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The torture has ended for Hannah, Céleste, Patty and Marli

The torture has ended for Hannah, Céleste, Patty and Marli
15.07.2020
France
The torture has ended for Hannah, Céleste, Patty and Marli
Exploitation for shows

They are about fifteen years old. Like Jon, they were born in a wagon and have never known anything but the metal floor and bars of their cages, with no protection from the cold of winter nor the heat of summer. Hannah, Céleste, Patty and Marli, the four lionesses that we have saved, bear the physical and psychological stigmata of the hell that was their life in the circus.

Their distress is pitiful to witness. Their long ordeal has left deep scars on Hannah, Céleste, Patty and Marli. Their poor bruised bodies bear witness to the suffering that the four lionesses have endured since they came into the world: captivity, hunger, injuries, repeated pregnancies for the lucrative trade in cubs and, of course, training. Our investigators have visited and filmed many circus performances and menageries but were struck by the extreme violence of the act that the lionesses had to perform before they were seized. Under the threat of the whip, terrorised, they found it difficult to move, even just to stand up.

A heart-wrenching rescue

And for a good reason: only when we saved them on 7 July and got as close as possible to them were we able to see just what a deplorable state they were in. We had charged our partner Natuurhulpcentrum with transferring them from the circus to the refuge of Tonga Terre d’Accueil, to whom we have entrusted their day-to-day care whilst we have overall responsibility for them until the circus appears in court. When they arrived at the refuge the four lionesses were gaunt, haggard and covered in injuries caused by beatings. Their teeth had been removed and they were so weak that they staggered. Hannah was the first to leave the travel crate, calmly, watching us with her large eyes. We immediately noticed that she had difficulty walking because her hindquarters were unstable. Then Céleste, Patty and Marli followed in turn, not all at the same rate but commensurate with their level of anxiety. It became obvious that Marli was particularly stressed. It was an hour and a half before she had plucked up enough courage to enter the den, trembling all over, traumatised both physically and psychologically.

Discovering a taste for life

The lionesses seemed delighted to discover their new living quarters. It was wonderful to see them trying to sharpen their claws on big tree-trunks, enjoying the comfort of clean, soft ground under their paws, lounging on their backs without a care, eating their fill… It was a very emotional experience to watch Patty – the thinnest of the four, with her deformed left hip, her very weak hind-quarters often causing her to fall – grab the big ball with which Jon also likes playing so much. As soon as she saw it she didn’t want to let go of it. It was amazing to see an animal, after fifteen years of privations, clinging to this toy as if it were a priceless treasure. But we were also angry that these elderly lionesses had known nothing up to now but an empty cage on the cold and dirty floor of the trainer’s wagon.

Healing the wounds

It will be a long time before Hannah, Céleste, Patty and Marli recover from their unimaginable suffering. The report the vet drew up on 9 July, based for the moment on visual observations alone, is already extremely worrying. What will be revealed when these big cats are examined more thoroughly once they can withstand being anaesthetised? We fear the worst. They are old and worn out from their lifelong ordeal. For now we are pleased to be able to offer them a period during which they can convalesce and recuperate in the hope that it may save them. For now they are going to be looked after, build up their strength and put on weight. The day after they arrived at the refuge they were already able to leave their dens to explore the outside area. Walking on the grass, lying in the sun and snuggling up to one another are all extremely beneficial to them. Being together reassures them and helps them to remain confident about the future. Soon, when they have been given a full health check, they will be reunited with Jon, who can already see them and communicate with them at a distance. Let’s hope they will soon recover from their ordeal and bounce back to health.

Translated from the French by Patricia Fairey

Open letter for the attention of Barbara Pompili

Open letter for the attention of Barbara Pompili
08.07.2020
France
Open letter for the attention of Barbara Pompili
Other campaign or multi-campaigns of One Voice

We are publishing this open letter to Barbara Pompili, our new Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy. The long-awaited announcements on animal welfare have still not been made. The hearing in the Council of State on the dolphinarium decree, initially expected to take place tomorrow, 9 July 2020, has just been postponed because the Ministry is making more promises of progress for animals. Meanwhile cetaceans in dolphinariums and individuals held captive in circuses are dying. Urgent steps must be taken.

