News Archive - Page 99 of 146

Hunting: bullets will be whistling through the forest from June 1st!

Hunting: bullets will be whistling through the forest from June 1st!
30.05.2019
France
Hunting: bullets will be whistling through the forest from June 1st!
Wildlife

People generally believe that hunting is an autumn and winter activity, but hunters don’t see it that way. Hunters want to hunt as much as possible and for as long as possible. For a long time now, they have obtained the right to hunt deer as of June 1st! This is the period when there are the most people in natural and rural areas, but also when the deer are in the rutting season (mid-July to mid-August)! This makes hunting not only an ecological nonsense (more so when we talk about hunting …) but also an ethical nonsense as well (but hunters have for a long time now demonstrated their total lack of ethics!). Along with the ecological and ethical issues there is also the denial of other human activities that also take place outdoors.

Photo: Pierre Athanaze

This scandalous provision is far from being an act of « conservation » as hunters like to claim. This measure allows them to draw from the most beautiful male deer yearlings in order to decorate their chimney breasts with their morbid trophies. As deer lose their antlers in early fall, hunters are more likely to « harvest » their « beautiful » trophies by slaughtering deer in the summer during the breeding season!

The summer shootings are decreed by the prefects at the request of the departmental hunting federations. Requests which are almost systematically followed by orders authorizing this ridiculous activity. So, why would the hunters feel bothered or ashamed? And why slaughter only deer? Hunting federations and managers of hunting areas have asked the public authorities to allow the hunting of fallow deer. More recently we have seen the demand to hunt wild boars and of course, they won.

During the summer season, bucks and fallow deer are hunted as they approach or from lookouts (watchtowers). Wild boars are hunted by a driving method. Every hunter who pursues this disgraceful activity is also allowed to shoot foxes! This without any restrictions! Even after the buck or fallow deer quota is reached, summer shooters will have the right to continue hunting foxes, which is increasingly recognized as assisting agricultural by the farmers themselves. This hunting period, which is added to the so-called general opening period, allows hunters to hunt three and a half months longer! And the holders of these hunting rights to earn even more money. One can find at most organized private hunts offers of overnight accommodation and hunts in various departments. Hunters, in need of these bloodthirsty activities, can, with hard cash, quench their deadly thirsts during these three and a half months of extended season. This constitutes an additional financial windfall for those who trade in death.

No, hunting is not, as some people try to make us believe, an act of « conservation » of the wild life, but purely a commercial activity.

Please sign our petition to obtain a radical reform of hunting, and its ban during all weekends and school holidays! And meet with us on October 5th for the 2nd united march against hunting.

Goiat needs us!

Goiat needs us!
28.05.2019
Pyrénées
Goiat needs us!
Wildlife

Was it really necessary to capture and uproot a free-living bear from Slovenia, where he had all his bearings, where he had grown up and to essentially prevent him from feeding where he was eventually forced to settle? One Voice denounces an inhuman policy towards Goiat and more generally the bears concerned by this type of program. We need all of you to help stop the scaring off of bears!

In the name of biodiversity, an inhuman program for bears

Suspected of having attacked herds or domestic animals (pigs, sheep or horses) seven times, the agricultural organizations called for measures against Goiat, a bear of Slovenian origin who had been « released » in the Val d’Aran area by Spanish authorities back in 2016. This was to make up for the lack of genetic diversity in the Pyrenean bear population, which were the descendants from a single male, the Pyros bear. The bears do not understand the borders put in place by humans, Goiat moves between our two countries, followed thanks to the GPS collar with which he was equipped with.

Goiat remained the favourite target of the French anti-bear activists. And this spring, after the attacks of which Goiat is perhaps responsible for, the Prefect of the Hautes-Pyrénées wishes to put in place measures of scaring off in order to remove the bear and let us just say this clearly, try to push it back to the other side of the border… The “bear plan” also stipulates that in the event of a so-called “problem bear”, the State can then launch scaring off operations. But what is a « problem bear »? A bear trying to feed? And what would be the next step warning shots? The slaughter of a bear? Isn’t the goal of bringing bears to the Pyrenees to see them multiply? Along with the inherent risks of their presence?

Let’s take part in a public consultation!

Before the publication of this decree, the Prefecture must carry out a public consultation. It will close on June 14^th. In order to prevent this operation of scaring off this bear, many of us must respond unfavourably to this project.

By logging on to the site of the Ministry of Ecological and Inclusive Transition, indicate at the beginning of your comment that you are against the scaring off of Goiat. Then argue your case in a few lines. Please note, comments that are copied and pasted are not taken into account. Use your words and phrases without insults or threats (they would also invalidate your opinion).

