Pyrenean bears: with no access to justice, One Voice is demanding that the Prefect steps down!
The Ariège Prefecture has just issued a new decree against bears. One Voice is demanding the resignation of the Prefect and an immediate referral to the tribunal.
Since this morning, One Voice has attacked two Ariège prefectural decrees issued yesterday, Monday 29 August 2022, which once again authorise the scaring of bears in the Pyrenees. The mere existence of these decrees is a slap in the face of the justice system, which has just urgently suspended the seven preceding decrees following our action. The hearing will take place tomorrow at 10:30am at the Toulouse Administrative Tribunal. In the face of this denial of justice, One Voice is demanding that the Prefect steps down.
Muriel Arnal, President of One Voice, stated:
«Flash-balls, sting-ball grenades: this evening at 8pm violence will be unleashed and will descend on bears. We are appalled but will not stop helping against farmers who only consider nature for their own immediate benefits. It is vital to fight this senseless prostration of the Prefecture and the State before destructive and short-termist lobbies. Even more so at a time where biodiversity, our shared heritage, is going up in smoke at an alarming rate.»
Favouring private interests rather than animals and nature, a sad habit…
How can we be surprised by the Prefect’s attitude when, hardly a year ago, the Ministry for the Ecological Transition did the same in favour of traditional bird hunting, another subject already relevant to animals and lobbies?
As always, the data (unsubstantiated and unreliable, as pointed out by the Tribunal) is provided exclusively by those opposing wild animals: farmers. What do they know about bears?
The Ariège Prefect must step down
It is usual for governments to favour farmers/hunters/trappers to the detriment of animals and nature. We see it every day. But repeatedly denying justice, in a State ruled by law, is absolutely unacceptable.
We are of course attacking the decrees issued (for Ustou and Arreau). And facing denial of legal authority by this representative of the State, we are demanding that the Prefect steps down.
Sting-ball grenades and flash-balls on protected animals…
Simple and intensified scaring is expected from today at 8pm. What is ‘scaring’? It is mainly about flash-balls and sting-ball grenades! All of this accurately prevents female bears from getting to full term in their pregnancies, whether it be due to stress or a lack of strength; these animals must gain a large amount of fat before their hibernation period, during which the babies are born. And we remind you that with less than one hundred individuals, the population is far from viable!
A lobby ready for anything
Bears feed mainly on vegetation. But their mere presence is a source of many irrational fears stirred up by those who want to exploit nature until the end. Even this week, several ewes from a large flock died by jumping into a void in the middle of the night. Farmers have ‘blamed bears’ with no proof, in the absence of any trace of preying. A rumour fed by those who it benefits. Compensation is not paid if it is discovered that the damage is due to stray dogs in the mountains.
Live in peace!
One Voice has never been in favour of the introduction of bears in the Pyrenees, where they arrive into a hostile environment. But now that they are there, we refuse to allow them to be hunted down! They deserve to live in peace and not to be subjected to a surge of violence. And with them, entire spaces of nature will be able to prosper. We, humans, must learn to coexist with animals and nature, as long as there are still some left.
Translated from the French by Joely Justice