Historic victory for ESOD! 27 declassifications mean thousands of animals saved

Historic victory for ESOD! 27 declassifications mean thousands of animals saved
13.05.2025
France
Historic victory for ESOD! 27 declassifications mean thousands of animals saved
Wildlife

“ESOD”. Behind these four letters lies a cruel and violent reality: 18 species declared undesirable and hundreds of thousands of animals slaughtered every year. In 2023, the State drew up the macabre list of nine Group II species, targeted department by department: foxes, martens, stone martens, weasels, Eurasian jays, Eurasian magpies, European starlings, carrion crows and rooks… Almost 500 classifications, based on archaic, outdated criteria. Today, the Council of State has partly ruled in our favour with a historic decision: it has removed martens from this list of shame throughout France, and pronounced 26 removals in the departments!

26 classifications judged illegal and martens removed from the list throughout France

For these harassed animals, life is nothing but a struggle to escape shots and traps. In addition to hunting and administrative hunts, they can be massacred by landowners almost all year round. And when the bullets aren’t flying, there are the traps that maim and kill, the cages that close before a trapper finishes the job with a gun, knife or hand. ESODs are not the only victims, like Cooper, Red Collar or Tigrou, and all the pets that are injured, sometimes fatally.

As soon as it was published, we challenged the decree that issued almost 500 classifications throughout France. Today, the Council of State has confirmed that dozens of them were illegal. From now until June 30, 2026, in these departments, animals of these species will no longer have to endure this constant harassment. For martens, the victory is total: their very presence on the list, throughout France, has been called into question. 

ESOD: an obsolete murderous “logic” in the hot seat

For years, we and our partner associations have been denouncing the unfounded and absurd nature of the criteria used to draw up this list. No animal is inherently evil, and no species deserves to be harassed. It’s high time we abandoned these outdated reflexes and realized just how much these animals contribute to our lives, like the foxes that feed on brown rats and slow the spread of diseases such as Lyme disease. And because animals simply have the right to live for themselves.

With this decision, the Council of State has condemned this murderous logic. Criticized by certain government departments themselves, the ESOD regime is now hanging by a thread. More than ever, we will keep up the pressure to ensure that it is definitively called into question, by continuing to demand a radical reform of hunting! And we’ll keep up the fight for all animals still on the list.

Species removed from the ESOD list by the Council of State : 

• Martens: throughout France;

• Stone martens: Aveyron, Morbihan and Territoire de Belfort;

• Foxes: Aveyron, Haute-Loire and Lozère outside areas where they are likely to cause damage;

• Rooks: Nord and Pas-de-Calais;

• Carrion crows: Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Hautes-Alpes, Aveyron, Bouches-du-Rhône, Haute-Loire and Vaucluse;

• Eurasian magpies: Ariège, Charente, Haute-Garonne, Gers, Maine-et-Loire, Somme and Essonne;

• European starlings: Corrèze, Meurthe-et-Moselle and Meuse;

• Eurasian jays: Corrèze and Lot-et-Garonne.

Haute-Savoie: goats in the Prefect’s sights

Haute-Savoie: goats in the Prefect’s sights
13.05.2025
Haute-Savoie
Haute-Savoie: goats in the Prefect’s sights
Wildlife

With great inventiveness (or stupidity), prefects are now even organising hunts at the authorities’ initiative for domestic animals. Yes, yes, domestic animals, all in defiance of the law. The Prefect of Haute-Savoie has ordered the slaughter of goats roaming the municipality of Passy. The only reason? An alleged risk of hybridisation with ibex. It’s like something out of a bad science fiction movie. We are challenging these two orders in summary proceedings before the Administrative Court in Grenoble to get them suspended as a matter of urgency. The hearing will take place on 20 May 2025 at 2.15 pm.

An illegal order: goats accused

A few weeks ago, the Prefect of Haute-Savoie ordered an officially appointed huntmaster to slaughter a dozen goats in the municipality of Passy… until 15 July! These “feral” goats are not wild animals –which are regularly victims of hunts at the authorities’ initiative that are often illegal. Due to a lack of vigilance on the part of their owners, they simply escaped and were going about their business without harming anyone.