To help you, we offer some key arguments. Choose one or more and develop them to your liking.

The expertise carried out by the technicians of the National Office of Hunting and Wild Fauna
(ONCFS) has not shown that the bear Goiat is a « problem bear ».

Contrary to what is written in the draft decree, in no case does Goiat behave in a familiar manner. The attacks attributed to him took place at night, several hundred meters from homes, in the absence of any human presence. The term « familiar » is therefore not only abusive, but fallacious. In the absence of familiar behaviour, it cannot therefore be categorized as « problem bear » and should therefore not be frightened.

Only the installation of means of protection of these breeding herds is able to protect the animals in the long run from attacks from wild predators, but also from stray dogs which are responsible for much more damage to the herds than any of these bears, wolves and lynx put together.

The farmer who has suffered two attacks does not have a guard dog for his herd. This deficiency on his part must in no case be turned against wildlife.

The predations that Goiat is accused of all took place at night. The herds were poorly protected (lack of electrified fences, ineffective or absent guard dogs, etc.).

The installation of electric fences around bee hives was enough to protect them from Goiat, which was filmed nearby by an ONCFS hidden camera on 9^thAugust 2017, demonstrating, if necessary, that simple means of protection are effective in protecting against the damage caused by a large predator.

We are counting on you. A big thank you to everyone.

Two bloodthirsty killers of sea turtles caught in Mayotte!

Two bloodthirsty killers of sea turtles caught in Mayotte!
27.05.2019
Mayotte
Two bloodthirsty killers of sea turtles caught in Mayotte!
Wildlife

Two men caught in the act of killing sea turtles in Mayotte have been immediately put on trial on Monday May 27th 2019 at 2 p.m. at the Mamoudzou Criminal Court. The poachers-including a repeat offender employed by the department to protect these turtles-were filmed at night last week capturing, mutilating, butchering, then transporting two turtles. Between cruelty and the lack of means to defend these animals who are in great danger, One Voice directly questions the weakness of the law, and the lack of political will to act. We are a civil party in this case.

photo: François-Elie Paute / Oulanga na Nyamba

The killing of the two sea turtles was filmed

The facts are serious. On the night of May 23^rd to 24^th on a Mayotte beach, two men are filmed surrounding two sea turtles, kicking them to make them move and then stunning them. They then butchered them with a knife while they are as it seems still alive, to then leave the shells on the beach and take the meat in their canoes. An endless and excruciating suffering for these two green turtles who had come to lay their eggs on the beach.

Who protects these endangered sea turtles?

In the world, all species of sea turtles are threatened, as also in the French territories and oceans which have as many responsibilities. However, in Mayotte, the poaching of green turtles reaches frightening proportions. About 400 of them are skinned each year on the beaches of the French islands of the Comoros archipelago. The Mahoran association Oulanga Na Nyamba, which works to protect sea turtles and their habitat, has no real means of acting. But how did we manage to leave these associations alone in the face of such a tragedy, these poor animals who disappeared in such terrible circumstances and suffering?

One of the poachers was paid by the state to watch after the turtles!

Laws, once published, must be enforced and it is up to the state to deploy the means necessary to enforce them. What have we learned here? One of the poachers, had donned the cap emblazoned with the slogan « save the turtles » and to top it all off, this was an employee of the departmental council, whose role was to watch over poachers. One who would then take advantage of this status and then to have poached for several months! A repeat offender, we found an interview dating from 2011, in which he was filmed with knife in hand on a beach with kilos of meat in his canoe. Confronted by activists already reminding him of the law, but failing to do any more. He was employed by the Departmental Council of Mayotte after a conviction…

In a report broadcasted by TF1, a program called « Sept à Huit » in November 2011, we can see the poacher / an employee of the departmental council interviewed on Papani beach during one of his nocturnal « outings ».

The Ecological Defence Council, just an empty shell

Hydrocarbons and noise from boats, fishing, plastic, poaching, climate change, disappearance of their habitat and breeding grounds, etc.: sea turtles are threatened from all sides, which is why they are supposed to be protected. For decades, successive French governments have looked elsewhere. Today, Emmanuel Macron establishes an Ecological Defence Council. We hope it will not be just an empty shell and that the turtle’s alarm call will be heard. We expect strong and effective actions, implemented quickly and for the long term.

