News Archive - Page 94 of 145

A lion cub on the dancefloor

A lion cub on the dancefloor
02.10.2019
Calvados
A lion cub on the dancefloor
Exploitation for shows

Getting close to a lion cub in a disco… For those who dreamed of it, the Deauville « Le Chic » nightclub has done it. We are filing a complaint against the Prefecture of Calvados who has overlooked this scandalous act when it is up to them to enforce the law!

Having fun with a wild baby lion in a nightclub is so chic, isn’t it? For those who lack original ideas, the disco “Le Chic” in Deauville turns a corner (Since November 2018, the management of the disco has thankfully changed. The new owners have contacted us: their work and investment does not involve animals). On March 24th 2018, the previous owners proposed to their nightclubbers to come dance and sip cocktails with a lion cub. Named as the star of the evening against its will, the little feline was “fittingly” welcomed: delirious fans crowd around it, multi-coloured spot lights full of plums, loud music in its ears… There is no doubt that a small lion sets the atmosphere for sure!

Obvious abuse

The problem is that a baby lion has nothing to do with a night club whatsoever… Is it necessary to remember that its place is near its mother and that being exposed to unknown hands, deafening din and blinding neon lights represent so many extremely traumatic sources of stress? Well yes. Once again, we had to mobilize to remind them that to exhibit a lion in such a place constituted an act of mistreatment affecting, moreover, the conservation of its endangered species. Furthermore, the « Le Chic* » nightclub did not hold any authorization for the presentation of wild animals to the public. It was a circus that was in the region, they were the holders for the lion cub and who had « illegally » obtained it for club.

Who is incriminating?

But filing a complaint against the circus is not easy. In this case, as in so many others, formally identifying the person in charge involves painstaking investigations in the heart of the jungle of itinerant establishments and numerous approaches to the authorities supposed to supervise them. On March 28^th 2018, we sent a letter to the Calvados prefecture to ask them to take up the file and obtain the withdrawal of the certificate of competence from the « owner » of the lion cub and his mother. It was a wasted effort. While it was their duty and, in their power to intervene, the institution did not feel it was necessary and did not care to answer us… It is therefore against them that we are launching a legal proceeding today. Decidedly unconcerned by the animal cause, they have already declined their presence at the hearing that will be held at the administrative court of Caen on October 3^rd at 9:30 am. But of course, we will be there to defend the rights of this little cub!

Breeding for hunting, reasons to say stop

Breeding for hunting, reasons to say stop
28.09.2019
Hunting
Breeding for hunting, reasons to say stop
Other campaign or multi-campaigns of One Voice

It is estimated that in France over 50 years 1 billion animals have been raised and released for hunting. Each year, 30 million « game birds » are bred in France (1/3 are exported), including 14 million pheasants and 5 million partridges and 1 million mallards for French hunters. Added to this are deer, hares and rabbits, and hybridized boars…

An omerta (code of silence) on the business?

All of this is unfortunately thanks to public funds (subsidies paid to hunters for their « public services ») that this system continues, maintaining a sector exceeding 150 million euros annual C.A. But except for the thrill of some hunters, nothing justifies this suffering, organized on a chain of industrialized farms, who’s environmental and health impact remains hidden. Because in France there are as few administrative constraints and controls on the release of animals for hunting as studies conducted to verify the consequences. This weak supervision visibly questions the citizens concern over the use of their taxes more than the State itself.

Attacks on the biodiversity

The official discourse of the hunters, which evokes releasing for restocking, does not hold water: most of the released birds do not see the following spring. They are more often quickly killed, where they die before they have even crossed a gun, facing predators, diseases and feeding difficulties to which they have not been prepared for.

While these releases make population counts more complex, overall, wild bird numbers remain low or are even in decline, especially with the venerated pheasant. So, the infernal cycle continues in order to feed the hunting clubs, livestock birds are then released on mass in France: in fact, the same number as wild animals that actually exist throughout Europe!

They declare many animals as a nuisance because of the damage inflicted on the crops, and so for hunting, millions of birds are released like pheasants, who adore young plants, berries or seeds and who frequent mainly cultivated areas!

