Minister of Higher Education and Research.

Download the letter to the CNRS.