Circus

Circus

Circus
Circus
The situation
Animal exploitation, a circus that must end!

In the wild, the territory of a lion, tiger or elephant extends over dozens, even hundreds of square kilometres. In circuses, these majestic animals are kept in lorries, locked up in cages that are as tiny as they are unsuitable. Shackled, beaten and starved, forced to perform unnatural, painful and frightening acts, they are slaves to dangerous and humiliating shows that make their lives a never-ending ordeal.

For twenty-five years, One Voice has been investigating, raising awareness and fighting to ban all exploitation of wild or domestic animals in circuses. Our association is working with recognised experts and scientists, firmly attesting to their physical and psychological suffering. We support town councils that wish to do so, and take legal action to obtain the release of the animals. Our cases and investigations are aimed at banning their exploitation outright, exposing trafficking of all kinds, rescuing the victims and placing them in sanctuaries.

 

Support the fight

Our fight

Why are we fighting against the exploitation of animals in the circus?

Reasons to fight: cruelty on stage

Lights, music, applause. In the ring, the animals are stressed and attacked from all sides for the sole entertainment of an audience that is often oblivious to what is going on.

Under threat, the felines have to overcome their fear of fire, the elephants have to walk on their knees: exercises they only agree to perform for fear of punishment if they disobey. Out of sight, their lot is no better: insalubrity, lack of water and space, promiscuity and extreme solitude punctuate their repetitive and unhappy daily lives. Whether wild or domestic, the same miserable fate condemns them to suffering and fear, even death.

These shows, which are in no way educational, trivialise domination through violence in the eyes of children, and the reification of living beings in the name of entertainment.

The animals in circuses represent the domination and oppression that we have fought for so long. They wear the same chains and shackles. Dick Gregory Civil rights activist and advocate of non-violence alongside Martin Luther King

A long-term battle…

Passed in 2021, the law against animal abuse has done nothing to change the condition of animals used for entertainment.

Worse still, it has distracted public attention and does nothing to prevent exploitation, illegal reproduction or trafficking. For Samba, the elephant we’ve been following since 2002, or for Jumbo, the amphibious hippopotamus who has been languishing in a tin lorry for over twenty years, the ordeal continues. Faced with these situations of mistreatment, which are illegal to boot, and the indifference of the authorities, we never stop fighting.

… and some resounding victories

Our actions and investigations are increasingly leading to exciting victories.

In 2020, the ten tigers locked in Mario Masson’s lorry were seized by the courts as a result of our campaign.

The lion Jon and the four lionesses Hannah, Patty, Céleste and Marly were also rescued from the clutches of their torturers in a historic liberation. While Jon eventually died as a result of his trauma, the lionesses are enjoying a peaceful life in our sanctuary in Italy.

Like Mario Masson before him, their trainer Steve Gougeon has been severely punished by the courts for ill-treatment, an unprecedented development in France.

Key figures

An alarming fact

+100 towns refuse circuses with animals 69% of French people are against the presence of wild animals in circuses 25 years of fighting for animals in circuses I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation

Our proposals

Our proposals to the French government

  • Banning the exploitation of animals in sedentary circuses
  • Banning the hire of animals for shows
  • Place animals currently held by circuses in shelters and ban all exchanges and reproduction
  • Seizing animals in the event of infringement of the Order of 18 March 2011
  • Create at least one register of animals present in circuses, to be updated annually.

History

The whole story of our fight against the exploitation of animals in circuses

December 2020

For two years, our investigators took risks to build a case against trainer Mario Masson. Patience paid off and we were able to use hidden camera footage to prove the disgraceful living conditions of ten tigers, locked together by the trainer in a 20 m2 lorry. Following our complaint, on 16 December 2020, the tigers were seized by the courts and placed in safekeeping pending the completion of the public prosecutor’s investigation.

June 2020

In June 2020, we obtained the seizure of Jon, a mutilated and undocumented lion held by the Cirque de Paris. The courts then gave us custody of him. Following this first victory, we also obtained the seizure of the four lionesses Hannah, Patti, Céleste and Marli, held by the same circus. This is the first time in France that animals have been seized from a circus solely for ill-treatment, at the request of an association.

March 2020

Jumbo, the amphibious hippopotamus, remains a prisoner in a dungeon at the Müller circus. Although the Valence criminal court initially convicted the Müllers of illegal exploitation and of placing and keeping an animal in an environment likely to cause it suffering, it did not see fit to force the Drôme prefecture to remove Jumbo from the hands of the circus owners. Since then, we have continued our investigations and campaigns. In March 2020, we lodged a new complaint for Jumbo, but also to free the ponies and macaques held by the Müllers. We will not give in for them.

September 2019

That month, our investigators filmed the three bears Micha, Glasha and Bony, held by trainers Sacha Poliakov and Dany Bruneau. The bears, locked up in unsanitary conditions, were dying, far from view. We immediately lodged a complaint with the Blois public prosecutor for acts of cruelty. Moved by our images, Elisabeth Borne, then Minister for Ecological Transition and Solidarity, ordered Micha to be placed in a medical sanctuary, but the bear died shortly afterwards. Following this death, we obtained the placement of Glasha and Bony in a sanctuary. In May 2021, we took the Poliakovs to court in Blois. We asked for all their animals to be removed and for them to be taken into our custody.

May 2019

The exploitation of Samba (renamed Tania in 2003) is dragging on: recent images show her thinner than ever, lying on the asphalt of a tiny pen. After 17 years of fighting for her, we are once again lodging a complaint.

April 2019

Help for the tigers! At Parc Saint-Paul (60), the trainer shows off a tigron for photo sessions with children. The frightened baby tiger, separated from its mother, screamed in vain. We filed a complaint. In the case of Mévy, the tigress who escaped from the circus in November 2017 and was shot dead in the streets of Paris by her trainer, the public prosecutor is asking for the case to be acquitted… We will attend as many hearings as it takes to get to the bottom of her death!