A sanitary nonsense

Practiced at a quasi-industrial level, this breeding includes a whole arsenal of chemicals (antioxidants, deworming, vaccines, virucides, fungicides, bactericides and antibiotics) distributed into the food and water. Diseases and parasites are nonetheless common in farms, and no scientific study has really studied the risk of contamination to wildlife.

The effect from these multiple releases has seen: genetic alterations of wild populations, a massive impact on natural prey (insects, snails) and therefore epidemic risks on already fragile populations (especially if the released animals are combined with the indigenous populations to densify their numbers). Rather than conducting these studies, the State prefers to be complacent with hunters by helping, through its specialized institutes, to genetically improve breeding lines to “produce” animals suitable for hunting: attractive, but not too mobile.

The images reported by One Voice of these farms, who are so discreet, are appalling. Life in such concentrated environments, crammed in together is totally incompatible with the biological needs of these animals. And would the suffering they endure be legitimate since, in any case, they were born to eventually die? Disgusting cynicism… The so-called well-being on these farms, it would be necessary to start with the worst ones first.

#LaChasseUnProblemeMortel: Please sign our petition, come and say “No” to hunting with us at the big anti-hunting event organized by One Voice and its partners in Paris on October 5^th.

Sources: National Wildlife and Hunting Agency, National Union of Game Game Producers (SNPGC), ASPAS Inquiry, “From the Cage to the Gore”, November 2018.

Birds bred for hunting, a French scandal

Birds bred for hunting, a French scandal
27.09.2019
France
Birds bred for hunting, a French scandal
Other campaign or multi-campaigns of One Voice

And to say that it is our taxes that are donated to hunting federations, that in turn finance the raising of pheasants and partridges just for « Sunday hunters ». An inept and cruel system on every level. One Voice lifts the veil on this with pictures…

Condemning images

Nature lovers will be able to tell you about the beauty of a roaming pheasant on the plains, the happy troops of little partridges running behind their mother in a fallow field. Nothing of this freedom is seen in breeding these birds for hunting, where the only logic is an industrial one: artificial insemination and automated sorting chains for chicks born in incubators, far from their parents. At a prime age, birds will live in blackness for weeks (darkness limits aggression in large concentrations of animals that grow on the ground, up to 50 animals per m²). In the juvenile stage, it will be necessary to tie up their beak with plastic, this is against physical attacks, in these farms where animals are tightly packed together. Pain from the perforation of the nasal septum’s, problems in swallowing which is sometimes fatal.

Prison before death

After weeks in buildings, the birds are stored outdoors. Our images reveal cages of cages and aviaries as far as the eye can see, where there is a strong mixed smell of the putrefaction of dead animals and the faeces of the survivors. There are pairs of partridge’s who are in poor condition, kept in narrow metal boxes where they suffocate in the summer, mutilate each other or permanently trying to escape. Plumages that are groomed in the wild, are dull here, stripped from the pecking between imprisoned birds. These convicts carry the sadness of their destiny.

The human presence is weak, the birds are left to themselves in a world without enrichment at automated feeding, shielded chemistry. The grass has long since disappeared under the incessant round trips of pheasants rendered mad by captivity. The earth is bare, surrounded by fences lined with protective nets. Throwing yourself against the fence is useless, but it is their main activity. The worst is for breeding males, who will not leave their hutch or aviary until after 2 or 3 years of service, first and last flight…

Animal suffering, a cruel business

Since the end of the 1950s, animals have been raised in France only for hunting. Species among the most killed in France are pheasants and partridges they are the main victims. Around 19 million a year are released without need of authorization and with hardly any legal controls.

But these birds, whose genetic profile has made them clumsy and easy to kill, and which will be released after at least 15 weeks of industrial farming, are unable to survive in the wild! Faced with predators, cars, food difficulties, diseases and of course rifles that are lying in wait for them. Their life expectancy is very limited. So, to feed the sport of hunting, we start again each year with this immense and cruel waste.