Cruelty to free wild animals is never punished

How can you not be disgusted, revolted when you learn the terrible fate of these two poor turtles? Since the latter were free wild animals, whatever the cruelty to which they are the victims of, whatever the mutilations they have undergone, one can only file a complaint on their behalf for infringement of a protected species, not for unimaginable suffering they have endured. Beyond this status which, therefore, alone, protects them (and still, so little), it is implausible that these sensitive animals are not protected from acts of cruelty by the current texts! Animals are not just representatives of their species, which should just be protected as a matter of principle. Every individual should have the right not to be mistreated or violated!

Both poachers face jail time. Our lawyer also represents the association Oulanga Na Nyamba at the trial on Monday May 27^th in Mayotte. We are waiting for concrete acts from the government in favour of animals, and a profound change in policy towards the living. Our parliamentarians must also take their share of the responsibility.

Prada stops using fur while in France we continue talking…

Prada stops using fur while in France we continue talking…
22.05.2019
Prada stops using fur while in France we continue talking…
Fashion

One Voice leads a nonviolent fight to defend animal rights and respect all life forms. The organization operates independently and is thus free to speak and act freely.

While One Voice has been present for several weeks at the meetings held by the Ministry of Ecological and Inclusive Transition to discuss animal welfare and in particular mink farming, the Prada group announces that it will stop using fur.It is one of the fastest labels known so far to adopt the stance of the Fur Free Alliance, thanks to our unprecedented mobilization!

A campaign that hit home!

We
campaigned along with the public right up to the door steps of the
Prada stores, during the Fashion Weeks of Milan, Paris, London and
New York last September. We were present on the side-lines of the
fashion shows while the biggest names in fashion presented their
spring-summer collections. Our simultaneous campaigns all over the
world had challenged the leaders of the Prada group on the need to
follow the international movement of ethics and respect for animals.

At the announcement of the
talks between the Prada group and our Italian and American partners,
the LAV and the Humane Society of United States, we stopped all media
coverage. The change was underway, it was only a matter of time. Last
October, during the biannual FFA meeting in Stockholm, discussions
were going well, we knew that the brand agreed in principle. Only the
logistical details and the deadlines for setting up remained.

It is now official: at Prada,
we will no longer wear fur for the 2020 women’s winter collection, in
other words, right now!
What a huge victory for all of us at the Fur Free Alliance! Because not only Prada, but all of the
other group’s brands are committed. So Miu Miu, Church’s, Car Shoes
and others are committed!

Muriel Arnal, Founding
President of One Voice, announces:

«The Ministry of Ecology is still looking for ways to improve the operating conditions for mink in less than a dozen farms in France while a new big brand in the fashion world is clearly positioned against fur! Again, and again, where are the positive actions from the ministry for the planet, biodiversity and animals ?»

Citizen
engagement has shown its strength. It is high time that our
decision-makers finally realized that producing fur at the cost of
sacrificing sentient beings and nature is unacceptable.

Departmental Discussions on the Welfare of Caged Mink

Since
the launch of the working groups at the Ministry of Ecological and
Inclusive Transition, we fear that the discussions will be sterile,
while wishing them to be constructive. If it is once again a question
of modifying the size of the cages and not putting an end to the
breeding of mink for coats, in France, we will let everyone know that
this is a complete farce.
We
are determined, because both the cruelty of breeding and that of the
killings must be exposed.

We did this in 2016 in six French farms. What we found there is no exception, it’s the norm!
Stress, misery, soil pollution, biodiversity tragedies, etc. The
farms must close, in no way must they multiply or be enlarged. Foxes,
chinchillas, minks, rabbits and our fellow citizens deserve better! A
program of permanent shutdowns must be implemented in the form of a
ministerial decree this summer!

Call
for a ban on the breeding of animals for their fur in France ! Please
sign our petition !

Prada Group joins the Fur Free retailer program

Prada Group joins the Fur Free retailer program
22.05.2019
World
Prada Group joins the Fur Free retailer program
Fashion

Today, the Prada group announces that it will no longer use animal fur in its creations or in its new products, in other words from the SS2020 (spring-summer 2020) women’s collections. Currents stocks will continue to be sold until all relevant stocks and quantities are exhausted. The Prada Group’s announcement follows a collaboration between the luxury brand and members of the Fur Free Alliance (FFA), a coalition of more than 50 animal welfare associations in more than 40 countries.