February – May 2019

Since July 2017 our fight for Jumbo has intensified. A prosecutor has made it possible to seize him several times: the police, ONCFS and One Voice logistics have been mobilised. But once again, circus violence broke out and prevented the hippopotamus from being seized. The following month saw a demonstration in Paris and an article in the press signed by fifteen well-known figures. The trial scheduled for May against the hippo’s owners for mistreatment (a first) was postponed, leaving Jumbo to wait yet again despite new and appalling expert reports. The “show” goes on in this circus, with macaques strapped to galloping ponies!

2019

One Voice is celebrating 20 years in the fight for animal-free circuses! We are continuing, for them. A dedicated website, cirques-sans-animaux.fr, has been launched to mark the occasion and remind us of our campaigns, as well as the individuals we have saved and defended.

September 2018

Set free! Captive for 42 years, Lechmee is finally at rest. Exploited, blind and handicapped, she received 93,400 supporters on our petition, as well as numerous forums, complaints and appeals in 2 years of campaigning. Our action has made a difference! Mina and Kamala remain at the heart of our concerns and actions.

July 2018

Maya has been freed from the circus! Endless rallies, procedures and appeals, scientific expertise, support from the public in their hundreds of thousands, including many celebrities… Maya’s cause, taken all the way to the French Presidency, culminated in a veterinary inspection confirming her health problems, which were incompatible with circus activity. The prefecture ordered her retirement from the circus. We are still defending her lifelong companions, Nelly and Brigit.

July 2018

At a time when our Walloon neighbours are adopting an animal welfare code that is the most comprehensive and progressive in Europe, One Voice is visiting the Mayors of Bastia and Ajaccio, and offering the local elected representatives of any municipality that requests it, its expertise in unassailable decrees banning circuses with animals.

June 2018

A year after denouncing the illegal “parades” imposed on felines, particularly through the story of Sultan, One Voice has learned of the irregular administrative situation of the lions held by another circus. The seizure of Bébé, Bellone, Caroline, Nelson and Mandela was pre-empted by the measures taken by the circus, followed by their removal. Sultan also remained unaccounted for. Investigations, petitions, raising public awareness: One Voice is defending all these suffering lions, hidden away like Elyo, covered in wounds, amorphous and isolated in his cage truck.

March 2018

In January, Muriel Arnal visited the bear and elephant sanctuary founded by One Voice in India, a long way from Europe and its often irregular exploitation, with dramatic consequences. When Diana died in April on a Spanish road, we thought of Vicky, her companion freed by One Voice. As for Baby, she is forced to parade without authorisation. For Dumba, aged 41, isolated and constantly hired out for shows, exhibited and photographed in the company of children, the association is working with its Spanish partner FAADA to put an end to her ordeal.

March 2017

While the French National Order of Veterinary Surgeons confirms that the “conditions in which animals are held cannot meet their physiological and social needs”, One Voice is starting new procedures to free the elephant Maya, whose condition is becoming critical after more than 40 years of exploitation by circuses, and is asking for her to be placed in a partner sanctuary as a matter of urgency. While the courts are still turning a deaf ear to One Voice’s appeals, activists are calling for her release, through petitions and a silent demonstration organised on 28 October in Paris.

2017

To free the animals held by circuses, in particular Lechmee, Mina and Kamala, the three elephants in the Medrano circus, One Voice is launching a legal procedure unprecedented in France and is seeking arbitration from the Contrôleur général des lieux de privation de liberté.

2016

A campaign has been launched with Code Animal to offer retirement to Lechmee, Mina and Kamala, the elephants from the Medrano circus. They would be the first residents of Elephant Haven!

2016

Start of partnership with Elephant Haven to create Europe’s first elephant sanctuary.

2016

Publication of a map of communes that refuse circuses with animals and distribution of a procedure to follow in order to contribute to the movement.

2016

The deadline for implementing the Order of 18 March 2011 has passed. Circuses must finally comply with the standards!

2016

One Voice is launching a petition to stop circuses with animals being considered as part of our cultural heritage.

2016

One Voice is asking Strasbourg, which is already open to the issue, to make a commitment by refusing to host circuses that present animals. A petition has been launched to obtain the support of its residents.

2015

A campaign to free the Fort Boyard tigers has been launched.

2014

A new survey is devoted to the conditions in which elephants are kept in circuses. It is illustrated by comments from John Knight, a veterinary surgeon and animal welfare specialist who knows Samba well, and shows that all the establishments visited put the public at considerable risk.

2014

One Voice is a civil party in Samba’s trial. The rescue plan, which had already been organised, was proposed again. But the court decided not to convict the trainer and left the elephant with the circus.

2013

One Voice is calling for the immediate seizure of Samba, who caused the death of an octogenarian by trying to escape. It is offering to take full responsibility for her and is organising all the necessary logistics. But the circus went on its way with her.

2013

An educational cycle, with a teaching kit for children and discussion groups for teenagers, has been set up for teachers.

2012

The “What kind of a circus is this” campaign was launched.

2012

One Voice denounces the exploitation of dogs in circuses. Its investigations reveal brutal training methods and squalid holding conditions. Poorly fed, crammed into cages or tied up too short, they receive no affection whatsoever.

2011

Two simultaneous circles of silence for Samba and all the captive elephants are being organised in Paris and Strasbourg to round off a year of mobilisation.

2010

An “Elephant Committee” was set up to launch a year-long campaign to lobby politicians and Samba’s trainer.

2010

A circle of silence for Samba and all the elephants held captive in circuses is being organised at the Trocadéro in Paris.

2009

One Voice is denouncing the inertia of the legal system concerning circuses with animals. In particular, it is pointing the finger at the numerous breaches of legislation identified by its investigators, which are never punished even after several years.