Everything to do with this business goes against the biological needs of these birds, made to live in compact conditions on a vast scale. Here, deprived of social interactions about learning a « normal » life, enduring the distraught look in their eyes, this long and terrible event from « birth to maturity », which will end in a violence once caught and crammed into boxes for transportation. They are delivered to the hunting societies, once there (literally or figuratively) they spend long hours until they let go to death. What can justify this suffering organized as a supply chain for millions of susceptible birds? The thrill of a few sadistic hunters?

A scandal at home, which does not honour hunters or authorities who look elsewhere…
#LaChasseUnProblèmeMortel: Please sign our petition, come and say No to hunting at the big anti-hunting event organized by One Voice and its partners in Paris, the 5^thOctober.

Sources: National Wildlife and Hunting Agency, National Union of Game Game Producers (SNPGC), ASPAS Inquiry, « From the Cage to the Gore », November 2018.

Carnage among the common frogs

Carnage among the common frogs
24.09.2019
Beaumont-en-Argonne
Carnage among the common frogs
Wildlife

On September 25th, we will defend the red frogs at the Charleville-Mézières TGI. We are filing a complaint against a poacher who slaughtered thousands of them in defiance of the regulations protecting their species and multiple acts of cruelty.

How many frogs does it take to satisfy this guzzler? In Beaumont-en-Argonne (08), on March 16^th 2018, a single search of a poacher’s home was enough to discover nearly 5,000 common frogs (Rana temporaria), dead or alive, about to be devoured, frozen and/or sold under the counter. The inventory made by the environmental inspectors is shocking: 19 traps, 2 large pairs of scissors, 35 pots containing 70 pairs of legs, 32 kilos of amphibian eggs (officially intended to be returned to their natural environment ), 19 green frogs (Rana esculenta, officially caught in error) and 1679 live red frogs (“to be consumed much later”), as well as… 2954 others already amputated from their hind legs but who were still breathing!

Endless agony

Indeed, the owner of the premises, looking like a « peaceful pensioner », did not even bother to kill his victims before butchering them. To the investigators, he presented his technique as follows: “I take the frog. I knock them out and then use scissors to cut them up. Then, I hold them in a cloth and with a fork I prick them in the crotch to be able to remove their skin. Then I tie it up and cut the flaps of skin off with the scissors. » A master in this dreadful operation, often assisted by his wife, he thus managed to » prepare « 100 frogs per hour… And at the same time fill buckets and bags with the « waste », in this case mutilated animals, which often took several days before their last breath, after an abominable period of suffering.

Such a nice grandfather

If during his hearing on May 19^th, 2018, the man denied any commercial inclinations (when he had already admitted selling the frogs legs during the investigation), he confirmed his attachment to this « family » traditions. Besides, this is not the first time he has been fined for amphibian captures and it is therefore with full knowledge of the facts that he has continued his misdeeds so far. After learning to fish for common frogs with his father, he has poached them all his life, making fun of regulated hunting periods and favouring spawning periods when they run down streams to reach breeding areas. To capture them more reliably, he uses callers: « I catch 5 or 6 males, I place them in the traps, and the others catch themselves ». Once the animals are trapped, make way for the big knives and crazy gustatory festivities for those who consider themselves as « nature lovers »! Regular guests, his sons refused to participate in the massacre but admitted that they sometimes accompanied their father during his hunts and that they regularly took from the refrigerator their catch to treat their wives and children. Ironically, one of them added that his father took care to do what was necessary for the preservation of the species by ensuring that the eggs were always put back in the water!

One Voice civil party

Immediately informed of this sinister affair, we have brought forward a civil action to defend the frogs, their vulnerability and their extreme sensitivity. We will be representing them this Wednesday September 25^th at the high court of Charleville-Mézières, during the trial of the poacher and his sons who have also been summoned. All three knowingly violated animal welfare rules, as well as those relating to the keeping of non-domestic species. We will fight to ensure that they will receive exemplary punishments and that they are unable to continue their slaughter any longer!