Mrs Barbara Pompili
Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy

Hôtel de Roquelaure
244 boulevard Saint-Germain
75007 Paris

Vannes, 8 July 2020

Please accept our heartfelt congratulations on your appointment to the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy.

We hope that your Ministry will finally be able to set a definitive timetable for the measures announced by your two predecessors on wild animals held in captivity and in particular on dolphinariums, the breeding of animals for their fur and non-domestic animals performing in travelling shows, given that our association was the rapporteur of the group on ‘breeding animals for their fur’ and took an active part in the group on ‘wild animals in travelling shows’ and in the one on ‘dolphinariums’.

We note your letter of 6 July 2020 to the Council of State relating to the action for failure to fulfil obligations brought against your Ministry on the question of the banning of keeping cetaceans, which is the reason the hearing initially expected to take place on 9 July 2020 was postponed.

We note, under the terms of this additional statement:

that at the request of the Prime Minister’s Cabinet and following the interministerial meeting of 13 February 2020 you submitted various scenarios relating to measures to be adopted to improve animal welfare,
that this process was suspended because of the health emergency,
that in the case of cetaceans, however, you still wish to adopt measures to improve their welfare.

Nevertheless we should like certain measures to be adopted as a matter of urgency in order to avoid unnecessary suffering.

1. As regards non-domestic animals exhibited in travelling shows

The recent seizure of the lion renamed Jon and of four lionesses kept by the Cirque de Paris and hand-over to our association revealed the mistreatment to which these animals had been subjected. This case echoes that of the bears Micha, Glasha and Bony, but also that of the lion Elyo/Nal and of the elephant Baby, and before her Maya.This list is by no means exhaustive since many others are suffering from being kept in conditions that are totally unsuitable for their basic needs.

We have sent reports to your Ministry written by scientists who are experts in animal welfare (Prof. Harris, Prof. Broom) arguing for an end to such activities, which do not fulfil the physiological and behavioural needs of these animals. We can provide you with these reports along with the scientific and legal files relating to the individuals that we are defending in judicial or administrative courts.

That is why, pending legislation banning these activities once and for all, we are calling on you to take a decision as a matter of urgency confirming the ban on breeding non-domestic mammals and arranging for them to be seized immediately from establishments that keep them.

2. As regards dolphinariums

Since the decree of 3 May 2017 was revoked by the Council of State owing to a procedural irregularity, the breeding of dolphins has once again been authorized in these establishments.

The situation is extremely worrying.

In fact since January 2020 three dolphins have died in French dolphinariums. Lotty’s calf died at Marineland only a few hours after he was born. On 16 June 2020 a dolphin calf died at Planète Sauvage eight days after he was born.

Captive breeding and exchanges of individuals between establishments cause great suffering to these extremely sensitive animals, which are socially complex and have extraordinary cognitive abilities.

It is because of these social and cognitive abilities that in the Declaration of Vancouver of 2012 scientists stated that cetaceans must be deemed to be people and therefore be protected by a number of rights.

In addition, at the 11^thMeeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species, the UN recognised that « a certain number of socially complex mammal species, such as several species of cetacean, great ape and elephant, show that they have a non-human culture ».

In the light of all these elements we call on you to adopt, as a matter of urgency, a fresh decree banning the breeding, exchange and importing of any new cetacean in French dolphinariums.

Thank you for your attention to this correspondence.

Yours sincerely,

Muriel Arnal
Chair of One Voice

Translated from the French by Patricia Fairey

Unprecedented in France: the action of One Voice results in four lionesses being seized from a circus because of ill-treatment

Unprecedented in France: the action of One Voice results in four lionesses being seized from a circus because of ill-treatment
07.07.2020
France
Unprecedented in France: the action of One Voice results in four lionesses being seized from a circus because of ill-treatment
Exploitation for shows

This morning, 7 July 2020, Hannah, Patty, Céleste and Marli, the companions of Jon, were saved from the circus and should reach the refuge Tonga Terre d’Accueil by the end of the day. The prefecture ordered their seizure and entrusted them to One Voice, now the legal guardian of the four lionesses.