2009

One Voice and other associations have been received by the Ministry of Ecology, along with the circus companies, to discuss the new draft decree. One Voice deplores the fact that no scientists were invited to the final negotiations, as it had proposed.

2009

Awareness-raising campaigns are being organised in the streets across France, along with the distribution of our campaign documents and the petition for Samba.

2008

The lion Brutus was freed after two and a half years of fighting. He was transferred to the Shamwari reserve in South Africa, with financial support from Cirque Phoenix and the SPA.

2007

A major action for Samba is organised with a storyteller, musicians and African dancers. Muriel Arnal and Daniel Turner, coordinator of ENDCAP, the European coalition against the captivity of wild animals, were received at the Ministry of Ecology. A video montage of investigations carried out in circuses by One Voice was handed over, along with the petition for Samba’s release, which had 128,000 signatures. They succeeded in ensuring that a first version of the revised decree, deemed insufficient, was not voted through.

2007

The national gendarmerie has been trained by One Voice to monitor the conditions in which animals are kept in circuses.

2007

As part of its negotiations with the Ministry of Ecology, One Voice has submitted a scientific report on the elephant Betty.

2006

Three lions – Djunka, Nalla and Shada – are being freed from their tiny cages after our investigation revealed that they were being held illegally. The operation is being carried out in partnership with the Born Free foundation. They will be transferred to South Africa, to the Shamwari reserve.

2006

The tigress Maomie, held illegally by a circus, was seized thanks to the work of our investigators. She was taken in by the Arche refuge.

2006

One Voice has alerted the authorities to the state of health of Tatcha, an African elephant, following a veterinary inspection carried out at her request. Very weak, the elephant died a few weeks later from heart failure. Betty, the elephant’s companion who was to remain alone, mobilised the association.

2006

One Voice is a civil party in the case for the release of the three other elephants held illegally by Vicky’s trainer. But the ministry will choose to legalise its papers…

2006

The confiscation of the elephant Vicky is a first in France. After years of European mobilisation and several months of tracking and changing circuses, One Voice’s investigators found her alone in a trailer with no heat or light, where the temperature had dropped to -7°C… Her state of health required an emergency seizure, which was carried out under high tension in a hostile climate. She was sent to Gdansk, to a zoo which, like a sanctuary, takes in many rescued animals. There she will be able to live with another elephant in semi-liberty. The circus’s lawsuit, won by One Voice, will set a precedent.

2005

A One Voice investigator went undercover for several months in a training centre for wild animals used by circuses and the media (including the TV show Fort Boyard, adverts and films). His images clearly show the extreme violence of this practice and the squalid conditions in which animals are held.

2005

One Voice is continuing its work with the Ministry of Ecology. Working documents have been drawn up. They include the conclusions of the vets and experts appointed by the association to assess the living conditions of wild animals in circuses.

2005

A report on “Safety and welfare in circuses” is being prepared with the Jane Goodall Institute France for the great apes section. It will be sent with the Samba report to all Members of Parliament and Senators.

2005

A report on Samba was published following several days of investigation and observation by a veterinary surgeon specialising in wild animals, Dr John Knight.

2005

The lioness Simba has been released from the circus where she had been kept for six years. Thanks to a joint operation by One Voice and the Olga association, she has been transferred to the Refuge de l’Arche.

2004

The petition for Samba’s release totals 77,000 signatures.

2004

Several town halls now call on One Voice when a circus sets up illegally and violently. More and more town councils are refusing to accept them and are learning from One Voice the means available to them to carry out checks or prevent them from setting up.

2004

A European petition against the presence of animals in circuses has been launched.

2004

One Voice is organising a major demonstration in Marseille to demand Samba’s release. A support committee has been set up, including Professor Pierre Pfeffer, vets Marie-Claude Bomsel, Bruno Lassalle, Valérie Duphot and actor/producer Jacques Perrin.

2003

Our campaign for animal-free circuses has the support of 100,000 signatories, including MPs, mayors, scientists, artists and philosophers.

2003

Muriel Arnal, accompanied by Professor Pierre Pfeffer, an eminent elephant specialist, presented 40,000 signatures for Samba’s release to the French Ministry of Ecology.

2003

After four years of campaigning, work has begun on revising the decree that governs circus activity. One Voice is taking part in the work sessions organised by the Ministry of Ecology in the presence of circus operators.

2003

The campaign to free the elephant Samba has been launched. Captured in Kenya at the age of one after seeing her family massacred, then locked up in a circus, Samba was beaten because she refused to mime her own death. One Voice has lodged a complaint against her trainer.

2002

The lioness Maousi was saved by One Voice and taken into a sanctuary. Taken from her private owner by the local council, she was due to be euthanised by the circus where she had been placed.

2002

A report was submitted to the Ministry of Ecology on the keeping, training and exploitation of wild animals in circuses. It received 67,300 signatures, including those of numerous mayors, MPs, veterinarians and personalities such as Marie Trintignant, Suzanne Flon and Yves Lecoq.

2001

One Voice condemns circuses that are forced to set up when local authorities forbid them to do so and offers its support to the mayors concerned.

2001

One Voice is organising an awareness-raising tour across France entitled “2001, the year of the animal-free circus”.

2000

One Voice is a civil party in the trial of the Cirque de Paris, which has been expelled and banned from performing in Nevers. The company is being prosecuted for failing to produce certificates of fitness and for the physiological misery of a hippopotamus.

2000

One Voice is the first French association to file complaints against circuses with animals.

2000

Achille, a thirty-six-year-old chimpanzee, is the first animal to be released from a circus in France. He had been living in a 3 m2 cage for fifteen years, despite the fact that circuses are not allowed to keep animals that are not involved in the show, and that he does not have a certificate of competence. He was taken in by the Stichting-AAP sanctuary in the Netherlands.

2000

Children, the target audience for circus performers, need to be made aware of this. Talis/One Voice is distributing a leaflet specially designed for them, denouncing the role of schools that take them to see circuses with animals.