Fur: a french nightmare

Fur: a french nightmare
23.09.2019
France
Fur: a french nightmare
Fashion

After our latest revelations about the living hell experienced by mink on a farm in Eure-et-Loir, and as Paris Fashion Week opens, we are revealing images from three other French farms. Everywhere horrific scenes, everywhere the suffering of beings. There are still five establishments still active in our country. Let us mobilize together to demand their closure. France cannot be complicit in such cruelty any longer!

Last July, we denounced the appalling conditions of mink detained on a farm in Eure-et-Loir. However, the particularly unbearable and revolting images that we have published give only a partial idea of the ordeal inflicted on these victims of the fur trade… This week, we are revealing images filmed in the different mink farms in our country, which testify to a generalized drama, hollow reflection of a Parisian Fashion Week which takes its first eco-responsible steps but continues to deny, year after year, the plight of animals bred for their coats. In 2016, we revealed the conditions of detention and killing of minks on French farms. We hoped for an improvement, alas there is no improvement.

An omnipresent horror

Whatever their place of sequestration in Spincourt (Meuse), Montarlot-lès-Rioz (Haute-Saône), La Chapelle-d’Andaine (Orne) and Champrond-en-Gâtine (Eure-et-Loir), these mink–who by nature are solitary, eager for space and exercise-are condemned to living in crowded and confined conditions. Crammed into often filthy cages, they suffocate in a squalid atmosphere where stench and despair reign supreme.

While the porridge type meals are distributed over their heads and directly onto the wire cages in a row, the droppings drip under the cages and spread on the ground. Driven crazy with distress and exhaustion, these poor prisoners spend their lives biting each other, shearing their legs and tearing their teeth against the bars. Their injuries, often extremely serious, remain untreated. They bleed and get infected.

This tenfold suffering of these abandoned souls only adds to their stereotypical movements… to the point of exhaustion. We have called this place « the farm of horrors » and of which our complaint is for (among other things) acts of cruelty takes its course, the corpses piled up on one another. Their confinement has also led to cannibalism, non-existent in the wild. On these farms, we see « premature » deaths which are considered as « waste » by those who exploit these minks. Among the thousands of poor souls doomed to a certain death, these few losses do not affect profits.

Following the reception of a letter from the Prefecture, which was expected but disappointing, we filed an appeal against this graceful refusal of July 25^th, 2019 to suspend the activity or to close the Eure-et-Loir farm.

Labelled cruelty

We cannot tolerate such monstrous acts of cruelty from continuing! They are also causing a major ecological disaster, especially due to the tons of excrement from animals that end up in waterways and pollute them! Getting five farms closed is far from an insurmountable economic challenge: other countries, such as Norway and the Netherlands, have already embarked on this process where their fur production is much higher. Paris Fashion Week, which opens its doors this Monday September 23rd, is trying to make itself greener but still refuses any progress on the use of fur in the creations presented.

Some major players in the fashion industry, however, committed to the last G7 in Biarritz in August 2019 around a « Fashion Pact »: commitments in favour of the climate, biodiversity and the oceans. Our government must have the courage to imitate its neighbours and definitively ban this activity on our territory.

Cruel irony, the five national farms have all inherited the « animal welfare » label approved by the European Union. We are going to ask him for their accounts… Who are we kidding?! With us, express your opposition to this organized, authorized, legitimized violence by public authorities and politicians.

In 2019, let’s put an end to the sacrifice of animals for fur on the altar of a bloody and archaic « fashion ». Please continue to sign and share our petition!

Micha, Glasha and Bony: the vets are shocked!

Micha, Glasha and Bony: the vets are shocked!
19.09.2019
Loir-et-Cher
Micha, Glasha and Bony: the vets are shocked!
Exploitation for shows

We sought advice from veterinary bear specialists on the health status of Micha, Glasha and Bony. By watching the videos that we aired last week, they all sounded the alarm. Their dramatic reports confirm that the three bears require immediate care, far from the claws of Poliakov’s. Do not wait until it’s too late!