The authorities fear that these goats will reproduce with ibex, which need to be “protected”. This is boundless hypocrisy, given that they authorise their slaughter in the Bargy massif to reassure cheese producers. There is no logic to this!

Slaughtering stray domestic animals: a new trend

In addition to being imposed for absurd reasons that (very) poorly conceal a hatred of life in all its forms, these two orders are simply illegal. The Prefect cannot, under any circumstances, indiscriminately slaughter stray “domestic” animals. It is up to the mayor to have them captured or, as a last resort and only in cases of “serious and imminent danger”, euthanised. But what serious and imminent danger could six escaped goats possibly pose? It’s true that goats are ferocious, everyone knows that!

This is not an isolated case: animals abandoned by humans and left to fend for themselves are increasingly targeted by the authorities who no longer even pretend to seek alternatives. This is the case with the goats of Melles and the stray dogs of Haute-Vienne and Aveyron, whose slaughter we have stopped thanks to our legal action.

Acquittal of poachers in the Cher region: One Voice appeals

Acquittal of poachers in the Cher region: One Voice appeals
12.05.2025
Cher
Acquittal of poachers in the Cher region: One Voice appeals
Wildlife

In 2023, investigators from the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB) discovered a case of poaching of unimaginable brutality. Using armoured vehicles equipped with “bull bars”, hunters relentlessly hounded terrified and frightened animals. At the end of April, the Court in Châteauroux decided to acquit the six men who walked out of the court free, due to a procedural error. We are appealing this decision to the Court of Appeal in Bourges to ensure that these men do not escape justice.

A procedural irregularity… and immunity for poachers?

When it comes to finding the cruellest methods of killing animals, hunters are well versed in the practice and will use any means necessary to innovate. Pursued by 4x4s, deer and wild boars have endured years of hell at night in the heart of the Sologne forest. The lengthy investigation by the OFB revealed paths destroyed by the night-time outings of the six poachers between 2023 and 2025… Massacres orchestrated at full speed for “ever stronger sensations”.

Because hunting is a closed environment where the code of silence reigns, convictions for poaching are rare. We therefore expected an exemplary punishment for these acts of unspeakable gravity and cruelty. To everyone’s surprise, the entire proceedings were dismissed by the judges on procedural grounds, as the French Office for Biodiversity had identified the six hunters using cameras installed without the authorisation of a magistrate. The six men were released… and their guns were even returned to them.

We will meet these poachers again in the Court of Appeal!

This is a dramatic outcome and yet another example of the glaring lack of resources and training available to these officers. They are targeted by many elected officials who want to reduce their resources and disarm them, while at the same time they are responsible for monitoring hunters who are over-equipped and armed with a veritable arsenal of weapons.

To ensure that the deer, sows and their piglets who were victims of this crime are not forgotten, One Voice is appealing to the Court of Appeal in Bourges, following the prosecutor’s appeal. These acts must not go unpunished. While we wait for justice to be done, sign our petition for a radical reform on hunting!

In the Puy-de-Dôme region, the massacre of jackdaws will not go unnoticed: One Voice is filing a complaint!

In the Puy-de-Dôme region, the massacre of jackdaws will not go unnoticed: One Voice is filing a complaint!
07.05.2025
Puy-de-Dôme
In the Puy-de-Dôme region, the massacre of jackdaws will not go unnoticed: One Voice is filing a complaint!
Wildlife

On 26 and 27 April 2025, in Riom, hunters took over an entire area to kill birds near homes. Claiming to have a prefectural exemption to shoot corvids, the men went beyond all limits, targeting jackdaws which are protected species. Not to mention their disregard for basic safety rules, which put all passers-by in direct danger. We are filing a complaint and demanding the immediate suspension of the officially appointed huntmaster in charge!

Shooting anything that flies… even a protected species

After deafening gunshots, several corvids were found dying in the car park of a hotel in Riom. Hunters had, with a smile on their lips, slaughtered them on the orders of the Prefect. A hunt at the initiative of the administration – undoubtedly illegal, like so many others – organised under the authority of an officially appointed huntmaster who we believe can be identified by his uniform. This is the sad fate of black crows and rooks, which are also targeted by an ESOD classification that we have challenged in court.