2000

Talis/One Voice sent arguments to MPs. Several were convinced and wrote written questions to the government about the legal vacuum concerning animals in circuses. The association also rallied many mayors to the movement.

1999

Talis/One Voice carries out checks alongside the authorities, which reveal many infringements.

1999

Talis/One Voice is launching the “Circuses, yes, but without animals” campaign in France.

1999

Awareness-raising campaigns are organised in towns and cities before circuses arrive. Getting the public to stop seeing shows with animals has always been at the heart of our campaign.

Our other battles

Corrida

Corrida

Corrida
Corrida
The situation
Bullfighting: torture in the name of tradition

Surrounded by fences, the bulls have no way out. For everyone who enters the arena, death is at the end of the tunnel: it comes after a long ordeal, under the shouts of the crowd. This suffering, acclaimed, applauded, staged and shown to families, is nothing but violence. Bullfighting is a deception disguised as art.
One Voice is fighting against the perpetuation of bullfighting in all its forms. Our investigations, relayed by the media, enable us to reveal its true face to the public: not that of a fight on equal terms, but that of brutality, lies and torture.

Our fight

Why are we fighting against the exploitation of bulls for entertainment?

Bulls, gentle and peaceful creatures

Bulls spontaneously shun conflict. Their nature is more peaceful than aggressive, and you have to push them to their limits to provoke their reactions. The bulls used in bullfighting have undergone a long selection process. This lucrative industry has thus obtained smaller animals, intended solely for show. Pushed into the arena, the bulls are attacked by the shouts of the crowd and the thunderous music, and weakened by the deep pokes. Far from their herd and their landmarks, their stress is unspeakable. Disorientated, they have no choice but to try and protect themselves.

Torturing a bull for pleasure, for fun, is much more than torturing an animal, it’s torturing a conscience. Victor Hugo

A three-act kill

As soon as they leave the toril, the bulls have to be out of breath with long runs. Then the picadors enter the scene. At the risk of their mounts, they drive spikes into their withers and slice the ligaments at the back of their necks to keep their foreheads down. Finally, into an already bruised withers, the bullfighter delivers the final blow, often repeating himself several times. If these sword blows are not effective, the disguised torturer will thrust a dagger into the spinal cord before cutting off the ears and tail.

Bullfighting, an outrageous exception to the law

“The act, whether publicly or not, of inflicting serious abuse or committing an act of cruelty on a domestic or tame animal, or one held in captivity, is punishable by three years’ imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 euros.

Article 521-1 – Criminal Code

Illegal and subsidised cruelty

These scenes of torture are accessible to even the youngest children. Children as young as 6 can attend. Although this cruelty is illegal, it is exempt in certain regions when bullfighting is part of a “continuous and uninterrupted” local tradition, and can benefit from subsidies from town councils looking for local entertainment and from the European Union for breeding farms. Bullfighting – bullfighting, but also Camargue and Landaise races – contributes to the trivialisation of brutality.

Bullfighting schools: learning violence

If children can attend bullfights, they can also take part in them. Specialised schools teach them how to kill, so they themselves become the perpetrators of the cruelty inflicted on the animals… Our investigations in bullfighting schools revealed that from the age of six, children are forced to martyr young calves.

Key figures

An alarming fact

1000 bulls tortured to death every year in France. 75 % of French people are opposed to bullfighting, 79% of whom believe that bullfighting can no longer be considered a spectacle in this day and age. 8 countries still tolerate this practice: 5 in Latin America and three in Europe, including France. I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation

Our proposals

Our proposals to the French government

  • Ban the practice of bullfighting in France (remove the exception for the torture of animals that applies to bullfighting).
  • At the very least, bullfighting performances should be off-limits to minors under the age of 16.
  • Close bullfighting schools for children and ban novilladas.

History

The whole story of our fight against bullfighting

2018

One Voice supports and participates in the actions of its association partners to ban bullfighting exhibitions and advertisements that promote this cruel tradition, and raises awareness of what the bulls and cows go through in the ferias of the towns concerned, as well as the horses and the children who watch them. Finally, it provides information on the financial difficulties of bullfighting societies and the cancellation of bullfighting events.

2017

During the municipal election campaign, One Voice is calling for candidates to set an example when it comes to cruelty to animals, and is outraged by the former Torera’s candidacy for Arles Town Hall.

July 2016

On 23 July 2016, One Voice took part in the united march organised by CRAC with Renaud in Mont-de-Marsan.

2015

A major victory for anti-corridas! Following legal action by CRAC and Droits des Animaux, bullfighting has been struck off France’s list of intangible cultural heritage.

2013

One Voice is continuing its partnership with CRAC and increasing its support for its actions.

2012

One Voice’s investigation into the “Graines de toreros” trophy reveals the horror of children being trained to slaughter young bulls in the ring.

2011

One Voice and its association partners are mobilising against the inclusion of bullfighting on the World Heritage List. They are forming a collective, “No to the French shame”, and demonstrating together in Nîmes.

2011

The signed manifestos are handed to the Mayor of Nîmes

2010

One Voice launches Operation Sitting Bull with CRAC during a circle of silence in Nîmes. The manifesto “For Nîmes reconciled with the bull” was circulated. An alternative to bullfighting was found: a water festival linked to the town’s history! 27 foreign associations joined us.

2010

The One Voice investigation report is presented to MEPs.

2009

One Voice is partnering CRAC in a major poster campaign in Marseille, creating controversy: the poster has been censored four times!

2009

One Voice, with its campaign partners the League Against Cruel Sports and CRAC, has commissioned a survey from IPSOS on the French and bullfighting. Only four out of ten French people are aware that these shows contribute to the trivialisation of violence among young people. We urgently need to inform them! On the other hand, almost half of them have never been to a bullfight and have no plans to do so…

2009

One Voice’s investigation into the bullfighting world reveals cheating, manipulation of the public and exacerbated cruelty.