These bears have been kept under conditions of almost continual stress and are deprived of positive mental stimulation. Dr. John A. Knight

Following the pictures that we unveiled last week, Micha was placed in emergency care this weekend in the zoo-sanctuary of La Tanière (28) and we are delighted. Here he is finally out of the hands of Poliakov’s and being cared for! But this poor bear is in a disastrous state and so is his former co-detainees, Glasha and Bony, they still remain under the control of trainers… A major irregularity given their appalling detention conditions and risks to their health.

« This type of abnormal behaviour is considered to be synonymous with chronic mental distress and in the case of the black bear (Ed. Micha), it is very obvious that the animal sucks on the wires of the cage creating desperate whimpers ending with a « cough ». These sounds are similar to sounds naturally heard by this species, but totally out of context, a mix of communication and warning sounds. » Dr. John A. Knight

Bony and Glasha in danger

We showed the videos of their hell to the veterinary bear specialists and all agree that they are in critical danger! They denounce the lack of drinking water in their cells, an inappropriate and mediocre diet, when it is not mouldy… And of course, they are shocked by the lack of structures adapted to the basic needs of the bears, as well as the clinical signs and symptoms of serious illness.

Dr. Ilayaraja of the Wildlife SOS Association and veterinarian of the Bear Sanctuary notably observed the presence of black dots on one of Bony’s canines. According to him, they « indicate that a broken tooth has exposed the fragile pulp cavity and caused an infection. This can be fatal to a bear if it is not treated urgently by a veterinary dentist ». In addition, the expert is concerned with the vision of the animal. He notes eye damage that is « obviously the result of long-term neglect and lack of medical care« .

As for Glasha, his fate is comparable. Worse: the alarming presence of black spots on the canine, localized peeling of the fur, « a purulent eye discharge, suggesting that it is malnourished and infested with worms, » and « an abnormal growth under the left eye, likely to be cancerous« . The doctor insists on the importance of examining it as soon as possible to see if it is malignant and to administer appropriate treatment to prevent complications in vision.

« Night quarters consist of bare concrete floors. There is little or no litter, except for a bit of hay provided for the black bears. This is totally inadequate for these very intelligent animals. In the wild, black bears spend a lot of time in the trees, seeking shelter and most often find themselves in heavily forested areas. They avoid humans and brown bears whenever possible. They also like digging and searching dead branches, pebbles and sheltering insects, and so on. There is no suggestion that any real attempt has been made to provide for the psychological needs of these animals, whether in daytime or at night. Nowadays, this shows a shocking disregard for the welfare of these animals. » Dr. John A. Knight

Sanitary emergency

Every minute counts to save Bony and Glasha! Especially since the absolute lack of hygiene in their prison and their moral distress only diminish their hopes of survival. Dr. Amélie Nicolau from Refuge de l’Arche is worried about them nibbling or licking the bars of the cage doors, constantly turning on themselves and nodding their heads. She points out that these stereotypical behaviours are observed in bears in captivity, « especially in stressed individuals, placed in an unsuitable or insufficiently stimulated environment« .

Thus, all the bear specialists we interviewed say that only their placement in a shelter with appropriate care will give them the chance to escape this fatal destiny. We are coming together so that Bony and Glasha are both permanently safe from their persecutors, like Micha!

We sent the expert reports to the Ministry of Ecological and Solidarity Transition and the Prefect to support our complaints against the Poliakov’s. And we count more than ever on you to support our campaign and to please sign our petition.

Support us

Aïcko: dignity for an animal

Aïcko: dignity for an animal
16.09.2019
Loire-Atlantiques
Aïcko: dignity for an animal
Exploitation for shows

Oh no, we have not forgotten Aïcko, a young dolphin who died in excruciating pain at Planète Sauvage (44), in November 2016. We are continuing the fight for him so that the truth is not stifled to how he was and how he died… One Voice takes up the torch to do justice for this young dolphin who left us far too early… After a botched autopsy, an expert opinion with confusing conclusions, many questions remain unanswered today. So, we return to ask them before other jurisdictions.