The circus that was holding them was intercepted near the Belgian border a few days after an inspection ordered by the prefecture on the condition of the animals had come to irrefutable conclusions. One Voice has arranged for its partner Natuurhulpcentrum to transfer the lionesses from the circus to the refuge Tonga Terre d’Accueil, to which it is entrusting their day-to-day care until they can be reunited with Jon.

It is the very first time that animals have been seized from a circus at the request of an association because of ill-treatment.

Saving animals from circuses means saving them from death

Muriel Arnal, Founder and Chair of One Voice, states: «When One Voice launched its campaign twenty years ago (1) nobody imagined what the reality of circus life was for the animals. Today the fate of Jon and his companions shows that circuses not only make animals suffer, they also make them die.»

If a circus wants to make savings or no longer needs its animals, it will starve them to death. However the Ministry of Ecology has no register of these animals even though they belong to threatened species, and as big cats are frequently trafficked between circuses they are immediately replaced.

Between unwillingness to break the code of silence and inability to follow the regulations

The trainer told the vets and the authorities that he didn’t even know the names of the animals shut up in its wagons! The report of the Departmental Office for the Protection of the Public (which includes veterinary services) for the month to 22 June 2020 mentions the register of arrivals and departures and the register of the care given to the animals but it is impossible to consult them because they are alleged to have been stolen from the trainer’s brother, a trainer in another circus, after he had unfortunately taken them off to the South of France. As for transparency, we’ll come back to that. The animals’ papers, where they exist, are sent by e-mail in the form of scans, and often the identifications do not correspond or even are impossible to verify. According to Jon’s chip he belongs to another circus belonging to another member of the family.

A vet’s report that cannot be refuted: the lionesses are in bad health

Limping, injuries, muscle wasting, loss of posterior motor function – the lionesses have a body condition score of 2/5, at best 2.5 out of 5! It is likely that they too have had their front paws declawed, which is illegal, and their fangs (canines) broken.

Muriel Arnal adds: «We are dealing with wild animals that are disappearing in nature and on which the worst cruelty is being inflicted totally illegally. Every time we have sounded the alarm bell the suggestion has been to have a meeting. But why is no action being taken? Sitting round a table talking about it is all well and good but in the meantime the animals are still in the wagons! Will the minister, Barbara Pompili, be brave enough to waste no time in issuing the long-awaited decree, as most of our neighbours have already done? We hope so. Meanwhile, if we have to rescue these animals from circuses one by one, that’s what we shall do.»

The French Office for Biodiversity and the prefecture have answered our call

A big thank you to all the officials of the French Office for Biodiversity for their unfailing support in this case, along with the Public Prosecutor’s Department of Evreux. We must also give very warm thanks to Jérôme Filippini, the new Prefect of the Eure, who realized the importance of this case and made it possible to organize the seizure of Jon, then of Hannah, Patty, Céleste and Marli. The prefecture is filing a complaint against the circus for ill-treatment of Hannah, Patty, Céleste and Marli and is also to revoke the certificate of competence (which allows the trainer to exploit animals).

And we shall see the trainers in court, where all the evidence will be presented and they will have to answer for the ill-treatment inflicted on these five lions.

(1) https://cirques-sans-animaux.fr

Translated from the French by Patricia Fairey

In the kennels of the ‘barking dogs’, the punishment is electric

In the kennels of the ‘barking dogs’, the punishment is electric
03.07.2020
France
In the kennels of the ‘barking dogs’, the punishment is electric
Domestic animals

After a report from one of our whistleblowers, One Voice has carried out a new investigation in hunting circles, this time in Hérault.

In the kennels of the ‘barking dogs’, silence is the order of the day. The enclosures are neat and tidy, the animals almost timid. Our investigators have brought back numerous images, which have enabled us to understand why.

There are thirteen dogs, including pregnant bitches and a mother with her litter of pups. However it is not called a breeding establishment despite the regulations that, once again, do not apply when the dogs they are supposed to protect are bred for hunting. A scandal that must cease!