« The Prada Group is focused on innovation and social responsibility and our fur-free policy-launched as a result of a constructive dialogue with the Fur Free Alliance, and more specifically with LAV and the Humane Society of the United States. It is an extension of the commitment », said Miuccia Prada. « Refocusing on innovative materials will allow the company to explore new frontiers in creative design while meeting the demand for ethical products. »

For Muriel Arnal, president and founder of One Voice and the French representative of the Fur Free Alliance, « The commitment of the Prada Group will certainly give a boost to other brands. It’s a great victory for citizen engagement at a global level, and a very encouraging sign that times are changing for the benefit of animals. What a great victory that Prada is embarking on the path of ethics and innovation! »

« The Fur Free Alliance congratulates the Prada Group for giving up fur, » says Fur Free Alliance President Joh Vinding. « The Prada Group, with its brands, is now joining the growing list of fur-free brands that respond to the changing attitude of consumers towards animals. »

Brigit Oele, program manager of the Fur Free Alliance, explains: « The Prada group was one of the fastest companies to give up using fur once a constructive dialogue started with our coalition, there has barely been more than a year. The Fur Free Retailer program involves a thousand companies, which indicates that this global movement is rapidly gaining momentum. Thus, there is very little chance that fur will once again become acceptable. It’s a great day for animals! »

Samba: the tragedy has lasted long enough!

Samba: the tragedy has lasted long enough!
20.05.2019
Bouches-du-Rhône
Samba: the tragedy has lasted long enough!
Exploitation for shows

Since 2002, One Voice has been fighting to have Samba’s suffering recognized. Captured in Kenya when she was a baby, this elephant is enduring an ordeal in a French circus. It must stop! We are initiating legal proceedings against the Prefecture of Bouches-du-Rhône so that it can assume its responsibilities and no longer tolerate such cruelty in an establishment that is attached to it.

How far must an animal have to be persecuted for humans to admit that it’s suffering? How far can trainers go without curbing their violence? It’s been 32 years since Samba was born, almost as long as she has had to endure this hell. For 17 years since we met this elephant kidnapped by a French circus, we have been fighting to save it.

Investigations, expert reports, reports, petitions, demonstrations, legal action, creation of a support committee, raising awareness to the public and to the authorities denouncing this daily mistreatment. The infamous conditions of detention that do not respect this elephant’s most basic needs… We are carrying out this fight relentlessly, but the exploitation of Samba continues to be tolerated, applauded even during the shows she performs under the threat of the ankus hook. Her drama drags on and on and will eventually kill her.

Repeated torture

The latest images reported by our investigators speak for themselves. Samba is at the end. Looking thinner than ever, lying on the tarmac in a tiny enclosure and devoid of any enrichment, she shows only her back, alone in the face of misfortune, motionless. You would think she was dead. However, no, not yet. When she straightens up, she resumes her all most robotic stereotypical movements on the verge of madness. And one wonders how she has withstood this incessant trauma, which has been her existence for so long.

The memories of her first months of life have never left her. Perhaps it is to them the reason she manages to hang on? These short 12 months when she tasted the flavour of happiness, just after her birth in Kenya, when she was still free and surrounded by her family… Nothing and no one can make her forget the gestures of love from her mother, the unwavering attachment of her family, games with younger elephants of her own age, the pleasure of long walks in the African bush, the joy of swimming together. However, this happiness was snatched from her very early in life. One day, hunters came to massacre her herd, her mother was murdered before her eyes. Samba was only one year old. And that day, she was the only one not to have been killed, her capture provoked to be the slowest and heart-breaking agony of all… A plunge into nothingness, absurdity and cruelty, which still continues, right to this day!

Let’s not continue to endorse this horror!

Shall we leave the last word to this image of a traumatized and mistreated elephant? Do we want to abandon Samba to her torturers until her last breath? Since 2002, One Voice has been mobilizing so that her cage does not become her tomb. In 2019, we are not abandoning the fight! We demand that Samba’s suffering is finally recognized and that loving and caring hands can take care of her!

Even if the prefecture of Bouches-du-Rhône, where the circus is registered, still turns a deaf ear to our calls after all these years, we will have initiated legal proceedings against them. This administration has the duty to impose on those who claim to be the « owners » of Samba, her immediate transfer to a sanctuary. The charges against them, the evidence we hold, is heavy enough to keep us hoping for a success. Unless you want to hide your face and continue to protect her torturers.

Please sign and share the petition #UnSanctuairePourSamba!