Choking in regulations

It is a sad pun to describe the treatment of this case because, remember, Aïcko was force-fed, with whole fish, when his state of weakness required liquidated food for intubation. He was vomiting from his air hole, but he was put back in the water and, feeling himself sinking, he threw himself violently against a wall. An ugly death from suffocation, broken larynx, at the end of a life full of suffering and stress. So? There is no sanction related to this huge error, nor to the causes of this drama: a prolonged anaemia, about which we had raised the alarm. We also reported on the repeated violence that this puny dolphin had suffered, as he was preyed upon by the other dolphins in the pool and to also be included in the « shows » is none other than sick!

The law of silence?

The time has passed since we had reinforced our convictions: the rules for keeping captive wildlife have not been respected in this set of circumstances. And if at the time of this case we had obtained an expert report to shed light on this death (brutal, and yet predictable), this long fight had only added grey areas to the case. The veterinarians and specialist biologists who have accompanied us in the defence of captive cetaceans have all been disgusted by the park’s postures. The conclusions (and deficiencies) made by an « expert » who was able to suggest that captivity avoids the stresses related to the quest for food in the wild: a very personal vision of an animal being.

For a protection association like ours, it is terrible to see the suffering of “a little love” (the Japanese name for Aïcko) and its similar detainees that are not recognized. But this pain becomes prejudice when the captive animal dies in opaque circumstances and the horror persists, unchanged, in the closed doors of the pools and the unworthiness of these unnatural shows. We will not stop submitting these problems to both judges and politicians. For them, thank you for supporting our fight and the actions and petitions underway.

While Elisabeth Borne, the Minister of Ecological and Inclusive Transition, announces an upcoming action plan on captive wildlife, remember that the suffering of animals in these pools is not a show that should be offered to children, but a scourge to fight against and stop. Orcas and dolphins lead a miserable life in these dolphinariums. It is time to release them into marine sanctuaries. Please join with us at Place Royale in Nantes on September 17^th at 12pm.

Will Micha, Glasha and Bony be left to their jailers?

Will Micha, Glasha and Bony be left to their jailers?
13.09.2019
Loir-et-Cher
Will Micha, Glasha and Bony be left to their jailers?
Exploitation for shows

Thanks to our images of the dungeons of Micha, Glasha and Bony, that were taken last week, the Ministry of Ecological and Solidarity Transition has reopened the case of the bears who have been exploited by the Poliakov couple for decades. Today, the ministry issues a decree that requires its torturers to give treatment to Micha and who are also ignoring the distress of Bony and Glasha. Our fight for these 3 bears and for all the other animals in the hands of these circus trainers continues!

Backed up against the wall in the face of our images, the Ministry proposes insufficient measures

Words are missing to explain how the Ministry of Ecological and Solidarity Transition is trying to pull the wool over our eyes with its decree published this morning.

What does the order say?

Firstly, the ministry issues a ban on performing. This was already the case! And obviously not respected or at least circumvented by the Poliakov’s. Micha was filmed by Aves France, on display in Racquinghem on Sunday September 8th, at the same moment that we revealed the images of his suffering when he was exhibited last year on Valentine’s Day, two exhibitions for which we have filed a complaint.

Animals left to their torturers

Micha must be treated within 5 days, this is good, but we entrust him to his torturers who have to have him treated! And who will verify that he is getting better? The same services that concluded last year that everything was going well!

On the other hand, Bony and Glasha are ignored – not even mentioned in the ministerial decree-while they too are in great psychological and physical distress: malnutrition, with suspicious looking body weights, their dentition is bad and very worrying according to the experts, showing signs of stereotypical behaviour…

In the end, what will happen?

These bears remain in scandalous conditions, just like the horses and camels, Mina the little monkey, parrots and all totally invisible, while for them the ordeal continues. We are preparing a complaint for all of these animals who are suffering.

Following the publication of our images, witnesses have made themselves be known. This is how we know that during the heat wave of 2018, the 3 bears remained for 8 days locked in their dungeons without any decent ventilation and in stifling conditions. There are just holes by way of the windows for ventilation and not even by means of a door to this black-roofed building. In other words, they lived in an oven without drinking water.