2007

One Voice is taking part in a major European event in Lisbon with its partner Animal.

2005

One Voice and the Alliance for the abolition of bullfighting actively support the bill proposed by MP Muriel Marland-Militello.

2003

One Voice is demonstrating in Carcassonne following the decision by the Montpellier Court of Appeal to authorise bullfighting there, thereby rejecting the arguments of its lawyer and the public prosecutor.

2002

Victory for One Voice and the Alliance pour la suppression des corridas! After four years of action, they have obtained a ban on bullfighting in Bourg-Madame in the Pyrénées Orientales, as well as in Toulouse during an appeal. However, the case was dismissed by the Carcassonne Regional Court, despite the advice of the public prosecutor, who called for a ban on bullfighting.

2002

One Voice is once again taking part in the major annual demonstration in Nîmes against bullfighting.

2002

Union for animals, a coalition of associations founded by One Voice and several partners, is calling for the repeal of the law that protects bullfighting practices from criminal prosecution. Before doing so, it is calling for a ban on bullfighting for under-16s.

2001

In Nîmes, One Voice is a partner in the major annual event organised by the Alliance pour la suppression des corridas.

2001

The planned fair at the Stade de France has been cancelled after One Voice and its associative partners mobilised.

2001

Two charity bullfights are cancelled in Toulouse thanks to an opposition campaign led by One Voice and the Alliance pour la suppression des corridas.

2001

France 3 interviews One Voice on the subject of bullfighting.

2000

One Voice is taking action against the Savès fair in Rieumes.

To mark the World Congress of Bullfighting Cities, One Voice/Talis is demonstrating in Nîmes with the Alliance for the Abolition of Bullfighting.

2000

One Voice/Talis and the Collectif contre les corridas de Fréjus march in a peaceful demonstration.

1999

One Voice/Talis is suing several organisers of a private bullfight. The trial, which was won at first instance, was lost on appeal in Nîmes after the intervention of the town’s mayor, who is also president of the Union des villes taurines de France (Union of French Bullfighting Towns)… But the media coverage of the case helped to denounce the activities of the bullfighting lobby.

1999

The horse and bull fair planned for Marseille has been cancelled.

1999

One Voice/Talis is joining the Alliance for the Abolition of Bullfighting in its campaign to ban aficionado propaganda in schools.

1998

One Voice/Talis is joining forces with the WSPA against bullfighting during the football World Cup, with actions in France and the UK. A poster campaign is being run in the London Underground, and the poster in French and English is being projected onto the Arc de Triomphe, which is being transformed into a giant screen for the occasion! The event will be broadcast by Agence France Presse and on television channels around the world. The British Minister for Sport and Member of Parliament will be supporting our campaign by urging British tourists not to attend bullfights.

1998

A carnival bull is at the heart of a number of events in Alsace, winning over the public and the media alike.

1998

Thanks to One Voice/Talis’ work with travel agencies, many tourists booking in a bullfighting town receive our leaflet!

1998

Tourists are made aware of this through leaflets and stickers in English, produced in collaboration with the WSPA, of which One Voice/Talis is a member.

1998

One Voice/Talis and several anti-corrida associations are mobilising and demonstrating in Marseille against plans to reintroduce bullfighting there.

1997

Because tourists help to perpetuate the practice, One Voice/Aequalis, CRAC and the Alliance for the Elimination of Bullfighting are inviting them to boycott bullfighting towns by means of a map of the south of France identifying the regions to be avoided.

1997

One Voice/Aequalis dénonce l’impact des spectacles taurins et de l’apprentissage de la tauromachie sur les enfants.

1997

An activist’s infiltration of a private bullfight reveals the horror of amateur killings. One Voice/Aequalis is helping to distribute the video.

1997

Théodore Monod, patron of One Voice/Aequalis, demonstrating alongside him in Nîmes during the action organised by the Alliance for the abolition of bullfighting.

Our other battles

Dolphinariums

Dolphinariums

Dolphinariums
Dolphinariums
The situation
Dolphinariums: the dignity of large marine animals takes a hit

Orcas and dolphins lead miserable lives in the concrete tanks of dolphinariums, where none of their basic needs are considered. Trained by hunger, condemned to turn in circles without any entertainment, they die slowly with the sole aim of entertaining visitors.

Concerned about their future, One Voice is fighting relentlessly for the transfer of these captive marine animals to a marine sanctuary. Our association represents France on the board of Dolphinaria Free Europe.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Our fight

Why are we fighting against the exploitation of animals in dolphinariums?

Born to roam the oceans

How can we imagine that cetaceans, born to roam the oceans in complex social groups, can thrive in captivity? It is strictly impossible to meet the welfare needs of individuals torn from their families, condemned to promiscuity in small tanks, forced to take part in degrading shows and subjected to a noxious environment (treated water, noise, sunlight). No independent expert will certify that a captive cetacean is happy to be so.

Dolphins and orcas are so intelligent that keeping them in captivity is a form of torture.Dolphins and orcas are so intelligent that keeping them in captivity is torture. Their life expectancy is cut in half! Lori Marino Neuroscientist and cetacean specialist

Orcas and dolphins in captivity: muzzled giants

Like humans, cetaceans have a language, dialects, social ties and traditions. When they are forced to survive in concrete tanks where there is nothing to do, the anxiety generated is so powerful that it provokes aggressive, stereotyped and often dramatic behaviour. We think of Aïcko (« little love » in Japanese), separated from his mother and drowned on 6 November 2016, his body covered in bites. Or Moana, a captive at Marineland d’Antibes, who died in 2023 at just 12 years of age, when the life expectancy of orcas in the wild is between 60 and 90 years.