Abuse of seven horses: One Voice demands justice

Abuse of seven horses: One Voice demands justice
20.05.2019
Val-de-Marne
Abuse of seven horses: One Voice demands justice
Domestic animals

Animals deserve respect and consideration! This is certainly not what a man from Val-de-Marne gave in regard to seven horses and ponies. For at least nine days, they were left to fend for themselves in a common area. One of them with an injured leg was not even treated! One Voice has intervened and requested their immediate placement into our partner associations shelters. The hearing took place in May 22nd 2019 in Créteil.

It all started in Valenton, in Val-de-Marne back in November 2017. Lean, hungry, horses were trying to survive as best they could, abandoned on common land. Their only source of food came from a neighbour. She alone watered them and fed them hay, fruit and vegetables when she could. No one else seemed to care. For nine days, an animal was left injured: a poor stallion had cut open his leg, an accident obviously caused by a gutter. The wound was not treated and a piece of plastic was trapped inside. One can only imagine the permanent suffering that this horse must have felt! In addition, on another piece of land in the same village, a pony was also abandoned. Not only was nobody looking after him, but he was also tethered. Impossible for him to walk or to run, something horses love to do. He remained alone, almost motionless, with no access to water or food.

Deeply indignant of this situation, the neighbour then sounds the alarm. A complaint is filed on November 20^th 2017. The investigation now makes it possible to find the person responsible for this abandonment: a horse breeder. He felt offended and assured us that he could not treat the injured horse, because the latter was « difficult to approach ». An unconvincing argument, given that a piece of plastic was stuck in the animal’s leg which prevented it from moving normally. Approaching the horse was therefore very easy, he was waiting for that! It seems obvious that this man had no intention of looking after his animals with dignity. Horses would continue to try to survive. Fearing that his horses would be removed, the man then probably moved them to a shed, the location of which we do not know, at least outside of the common ground, all to make it impossible to find them. Justice is running its course today, but the horses are still under the yoke of an irresponsible man.

One Voice therefore brought a civil action against this man for ill-treatment and will be at the hearing on May 22^nd 2019. These horses must be placed as soon as possible in our partners shelters! So, they will finally receive the love and good care they need and deserve.

A dog as an object cannot be good for the heart

A dog as an object cannot be good for the heart
16.05.2019
France
A dog as an object cannot be good for the heart
Domestic animals

A scientific study published in 2017 explains the health benefits of living with a dog companion 1. Today it is exploited in a campaign by the French Federation of Cardiology which communicates on the medical and social « assets » of these domestic companions. Presented as perfect drugs, dogs would allow seniors to reduce their risk of dying from a cardiovascular disease by 36%.

To add a note of humour to these findings, the French Cardiology Federation sees fit to emphasize that these 4-legged health remedies are « fearful, smell strong, snore, bark all the time, drool, lose their hair, have gas « , And other compliments… Hmm, what kind of respect for these beings is this » who fortunately can save your life « ! How can we imagine that a dog is but a mere object, despised to this point and that it could bring any help to a person who would need it thus?

Dogs are our millennial companions! Their sensitivity is no longer needed to be proven, nor is their degree of evolution. We have shaped them to embellish our existence. This campaign, full of arrogance and derision, gives them a representation that demeans and distorts them. Where then is the respect for these animals and for the millions of humans who love and rely on them?

We, defend dogs against the cruelties of which they are victims. We also offer conferences to get to know them better and to live with them on a daily basis. And we know that if their presence in a home can be good for the heart, it is precisely because this life that they share with us is based on a loving relationship. This unconditional love that dogs teach us and offer us, this benevolence, this indulgence, this absolute fidelity, and all these little moments of happiness that humans come to know having had the chance to meet them.

It is no coincidence that the lectures that we have given in many cities were entitled: In the « heart » of a dog. These companions with an immense heart pursue only one goal: to be there for us, without reserve and forever. This is how they make us deeply happy, that they give us confidence and the desire to reach out to others. This is how they protect our heart, in every sense of the word.

If the French Cardiology Federation has laudable intentions, its campaign clearly misses out on what makes the essence of a relationship worthy of the name, a companion dog. Moreover, people who would be tempted to adopt an animal object solely for their health, are likely to lie about the results of this study…

¹ Mubanga M et al. « Cardiovascular accident and death risks for dog owners – a national cohort study ». Sci Rep 2017; 7: 15821

Cooky’s torturer stands before the judges

Cooky’s torturer stands before the judges
16.05.2019
France
Cooky’s torturer stands before the judges
Domestic animals

Next May 20th we will defend the memory of the dog Cooky whose life was savagely taken away by a trap. We filed a complaint against the person who had left him dying for days without helping him. His trial begins at the Auch Criminal Court where we will be fighting to demand that justice is done.