But on that day, the men went further and unscrupulously shot jackdaws, which are protected and readily identified by their characteristic blue eyes and ash-grey necks. Before discreetly collecting their bodies… in front of the cameras of shocked witnesses. And this even though these birds are already the target of massive culling campaigns in Brittany, which we challenge every year, despite the many alternatives available.

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Safety, always an optional extra when it comes to killing animals

No rules were followed by these trigger-happy professionals. Less than a hundred metres from homes and next to a motorway, the lead pellets were within range of roofs and windows. The ‘hunting in progress’ signs are not enough to prevent projectiles from hitting vehicles travelling at 130 kilometres per hour.

We have already alerted the government to this outdated practice due to the mortal dangers it poses to animals and humans. In addition to these risks, it is also harmful to the environment due to the pollution generated by the ammunition.

We are filing a complaint against “persons unknown” for the killing of rooks, and are asking the Prefect of Puy-de-Dôme to immediately suspend the huntmaster responsible for this massacre. While we wait for justice to be done, sign our petition to demand a radical reform of hunting!

The death of Caramelles: the 16 hunters finally convicted!

The death of Caramelles: the 16 hunters finally convicted!
06.05.2025
Ariège The death of Caramelles: the 16 hunters finally convicted!
Wildlife

Our thoughts go out to Caramelles as the hunters who killed her are finally found guilty. They knowingly entered a restricted hunting area and caused her death in November 2021. Justice has finally been served for this mother, whose death left behind two orphans. But what does the future hold for bears in the Pyrenees?

Two days of trial on 18 and 19 March: unprecedented for an animal protection case! Nothing less was sufficient to try the 16 hunters responsible for Caramelles’ death. Their successive acts of recklessness and laxity led to the irreparable: the death of a bear, killed during an illegal hunt in the heart of a hunting and wildlife reserve.

An invasion of the territory of the bear and her cubs

On 20 November 2021, all the signs told the hunters that they were in a restricted area. A place where everyone knew that Caramelles had taken up residence with her cubs. The summer before this disaster, tourists flocked to the area. How can the culprits claim not to have known the whereabouts of this attentive mother?

And yet, blithely flouting the few rules governing their leisure activity, they encroached on her territory. The shooter who found himself face to face with the bear should not have been there. Through his recklessness, he put this family in danger, but also himself. Caramelles wounded him while trying to protect her babies. She died from her injuries, just like her mother Melba, in Haute-Garonne 28 years ago. Today, the 16 poachers have been convicted of deliberately hunting animals in a reserve.

This is an exemplary and coercive decision, calling for hunters to show more responsibility

On 6 May 2025, the Court recognised the successive negligence of the defendants that caused this tragedy. The man who shot Caramelles was given a four-month suspended prison sentence. His hunting licence has been temporarily revoked, as have those of two other defendants. All the others were sentenced to fines, and some had their weapons confiscated. We expected nothing less and hope that the law will be firm with those who harm bears, as the Spanish courts recently demonstrated by sentencing a hunter to prison for similar offences.

The defendants, who know no shame, are going to appeal. We will be meeting them again to defend Caramelles.

This remarkable decision shows how important it is to protect the bears in our Pyrenees, but above all to learn to truly coexist with them. It will not bring Caramelles back, but it does give her posthumous justice. We hope that her two cubs, now grown up, will enjoy peaceful days in the mountains where the authorities continue to allow them to be harassed. This summer we shall once more, if necessary, be in court for the bears, since clearly only associations defend them against the lobbies… Muriel ARNAL President of One Voice

It is time to leave bears in peace, on both sides of the Pyrenees, as called for by 8 out of 10 French people (Ipsos/One Voice survey, November 2024). The State, conspicuously absent from the trial, must take action to protect those who inhabit our mountains, and whom it itself has “reintroduced”. The persecution must stop, whether it be scare shots, poaching or malicious hunters.

In the Territoire de Belfort region, a chamois is hunted down for expressing his natural behaviour

In the Territoire de Belfort region, a chamois is hunted down for expressing his natural behaviour
29.04.2025
Territoire de Belfort
In the Territoire de Belfort region, a chamois is hunted down for expressing his natural behaviour
Wildlife

On 20 November 2024, the prefect of the Territoire de Belfort region authorised huntsmasters to take action throughout the department to kill a chamois. The reason? They allegedly posed a significant risk to public safety and livestock… As always, there was not a shred of evidence to support this claim. Rather than considering alternative solutions, and under the eternal influence of hunters, the authorities once again chose force. We are filing a request for annulment with the Administrative Court in Besançon.