Our battle without borders, with the experts

Since its creation in 1995, One Voice has been working with internationally renowned experts, including Doctors Naomi Rose and David Perpiñán, to help monitor and free captive cetaceans. For years, our investigations have denounced the illegal capture of cetaceans in the oceans, exchanges between parks destined for reproduction and synonymous with broken families, and the deplorable conditions in which these sensitive and intelligent animals are held.

On behalf of Inouk, Wikie, Keijo and all the others

In France, the law against animal cruelty voted in 2021 stipulates a ban on shows with wild animals in 2026 and the end of dolphinariums, except for those with research programmes. Planète Sauvage and Marineland have such programmes.

Key figures

An alarming fact

2 water parks still exist in France 3000 captive cetaceans worldwide 60 countries keep dolphins and orcas in captivity worldwide I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation

Our proposals

Our proposals to the French government

  • Recognise cetaceans as animals, as has been the case in India since 2015.
  • An immediate ban on shows and breeding in dolphinariums.
  • Ban on the transfer of cetaceans, with the exception of sanctuaries.

Resources

Discover all our resources on the subject of dolphinariums

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History

Nearly 30 years of battles and victories against dolphinariums

September 2020

On 29 September 2020, Barbara Pompili, the French Minister for Ecological Transition, announced an end to the breeding of cetaceans in captivity and a halt to the acquisition of new animals by parks. We deplore the lack of details on animal exchanges, the timetable and its implementation.

May 2020

Our investigators once again went to the Planète Sauvage park to check on the health and living conditions of the captive dolphins. A few days after our visit, Amtan gave birth to a baby dolphin that did not survive a week. The park asked us not to broadcast the videos and demanded €100,000 in damages. This will not silence us. Our legal action for Aïcko is still ongoing.

December 2019

Marineland d’Antibes is threatening to send the orca Inouk to China, a country where there are no laws to protect animals. We are mobilising the public with the “A sanctuary, not China” campaign and alerting politicians so that Inouk is placed in a sanctuary. The complaint we have lodged for acts of cruelty is still pending.

May 2019

Demonstration in front of Antibes town hall for Inouk, sick, with gnawed teeth, and a life other than at Marineland. On the basis of scientific expertise, we filed a complaint for acts of cruelty and a petition was launched. John Hargrove, former supervisor of the park’s animal keepers, is at our side. By keeping protected animals captive, this park must prove that it is doing something for wildlife. We must take action to obtain this document!

January 2019

Ula, Morgan’s daughter, whose illegal birth was celebrated by Loro Parque Park (Tenerife), is between life and death. This baby orca is sick, deformed and isolated… the scientists consulted have never seen anything like it. With Ingrid Visser and Matthew Spiegl (Free Morgan Foundation), we are defending mother and daughter in The Hague (Netherlands), where this dramatic exploitation took place…

December 2018

Uncovering the trafficking of 97 juvenile orcas and belugas illegally captured and sequestered in the Sea of Okhotsk (Russia) for resale to Asian marine parks. In April 2019, One Voice is supporting the expedition (Jean-Michel Cousteau, Whale Sanctuary Project, Ingrid Visser), which has secured the release of these very sick cetaceans.

October 2018

In the absence of a response from the Minister for Ecological Transition and Solidarity for a new order banning the reproduction and exchange of cetaceans, One Voice is taking legal action against the State. We are asking for €500,000 for the moral prejudice caused by its failure to act, a sum intended for the creation of a marine sanctuary.

September 2018

Emergency at Parc Astérix. Demonstration at the Oise prefecture, then at the “leisure” park: Femke’s condition, sick, almost immobile on the surface, with no interaction with the other captives, demands it. Our petition reached over 100,000 signatures. Mobilised, scientists signed damning reports that were brought before a court that continued to deny the evidence!

August 2018

It’s taken a year and it’s still not over! The autopsy report, marred by imperfections, conceals the errors in Aïcko’s care. One Voice has asked the judge for a second opinion, because according to our expert’s report, Aïcko was force-fed whole fish when a tube should have been used, and he vomited through the vent then threw himself against a wall when he was put back in the water. “Petit amour” drowned, his larynx dislocated.

August 2018

Against oblivion! The last dolphin in a closed marine park in Japan, Honey is dying. She’s all that’s left! And where is Martinha, rescued on a beach and then held in a swimming pool for a decade? Is she still alive? The Portuguese authorities say so, but cannot prove it! Campaign for the closure of Attica Park in Greece (where Ekinox, Femke’s son, has been transferred even though it is forbidden to show animals to the public there).

July 2018

Muriel Arnal is at Superpod, a world conference on cetaceans and is presenting our battles: Femke, Aïcko, but also the other captive orcas Wikie, Inouk, Keijo and Shouka. Here, at the CWR (Center For Whale Research), of which One Voice is a member, Ken Balcomb is following the tragedy of the decline of Pod J, a group of resident orcas, one by one, sadly confirmed a few weeks later by the death of Scarlet and Tahlequah’s calf.

July 2018

One Voice with the Whale Sanctuary Project! Little White and Little Grey, two 12-year-old belugas held at the Shanghai Aquarium, are about to be set free at the Icelandic marine sanctuary. It’s a release project that’s absolutely worth following!

Summer 2018

We are campaigning to present each of the orcas held in France: Wikie, Inouk, Keijo, Moana, but also Shouka the exiled, and to denounce the fate that dolphinariums everywhere reserve for them. Lolita, Kiska and Morgan are the sad figureheads of this international campaign.

March – June 2018

Our campaign is being organised in March 2019, soon to be joined by our partner Sea Shepherd France, against a proposed oceanography centre in Dieppe, with hundreds of thousands of sensitive individuals to be put in jars in 120 tanks, just a few metres from the English Channel. Also in the north of France, we have been protesting for several months in a row for the captive and dying manta rays and sharks at Nausicaa, the Boulogne-sur-Mer aquarium.