A drama that shook the senses. On November 29^th 2018, Cooky did not return home. Distraught, his family looked for him everywhere without quitting, searching through the areas where he would have a daily run. Alas, a week after his disappearance, a sinister phone call which sounded like the death knell for his family, destroying their last hopes: a man contacted them, he came with a corpse in his arms… He wanted to get rid of the body… It was Cooky. This man was his executioner. The investigation quickly revealed that he had let the dog in agony for several days, caught by the throat in a trap intended for foxes!

A trial for an act of cruelty

We have filed a complaint against the person responsible for this despicable act that caused a death! He will appear on May 20^th before the Correctional Court of Auch. We have the documents to prove that the defendant had knowingly decided to leave Cooky to suffocate in excruciating pain. We know on December 1^st he had installed a spring trap on his property and that it had been trigged trapping a dog. However, he did not release the dog, even though he had heard people calling for their lost companion. However, this man preferred to let the animal suffer in agony right until the end!

The autopsy shows that Cooky’s death was caused « by strangulation with partial crushing of the tissues of the neck and larynx (…)« . She also notes « the presence of stomach fluid in the trachea contributing to the asphyxiation of the dog by a reaction of the lungs following a false swallowing caused by strangulation or by the fact that the dog had struggled« . Thus, Cooky experienced intense physical pain and terrible anguish while he was suffocating… We will be alongside his grieving family at the trial to defend his memory and to demand that his torturer be sentenced and receive the maximum sentence!

Badgers are about to live through nine and a half months of hell!

Badgers are about to live through nine and a half months of hell!
15.05.2019
France
Badgers are about to live through nine and a half months of hell!
Wildlife

Today, May 15th, the cruellest hunt in Europe opens for 9 and a half months of hell!It is at the request of the hunting federations that the Prefects of 74 French departments authorize this scandalous hunting. Badgers are paying the price while they are still in the midst of breeding and rearing their young! That and to allow more and more French hunters to practice this kind of hunting while it’s prohibited in all the other countries of Europe: underground hunting or digging up!

In France, badgers have the unfortunate privilege of being classified as « a species of game with an added period of hunt ». This status, unique in France has been tailor-made to allow the practice of « underground hunting » while all other hunting modes are closed until September. This status is in fact worse than that of so-called species classified as pests, because the authorities do not even have to justify the slightest damage to be able to sacrifice thousands of badgers to hunters in search of hunting during spring and summer.

To practice digging up, the hunters meet as a « crew ». They block all of the badger’s entrances so that the badger(s) cannot escape, leaving only one opening, through which they bring their terrier dogs to harass the animal in their gallery.

Cornered, terrorized, bitten constantly, the badger will suffer for long hours resisting and fighting for its mere survival and to protect its home.

Guided by the barking of their dogs, the hunters dig until they reach their target. Depending on the nature of the terrain, the depth of the gallery, and the precision of the hunter-diggers, this operation can take 3 to 10 hours! Once uncovered, the badger, stressed and injured, is seized using metal tongs measuring 1.5 to 1.8 meters long. Once removed from the burrow, it is then killed with daggers thrusts to the heart, with a stick, or with a rifle and its remains are then thrown to the dogs. It is not uncommon for badgers to be delivered to dogs which are still alive. The badger will then be torn to pieces enduring an unmeasurable suffering. This practice has a name: The Quarry, it is intended to excite the fervour for this kind of hunting, or to offer a show of unusual violence to humans.

In an attempt to « justify » these horrors, hunters argue that the practice is « traditional », which is entirely false. If indeed this practice is quite old, it was until recently a completely marginal hunt. It is under the effect of a few hunters supported by the National Federation of Hunters that the practice of underground hunting has taken off in the last twenty years. Today there are more than 3,000 crews in France! Around 75,000 hunters and 130,000 dogs! And there is no set quota to supervise the massacre of badgers! As much as these hunters want to hunt, they will kill as many as they can!

Despite what some hunters claim, badgers do not “swarm”. It is for this reason that in most European countries, such as Belgium, England, Ireland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Portugal, Spain, Italy or Greece, these animals are protected.

Scientific studies have shown that in France, the numbers of badgers are 0.1 to 4 or 5 per square kilometre. In England, their numbers can reach 10 individuals per square kilometre without causing any damage to agriculture or infrastructure.

One Voice demands that this practice, which also concerns foxes and nutria, be finally prohibited in France, as it is in the whole of Europe and demands the protection of badgers, they do have their place in the nature!