One Voice prepares its fourth complaint

Of the animals held by the Poliakov’s, we have denounced these conditions of detention for more than fifteen years and the images of their shows are not enough: are these cells necessary. We’ve just got the proof.

Because for the statutory visits by the agents of the State, the procedure requires that the circus is warned in advance, which gives the trainers the time to do a big clean up before their arrival. No more cobwebs in the dungeons, no mouldy fruit in the fridges, no longer maggots on the legs of the animals, fresh water made available and the exploitation can continue unchallenged.

That’s what happened last year, and that’s why our complaint was about to be dropped.

Meagre measures, despite the obvious

What would have happened without our images? Nothing. As we see our biodiversity dwindle from day to day, and everywhere in Europe the movement is accelerating for a more humane continent for animals (twenty countries have already banned the exploitation of animals in traveling circuses). What happens in these circuses where we do not have access to their trucks and what of the winter quarters for animals?

Experts continue to analyse more than 200 hours of video footage of the bears in their dark, dirty jails and in their rat-infested enclosures. These images, the first edifying their suffering, we have sent them to justice and the Ministry. We thank Elisabeth Borne for having answered us, but ask her to go further and to act also, in particular, for Bony and Glasha.

We also expect justice to be done, and plan to bring the Prefecture of Loir-et-Cher to justice (as we did successfully for the breeding of dogs Mézilles) if it is necessary to get them to save all the animals left in the hands of these keepers.

An explosive victory against the breeders of Mézilles!

An explosive victory against the breeders of Mézilles!
10.09.2019
Mézilles
An explosive victory against the breeders of Mézilles!
Animal testing

A round won in our showdown against the breeders of Mézilles! A Prefectural decree of Yonne which authorized the increase in the capacity of breeding and the exploitation of beagles and golden retrievers bred for animal experimentation has been cancelled! It’s a victory for the dogs! An explosive court decision, which is very heart-warming.

The Prefectural decree of October 10^th 2018 authorizing the Centre des Élevage du Domaine des Souches (CEDS) (breeding dogs for experimentation) to exploit 3,200 dogs in the town of Mézilles has been cancelled! The administrative court of Dijon has decided following the hearing on June 27th, in the legal case between One Voice, the Prefecture of Yonne and the Centre d’Elevage des Souches (CEDS) which « breeds » and supplies Beagles and golden retrievers in the chain for animal experimentation, the dogs are born for a lifetime of suffering.

Our actions have paid off!

If the Paris Court of Appeal had forbade us to use the information collected by a bailiff who was proving the suffering of these dogs, the Dijon court on the contrary, found in our file ample material to question that of the opposing parties… and pronounce the necessary judgment! We have shown that breeding is rife in a non-regulatory framework and accumulates lists of offenses: “reception capacity” largely exceeded for a long time (including for puppies less than 4 months old!), environmental nuisances (noise and water pollution) also the owners’ inability to finance their appetite for expansion for more dogs sold and less care given.

With this procedure which proves us right, it was the massed citizen mobilization for a more humane and more reliable science which wins the day! The global trend is to decrease animal testing and explore other research methods. No more livestock should grow on our soil! On the contrary, they must close these centres one after the other.

A decisive round?

The wind is turning! If this decision is likely to be challenged soon, we are ready for the next confrontations to support these 1,500 dogs, female dogs and puppies still detained in this establishment. And we will not lower our guard until it has closed completely. Until then, let’s rejoice that justice has penalized this bastion in field of experimentation and therefore animal suffering in France!

Micha, Glasha and Bony, three circus bears dying in their cells

Micha, Glasha and Bony, three circus bears dying in their cells
08.09.2019
Loir-et-Cher
Micha, Glasha and Bony, three circus bears dying in their cells
Exploitation for shows

Micha, Glasha and Bony, the three bears held by the Poliakov trainers for decades and exploited in marquees at fairs, are confined to medieval jails until the end of their lives. For the authorities, however, everything is fine! In the face of the overwhelming images we have revealed concerning their conditions of detention, we have filed a new complaint for acts of cruelty against their torturers and demand their immediate transfer to a sanctuary.