Cleanliness is not enough

The ground is fairly clean but unsuitable. The concrete paving slabs are rough and do not allow urine and other effluent to run off. Yet the dogs have to sleep on the ground.
All the individual kennels are different. Some do not comply with the regulations, not even being waterproof! Plastic barrels, sheets of metal – that’s all most of the dogs have for shelter, and in some enclosures there aren’t even enough for the number of dogs.

Summer and winter alike, nothing for protection

There is no bedding in the kennels either, not even in winter, and they do not face south. However it snows in this region! Heat in summer, cold and damp in winter, and enclosures that are too small. That is what these dogs suffer, unprotected from the elements. In addition, one of them has serious skin problems on its paws, which seem not to have been treated.

Silence

But the main impression from looking at the photos taken by our investigators is the near-silence that prevails here. A stranger entering kennels should give rise to a cacophony of barking. Here, on the other hand, the dogs watch, fearful, without a sound. Here, barking means suffering. Eleven dogs wear a veritable instrument of torture around their necks: a box fitted with two electrodes, which gives them an electric shock if they vocalize! Even worse, they have been tampered with by Mr J. A metal thread has been added to make the pain even worse. So they keep quiet.

The use of electric collars is dangerous

Electric collars are already prohibited in many countries: Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Wales, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Slovenia, Scotland and England.
One Voice is fighting for these cruel and dangerous devices to be banned in France since they may cause:

contraction of the muscles;
burns;
contraction of the respiratory muscles, which may lead to death by asphyxiation;
ventricular fibrillation.

For the dogs in these kennels, any vocalization is permanently suppressed. That means that they cannot not even communicate normally among themselves. Being a hunting dog is definitely not a good life. This is a long way from the image of dogs frolicking in the forest that some hunters would have us believe! One Voice has made a complaint and applied for them to be seized and safely rehoused as soon as possible. This lack of protection for dogs exploited for hunting must stop. They are no different from those we keep as pets and should benefit from the same protection.

Translated from the French by Patricia Fairey

Ode to Orcas: young people speak out for the release of captive orcas

Ode to Orcas: young people speak out for the release of captive orcas
01.07.2020
France
Ode to Orcas: young people speak out for the release of captive orcas
Exploitation for shows

During the lockdown one class of scientific sixth-formers worked with their teacher on captivity, and on orcas in particular. After an on-line meeting that we organised with former orca trainer at SeaWorld and Marineland Antibes, John Hargrove, here is their collection of poems, Ode to Orcas.

Having been strongly affected by the sad fate of Inouk and of the orcas held in Marineland in Antibes at the time of our action with John Hargrove in the dolphinarium and outside the prefecture, Mrs Wilson, an English teacher at Lycée Le Rebours, a private school in Paris, had contacted us a few months ago to ask us to organise a video meeting with her class.

This meeting between the young people, confined at home during the pandemic, and John Hargrove, also confined to his home in New York, was supervised and organised by our team and took place in somewhat unusual conditions. But during this strange period everyone found out for themselves how difficult it was to be deprived of freedom of movement and contact with loved ones. The sharpness of their perception was shown by the questions that the young people asked, in English, about the mistreatment that captivity means for cetaceans.

As well as doing a lot of research on the subject and taking part in the private meeting, the class produced a collection of poems in English, an Ode to Orcas, which they presented to us and to John.

Well done to them, and to their teacher, for the part they played in this project!

There are several things you can do to help us to get dolphinariums shut down, including signing our petition!

Translated from the French by Patricia Fairey

Botulinum toxin: for the mice, the fight continues!

Botulinum toxin: for the mice, the fight continues!
29.06.2020
France
Botulinum toxin: for the mice, the fight continues!
Animal testing

We thought their ordeal was almost over, alternative methods being preferred – finally – by the major laboratories. But there is one that still uses the cruel LD50 test: Sloan Pharma continues to sacrifice mice by the thousand! A week of action has been organized from 29 June to 4 July in order to persuade this company to follow the path of progress. Help us to stop mice being poisoned!

Progress and ethics

Under pressure from the ECEAE (European Coalition to End Animal Experiments), of which One Voice is the French representative, the laboratories of Allergan, Merz and IPSEN have one after the other chosen to use experimental methods that are for the most part more modern, efficient and ethical, thus halting the annual massacre of thousands of mice. However Sloan Pharma killed 46,800 in 2019 alone!