A chamois is being hunted day and night in the Belfort region. The justification? He is said to be behaving “abnormally” and “aggressively”.

A chamois accused of being… a chamois

Two statements from sheep owners —to which we have gained access— without any evidence, as usual: this was enough for the prefecture to organise the hunt for a chamois, first in one municipality, then throughout the department. The animal is singled out for his “abnormal” behaviour. Once again, the state services are demonstrating their ignorance of the lives of free-roaming animals: in the middle of the rutting season, this behaviour is perfectly natural.

Worse still, the text highlights the fear of a risk to traffic and claims that the chamois is “aggressive” towards humans. What nonsense! Knowing that even some elected officials poach them, the question has to be: who is attacking whom? This individual is a victim of misinformation about nature and its inhabitants, like all animals constantly targeted by officially sanctioned hunts.

Death as the only solution, nothing has changed!

Hunted down by hunters under false accusations in the Doubs region, targeted throughout the Belfort region… the chamois are being subjected to a veritable manhunt.

Yet there are alternatives to killing them, for instance moving or protecting the herds… Although the prefecture did consider relocating the chamois, it quickly backed down under the pressure of the hunting federation. Even though the chamois and his companions are already being hunted from September to the end of January, he is the victim of a hateful persecution.

For him and for all the other chamois, One Voice is asking the Administrative Court in Besançon to overturn this insane order. To put an end to the authorities’ absurd management of wildlife, sign our petition for a radical reform of hunting.

All to Tulle on 14 May for Milo and Mina, the wolf couple!

All to Tulle on 14 May for Milo and Mina, the wolf couple!
30.04.2025
Tulle
All to Tulle on 14 May for Milo and Mina, the wolf couple!
Wildlife

As the flocks return to their spring pastures, Milo and Mina, the wolf couple with unique genetics, will be targeted from all sides. This is what the farmers’ unions have relentlessly been demanding from the authorities. We will be there on Wednesday 14 May in front of the Prefecture in Tulle from 10am to 12pm to defend them. Join us!

A couple is already a family, so let them live in peace!

The farming world’s hatred towards all forms of wildlife must not jeopardise this family in the making.

They are the only ones left in the Limousin region, as the relentless persecution of their species has taken its toll on their predecessors: wolf killed in Tarnac in May 2023.

Inseparable, Milo, a German-Polish male, and Mina, a young female wolf of Italian-Alpine origin, embody the hope of a unique lineage, the result of an exceptional genetic combination… But their future is constantly threatened… by the ignorance and cruelty of some.

These two wolves are nothing less than wonders of nature. We are witnessing an encounter between two beings with extraordinary genetics. Let Milo and Mina start a family, unique to our biodiversity, and lay down the guns. I call on the representatives of the farmers’ unions in our region to engage in a dialogue. There are effective solutions to protect these wolves as well as the herds which nobody wants to suffer. Muriel ARNAL President of One Voice

Authorities won over to the “cause” of the livestock lobby

They have not had a moment’s respite since they were discovered in the summer of 2024. Constantly hounded, someone has even managed to injure Milo. We have already defended them to the Prefect, together with our partners at Carduelis, on 19 March. But once again, profit takes precedence over animals and nature in general, the State remains deaf to the arguments of scientists, falling into a Pavlovian reflex on the side of those who only tolerate exploited animals in the mountains.

With this gathering, we want to show that another path is possible, not to say essential, for everyone: that of cohabitation. We call on the representatives of the region’s farmers’ unions to engage in a dialogue. Let’s take inspiration from Abruzzo in Italy, where farmers are used to wolves which have even become a symbol! We call on all those who, like 8 out of 10 French people (according to our 2024 Ipsos survey), believe that these animals have their rightful place in nature.

See you on Wednesday 14 May 2025 in front of the Prefecture in Tulle from 10am to 12pm.

Sign and share our partner’s petition!