Surviving in the company of rats in dark and cold cells

The images, shot in early September, reveal the continual nightmare of these three poor prisoners. Untreated wounds to the paws that are infested with maggots, rats running everywhere in the outer enclosure, and also keeping the bears company in their cells, grates rotten by rust, and huge cobwebs hang like curtains from the walls and the ceilings, the picture drawn up here is an abominable one.

The concrete building never seems to have be finished: no door, no window, so no protection from the elements. When the wind blows, it creeps in at all directions with no possibility to escape it. To stay warm in winter is impossible. And what of food? Mouldy fruit, croquettes, leaves, seeds… The cement troughs built like the building are green in colour, the bottom of the water trough is dark green and on the feeding side there are greyish leftovers on which the fruits left to rot in the fridge next door are thrown onto in a hurry.

The authorities know

How else otherwise could this possibly be? Since 2004, we have followed the Poliakov’s. In February 2018 on the occasion of Valentine’s Day, Micha had been exhibited in a restaurant. Our complaint immediately filed had been dismissed! Out of the question to abandon Micha to his fate: we had immediately made a recourse. It was not until January 2019, to learn that an investigation was finally in progress. Then no more replies to our requests for news… But today, for the first time, the real living conditions of these bears who have been exploited by circuses are exposed to the face of the world.

What is the destiny of Micha: to die far from view?

We were told it was a paradise for bears and now today we reveal the atrocious truth: Micha is dying in a dungeon. They have hidden it all: trainers and authorities, because to show this is to show the real state of animals in circuses.

His eyes say more than any words could. He looks at his paws, slowly, his eyebrows softly frowning, in an expression of extreme distress. It hurts, there is no doubt: maggots have made their home there. He moves in slow motion, sits down, goes to bed. He goes out a little in the pen, crosses a few rats, comes back again. He looks for a suitable position in the straw with which to lighten his emaciated body from its suffering, he does not find one. His agony is endless. The ground is strewn with hairs mixed with straw… he breathes painfully. Each breath is a rattle, each exhale is a sigh which seems to retain a kind of asthmatic cough. His nose is cluttered with dirt, just like his eyes. His teeth-like those of his miserable comrades–they are all in an alarming state. His saliva is thick and yellow.
Micha is dying in an endless state of torture. The Poliakov’s small business has been shut down for several months, has no value, and is allowed to die.

Will it soon be the turn of his valiant companions?

Glasha and Bony, they have their claws cut short, and their bodies are marked in places. The training of bears, these big brave beasts, is one of extreme violence, and leaves indelible marks, physical as well psychological, as the life in a circus truck. Although the Poliakov’s show is banned, the damage has been done.

Glasha frequently circles his cell, barely dares to put his paws into the outer enclosure, he’s content, empty-eyed, turns his head towards the gloomy light, sinking further into his inner world to be able to survive this abuse. Bony also languishes in stereotypical movements which are specific of captive animals in great suffering and that are traumatized forever, he is traumatized in his cell and also outside of it. His distress and agony are more obvious when he passes in front of the truck in which he lives, from circus to circus.

A complaint in progress: we must save them!

With the images we unveil, no doubt it’s possible: the authorities will no longer be able to close their eyes to the tragedy unfolding in the Loir-et-Cher. We filed a new complaint, this time for acts of cruelty, professional mistreatment, placement in a potentially abusive environment and improper operation of an establishment holding non-domestic animals.

As soon as they are no longer exploited, circus animals are discarded pending death. This is the reality of the circus world in France. One Voice will not let it go! We demand the immediate seizure of Micha, Glasha and Bony by the justice system and that they be entrusted to us. Their place is in a sanctuary, we have made sure that three places are reserved for them and we will take on all the expenses in charge. Also, nothing, absolutely nothing, justifies leaving them to this agony.

Discover our investigation into circus bears