How the mice suffer

Mice are injected with botulinum toxin and remain conscious while paralysis slowly sets in. They suffocate for a long time before dying of asphyxiation. It continues to be a terrible death for almost 400,000 mice every year in Europe. Alternative tests for each type of toxin have already been or can easily be developed. It is high time that European science took ethics and progress seriously!

A week of action

The ECEAE is organizing a week of action from 29 June to 4 July to persuade Sloan Pharma to stop sacrificing mice. Your indignation and support will be extremely useful to us. Therefore we are asking for the production of Neurobloc© to be suspended until an alternative test has been developed, and we invite consumers to boycott this product during this time.

One Voice is not giving up objecting to the new decree allowing labs to experiment on animals obtained from unregistered breeders

One Voice is not giving up objecting to the new decree allowing labs to experiment on animals obtained from unregistered breeders
26.06.2020
France
One Voice is not giving up objecting to the new decree allowing labs to experiment on animals obtained from unregistered breeders
Animal testing

Since Monday 22 June, when we publicly denounced the measures that will be detrimental to animals included in decree n° 2020-274 adopted on 17 March 2020, many people have tweeted in support of our campaign and signed our petition. Following our appeal to the Prime Minister on 27 April we are now submitting an appeal against the decree to the Council of State.

Minimal improvements

The decree does provide a few minimal improvements, as we emphasized in our appeal to the Prime Minister, such as the change of name of the Commission and the broadening of the composition of the National Commission on Animal Experimentation to include three representatives of animal- or wildlife-protection organizations.

Two provisions problematic for animals from breeders

But we are appealing to the Prime Minister to reconsider two provisions of the decree in particular. First there is a loosening of the criteria that we do not understand, relating to the use of animals from unregistered breeders. In other words, the criteria for obtaining derogations and buying animals from unregistered breeders have been relaxed.

The other provision that we are denouncing is allowing exceptions under which experimental procedures can be carried out in unlicensed establishments. Testing would therefore be allowed on premises other than in the laboratories that comply with the few regulations to protect animals. Where? In breeding establishments? Who will hold information on these premises where experiments are carried out? What transparency and what checks will there be when the rate of unannounced inspections of vivisection laboratories in France is already the lowest in Europe? It is very worrying.

An explosive mixture: less restrictive regulation of breeders than in the past

At the same time the system of licensing dog-breeders has changed. Previously breeders with between 10 and 49 dogs had to make a simple declaration and those with 50 dogs or more had to obtain a licence after an official inspection. Since the decree of 22 October 2018 breeders with fewer than 100 dogs have no longer been subject to any formalities other than making a simple declaration, thus doubling the number of dogs authorized.

Breeders of other species of animal are not subject to any regulations. We are awaiting the hearing in the Council of State following our appeal against the decree, which represents an unacceptable setback for the animal cause.

After the publication of the official figures for the number of animals used in laboratories, one of the highest in Europe with almost 2 million animals in 2018, we are continuing to demand a proactive policy of providing massive funding for research into non-animal alternatives.

Following its appeal to the Prime Minister, sent on 27 April 2020, One Voice is also submitting an appeal against the offending provisions of ministerial decree n° 2020-274 to the Council of State.

Translated from the French by Patricia Fairey

2018: the sad figures for vivisection in France are out

2018: the sad figures for vivisection in France are out
25.06.2020
France
2018: the sad figures for vivisection in France are out
Animal testing

We had been awaiting them without much hope. The 2018 figures for animal experimentation in France have been published. Once again almost 2 million animals were used.

In February we revealed how the figures for vivisection had been manipulated after the statistics for Europe were published.
Now the figures for France have been published, and there has been no progress!

Almost 2 million victims

1,910,519 victims were used in experiments, including 120,265 in lethal procedures and 357,353 in experiments categorised as severe.