March 2018

One Voice wrote to Minister Nicolas Hulot, urging him to adopt a new decree incorporating the essential elements of the previous one: an immediate halt to the trade and reproduction of captive cetaceans. In July, as the French representative of the Dolphinaria Free Europe coalition, One Voice was received by the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Solidarity to emphasise the urgency of this!

January 2018

Disaster. After a partial suspension in July 2017, the “dolphinariums” decree issued on 7 May under Minister Ségolène Royal was annulled on 29 January 2018 by the Conseil d’État on procedural grounds. This annulment brings the totally obsolete 1981 decree back into force.

October 2017

One Voice is at the biennial conference of the Society for Marine Mammalogy in Halifax (Canada). Three marine sanctuary projects were singled out for taking in released cetaceans: the Whale sanctuary projects, the Beluga sanctuary project and the Baltimore National Dolphin Sanctuary. The association is following these projects.

May 2017

One Voice and its European coalition SOSdelfines.org are producing a cartoon clip recounting the lives of Femke, Inouk, Galéo and Aïcko, because children have the right to know their sad truth.

2017

Faced with the determination of One Voice and 19 other NGOs, the government of Saint Lucia (Caribbean) has halted the project to build a new dolphinarium submitted by the operator Dolphin Discovery (Mexico).

2017

The Tribunal de Grande Instance (High Court) in Nantes has granted One Voice’s request for a legal expert report to determine the causes of Aïcko’s death. Despite numerous warnings, he died alone and very prematurely in a Planète Sauvage (44) tank in November 2016.

2017

One Voice is up in arms against a draft ministerial decree that risks perpetuating the marine circus system and is mobilising a large number of people. Victory! The ministry has given the animals their rights and banned breeding, exchange and import programmes in France, a form of suffering which, if it does not spread, will die out…

2017

One Voice is launching an emergency procedure for Femke, the dolphin at Parc Astérix, who has been in a terrible state since her only son Ekinox was transferred to a Greek dolphinarium.A veterinary assessment, a request to the authorities and a summary court procedure have been launched to deal with the urgency of the family’s suffering, which augurs the worst.

2016

Following China’s request to capture orcas and other marine mammals in Namibia, One Voice is relaying the opposition campaign by Walvis Bay activists in France.

2016

An additional complaint against Planète Sauvage was lodged on 7 November concerning Aïcko, whose condition was dramatic. His death was announced on 9 November, leading One Voice to ask the Préfet to look into the situation.

2016

Campaign to oppose the transfer of two dolphins from Parc Astérix to a dolphinarium in Greece.

2016

The campaign began for the dolphin Galéo, whose worrying state of health was revealed following an investigation carried out in collaboration with Dr Ingrid Visser. A petition was launched to free him and a complaint was lodged.

2016

Investigations in dolphinariums continue, with increased vigilance over the orcas at Marineland.

2016

One Voice denounces the dolphinarium project at Beauval zoo, which will be abandoned.

2016

Publication of a report in favour of cetaceans.

2015

Start of the campaign to include the closure of French dolphinariums in the Biodiversity Act, following the death of Valentin at Marineland d’Antibes.

2013

Weekly distribution of a booklet on the history of the dolphin Iris and a map showing the presence of dolphins throughout Alsace.

2013

One Voice and global associations specialising in the defence of cetaceans have joined forces to launch the Dolphinaria-Free Europe coalition with the screening of the film Blackfish at the European Parliament in Brussels.

2012

One Voice, as part of the SOSdelfines coalition, is campaigning against dolphinariums in Spain.

2012

To free Morgan, a young killer whale who was lost at sea and sent to a dolphinarium despite current legislation, One Voice is working with Orka Coalitie and the Free Morgan Foundation.

2012

An educational kit has been developed on the theme of marine circuses.

2011

One Voice organises circles of silence for captive dolphins in the three major cities near a dolphinarium: Nantes, Nice and Paris.

2008

One Voice is continuing its fight for the release of the dolphins in Port-Saint-Père and is stepping up its theatre and leaflet campaigns in parallel with its legal battle.

2007

An audit commissioned by One Voice denounces the principle of dolphinariums: “Dolphins in captivity: a failed experiment”. It has been sent to French and European MPs.

2006

When the new dolphinarium project in Port-Saint-Père was announced, One Voice immediately put together an opposition dossier and launched an awareness campaign with actions such as a circle of silence and a theatre-tract: “Captive dolphins seek free humans”. It succeeded in getting the issue taken to court, with legal action from 2007 to 2009, which delayed the opening.

2006

Awareness campaign in front of the Japanese embassy.

2006

Ric O’ Barry, a consultant for the association, returned to Taiji at the request of Time Magazine Asia. He then toured France to raise awareness of the problem of captive marine mammals.

2005

Ric O’ Barry, a consultant for the association, returned to Taiji at the request of Time Magazine Asia. He then toured France to raise awareness of the problem of captive marine mammals.

2004

With the support of the Haitian authorities, One Voice is supervising the release of six dolphins that had been captured for the leisure industry. The Haitian environment minister wanted to send a clear message against the exploitation of dolphins. There are courageous politicians and countries that remain dignified, despite the difficulties they face!

2004

One Voice is continuing its investigation in Japan with Ric O’Barry, the former Flipper trainer, who is returning to Taiji accompanied by journalists. An action is being organised in front of the Japanese embassy.

2004

Launch of the “Peace for Dolphins” campaign. Dolphinariums where “swim-with” programmes are proliferating are targeted, particularly in the Caribbean, Antigua and Barbuda.

2004

Campaign for the Kshamenk killer whale, the only captive killer whale in South America. She is held in a tiny tank in Argentina, where she lives in isolation, despite the fact that there is an inlet in the sea where she could be kept.

2003

An exclusive investigation by One Voice in Japan proves for the first time the link between the Taiji massacres and the captivity industry. The images were broadcast around the world by the BBC in 2004, then to scientists attending the 19th conference of the European Cetacean Society in La Rochelle in 2005, as well as to the Whaling Commission. It was a tsunami for the global dolphinarium industry! At last, the public can see the hypocrisy of those who claim to be working to protect cetaceans!