Why? Because although nothing can justify the suffering of animals exploited in laboratories it is even more shocking to note that 36.2% were used for basic research!
According to INSERM (Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale – National Institute for Health and Medical Research) the official definition of basic research is:
«Expanding horizons in the life and health sciences, and improving our understanding of biological phenomena, fundamental research is first and foremost a source of knowledge. The results of this exploratory research can be hard to predict, but it can also be particularly effective in revealing the totally novel concepts that are the drivers of progress and innovation.»

In other words there is no ‘precise’ objective, it’s merely groping in the dark.

When one is aware of the limits and deficiencies it is no less shocking that 27% of animals are used for developing and manufacturing medicaments and food and conducting quality and safety tests. Moreover it is those experiments that mainly use our friends – dogs.

Appalling figures

The main victims are (of course?) the unfortunate mice (62% of animals used), and despite the European directives our companions are not spared:

4,219 dogs used – 141 in severe and 202 in lethal procedures;
1,185 cats used – 5 in severe and 4 in lethal procedures;
482 horses and other equines used – 6 in severe and 5 in lethal procedures.

As for our primate cousins, from marmosets to macaques, 3,510 were used. No great apes, obviously, but it is known that partnerships mean that some research is outsourced to laboratories in other countries.

Reused, subjected to repeated suffering

Many animals are reused in several experiments. Most of these are reptiles (mainly viviparous lizards, 99%), then goats (78%), horses and other equines (75%) and cats (63%). Our cousins are also often reused: marmosets (71%), baboons (53%), rhesus monkeys (45%) and macaques (24%).

Of course these figures indicate that the number of lives taken is lower, but at what price! The increase in the length of the ordeal, even though not in its intensity, cannot be justified.

It is time for French research to make pertinent choices both in progress and in ethics. In the case of botulinum toxin, many lives can be saved using alternative methods, some of which already exist or soon will. And rather than sacrificing even more dogs by using those from pet-breeders, it would put an end to this senseless and shameful practice.

Translated from the French by Patricia Fairey

Our pets to be sold to laboratories

Our pets to be sold to laboratories
22.06.2020
France
Our pets to be sold to laboratories
Animal testing

We need your urgent help to save hundreds of dogs sentenced to be experimented on. Yes, we mean our most faithful companions! A decree that the government adopted on the quiet during the lockdown allows them to be sacrificed. We need to act very quickly to get this barbarity stopped!

From now on pet breeders are authorised to supply laboratories with animals to experiment on without being registered. Establishments can therefore now simply get rid of their ‘surplus’ dogs without any checks being carried out – a very handy way of making money from animals left unsold as a result of businesses not being allowed to operate over the last few weeks.

This is allowed under Decree n° 2020-27 of 17 March 2020, which amends the regulations on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes.

The relaxation of these criteria benefits non-specialist suppliers and will give rise to a new system of shameful abuse and, eventually, make organised massacre legal. France, the European champion in animal experimentation with more than two million victims a year and the country that abuses the most dogs in laboratories, is once again showing that there are no limits to its vileness.

A veritable supermarket for experimenters

All breeds of dog and puppy are destined for the scalpel. Breeders of hunting dogs have a particularly close relationship with laboratories, supplying them with numerous victims such as beagles, springer spaniels and pointers. Being medium-sized, gentle and docile, hunting dogs are in fact very popular ‘subjects of scientific research’ because they are easier to handle.

Moreover, since 2018 the number of dogs that establishments are allowed to breed, sell, transport and keep with no prior authorisation, professional certification nor specific regulations to protect them has risen from 50 to 250. As the rate of inspection of registered establishments in France is already one of the lowest in the European Union, the new suppliers of laboratories will also certainly take advantage of this new source of income to bend the rules even further. Laboratories are also well protected from sanctions since only 20% of the inspections carried out in France are unannounced, whereas the average in other countries is 40%.

The fate that awaits the victims …

The abuse inflicted on the dogs is indescribable: medicaments are tested on them, they are injected with viruses, they are poisoned so that the symptoms and resultant damage can be studied, their organs are ‘examined’, they are made ill or mad in the name of science and genetic experiments are carried out on them, all in prison conditions. Laboratories use a diabolical range of methods to kill animals, inflicting unimaginable suffering on them. Those dogs that do not die by violence or in protracted agony are killed in order to be sold as ‘spare parts’.

This is not only unmitigated cruelty but scientifically flawed. We know that none of the results obtained by animal experimentation can be applied to humans, whereas it is perfectly possible to use substitutes to develop scientific solutions: cell cultures, mini-organs in vitro, digital modelling (in silico), mathematical modelling etc.

This disgusting torture must cease forthwith!

How can we save these dogs that we love so much?

With your support we can challenge this decree and raise awareness of these government shenanigans. One Voice has submitted an appeal to the Prime Minister and denounced the measures as contrary to European Union regulations and to the guiding principles of Article L. 110-1 of the Environment Code. We also hope that you will respond to this SOS. It is obviously a major undertaking but you can change the fate of dogs sentenced to suffer a dreadful fate by opening your home to them, welcoming them into your family, offering them your protection and giving them back the freedom and dignity that are their due.

Annulez le décret qui vise à augmenter le nombre de victimes de l’#ExpérimentationAnimale et financez les méthodes alternatives à la place, @gouvernementFR, @EPhilippePM, @sup_recherche, @VidalFrederique, @MinSoliSante, @olivierveran ! https://bit.ly/37ZHmBb

Click on the button under this text to tweet

Translated from the French by Patricia Fairey

After his first operation Jon is starting to live again!

After his first operation Jon is starting to live again!
20.06.2020
Loire
After his first operation Jon is starting to live again!
Exploitation for shows

Since being rescued from a circus two weeks ago Jon has been a lot better. His day-to-day needs are being met by our friends at Tonga Terre d’Accueil, who are bending over backwards to find stimulating activities for him and to take care of him. We have just spent two days at his side in order to be with him while he was having an operation and see for ourselves what progress he is making.

A lion almost back to full health!

In ten days Jon has really picked up. His ribs are no longer visible under his fur and he is much livelier than when we rescued him from the circus where he had been exploited for several years. The twenty kilos he has put on can also be seen by the skin on his belly, which is starting to fill out. He has made enormous progress in such a short time, which proves that his advanced wasting was definitely not due to age or illness but was a clear indication that he was being starved by the owner of the circus.

His rapid weight gain proves that he was dying of hunger

Though shy at first, Jon was transformed when he discovered the outer part of his enclosure where he is convalescing. He now plays every day with various things placed in it by the Tonga Terre d’Accueil team to help him rediscover his zest for life. One day it is a big ball, another day tree stumps or a trunk resting on wooden feet. The ultimate secret to stimulate his senses: spices sprinkled around the enclosure, which make him dig in the sand and turn over pieces of bark in search of the source of the smell, which may be attractive or repulsive but is always intriguing. Another sign that he has become more confident: when he arrived he used to urinate on himself but now he does it on the walls (inside and outside!) to mark his territory everywhere.

A mutilated lion finally treated

Jon now digs holes, plays, vocalises more and more and gobbles his food down. The vet therefore reckoned that he was fit enough to be anaesthetised on Thursday 18 June so that his tail, on which we had noted numerous injuries, could be treated. The operation, under a general anaesthetic, went off without a hitch, but the vet had to remove part of the tail in order to stitch it neatly.

The vet also checked and confirmed what we had noted on the first day: Jon had no claws in his front paws. His teeth were also thoroughly inspected: all of them had been cut right down and one of the fangs was completely hollow and filled with putrefied food particles. All the pieces that had become black were extracted. But he has to be operated on again, for his teeth this time, by a specialist. They must have caused him immense suffering, which explains why he spends his time biting things.

Jon rediscovers his zest for life!

On Thursday, once Jon had come round from the anaesthetic, he threw himself on his food before going outside to fall sleep on his back, belly offered up to the sun’s rays. Within a few hours he had perked up. Obviously he still bears the stigmata of his life on the road. But we are hopeful that with a life far from the wagon and violent trainers, and with the disappearance of his chronic toothache, his stereotypic movements and self-mutilation will cease.

This lion who just a short time ago was suffering agonies is healing under our protective wing. We shall do everything in our power to enable his companions Hannah, Patty, Céleste and Marli to join him as soon as possible.

Translated by Patricia Fairey