1999

Support for the Mexican Environment Minister who wants to ban the captivity of dolphins in his country. Some politicians are not afraid to get involved…

1999

Mobilisation to ban the keeping of dolphins in captivity in Costa Rica, following the deaths of several females transported from Spain.Costa Rica will vote on a decree to this effect in 2005.

1999

The capture of six orcas in Norway, which were destined for the Japanese aquarium in Nagoya, has been prevented.A magnificent victory against the captivity industry and a family saved!

1999

Public mobilisation in France against the planned dolphinarium at La Mulatière, near Lyon, which will never see the light of day…

1997

One Voice/Aequalis in partnership with SOS Grand Bleu, joined by a group of animal protection associations, are campaigning against the proposed dolphinarium at Port-Saint-Père. After six months of intense lobbying, we obtained a ban on the transport of dolphins from the Ministry of the Environment! Ten years of arm wrestling were to follow.

Our other battles

Animal experimentation

Animal experimentation

Animal experimentation
Animal experimentation
The situation
Tests whose cruelty no longer needs to be proven

Every year, millions of animals are still subjected to painful and stressful experiments in French laboratories, held in tiny cages where they have to endure burns, samples taken, electrodes implanted, various injections, tumours and serious diseases induced, before being killed.

While carefully maintaining total opacity about these practices, the animal experimentation industry maintains constant propaganda claiming that the framework is strict, that the animals do not suffer and that research cannot do without these horrors.

Yet French and European regulations, which are already very minimal, are not even followed properly by the laboratories, which are almost never penalised by the public authorities, even in the event of serious infringement. As for alternatives, while those that do exist are not always used, the development of new animal-free methods and reflection on the ethics of research are largely under-funded.

One Voice cannot tolerate sentient beings being deprived of their prospects of joy and relegated to the status of laboratory equipment. We do not have the right to exploit them in this way, because their lives belong to them.

Our fight

Why are we fighting against animal experimentation?

Dogs

Since the end of the 1990s, we have been fighting for the closure of the two major French laboratory dog farms in Mézilles and Gannat, now owned by the US company Marshall.

Primates

Our fight to abolish the use of primates in experiments concerns the breeders (in particular in Mauritius and Vietnam), the importers (in particular the University of Strasbourg) and the laboratories themselves (whose shameful practices we reveal and whose closure we demand).

Other animals

Our concerns do not stop with large animals. We are also taking action on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of rodents, rabbits and fish, addressing the Ministry of Research directly to demand a ban on particularly cruel projects and the Ministry of Agriculture to press for controls and sanctions.

Transparency

One of the keys to the fight against animal experimentation is access to information. While the public authorities and the industry resist, we do not hesitate to go to court to obtain inspection reports, images and animal tracking sheets, so that we can better inform the public.

Collectives and advocacy

One Voice represents the European Coalition to End Animal Experiments (ECEAE) and Cruelty Free Europe in France, and is working with a group of French associations to take action within the FC3R Centre.
We are also in dialogue with French and European politicians to get things moving.

Key figures

An alarming fact

2M vertebrate animals and cephalopods used each year in French laboratories 2M vertebrate animals and cephalopods used each year in French laboratories ? an unknown number of invertebrates used, exploited and killed each year in French laboratories 3 pers. /4 in France are against animal experimentation 9 pers. /10 in France are in favour of transferring public funding from animal experimentation to the development of alternatives. I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation

Our proposals

  • Draw up a plan for phasing out animal experimentation.
  • Massively fund the development of new animal-free testing and research methods.
  • Achieve real transparency with free access to official documents (and in particular systematic publication of inspection reports).
  • Prohibit “severe” procedures.
  • Include animal rights associations and specialists in alternative methods on project assessment committees.

Resources

Discover all our resources on the subject of animal experimentation

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History

Nearly 30 years of fighting and winning against animal experimentation

2023

One Voice is revealing what goes on behind the scenes at NeuroSpin, the Atomic Energy Commission laboratory which has been breaking regulations for over ten years and whose negligence has caused the death of several macaques. We are going to court to demand its closure.

2023

The European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics, launched by One Voice and its European partners, has obtained 1.2 million valid signatures. The European Commission’s response was disappointing and the fight goes on.

2022

After more than 20 years of relentless fighting, One Voice and its partners have succeeded in getting Air France to stop transporting primates to laboratories from June 2023.

2021

The overwhelming majority of the European Parliament votes in favour of phasing out animal testing. In the resolution adopted, MEPs call on the European Commission to draw up an EU-wide action plan to reduce and then eliminate the use of animals in experiments.

2019

Victory in Mézilles. The Dijon administrative court has overturned the prefectoral order authorising the Mézilles dog farm to expand. The beagles and golden retrievers bred there are destined for laboratory experiments. We are continuing to campaign for the closure of this kennel.

2018

One Voice and its partners Cruelty Free International and Soko Tierschutz have obtained justice for Léa, Hugo, Tom, Lisa, Max, Mila and Lucie! The three researchers from the Max Planck Institute in Tübingen (Germany), implicated following our filmed investigation over several months and a joint complaint, have been convicted.

2013

After 17 years of campaigning and fighting, the import and sale of cosmetics whose products or ingredients have been tested on animals has been banned in the European Union. This is a huge victory for One Voice and its ECEAE partners.

2009

One Voice’s investigators have brought back shocking images from Cambodia which reveal the horror of monkey farms for laboratories, particularly in France.

2000

One Voice’s investigators infiltrate a laboratory that subcontracts cosmetic and chemical testing. There they filmed the nightmare experienced by rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, cats and dogs.

1999

One Voice/Talis and a coalition of associations back down a major American group: Marshall Farms abandons its plans to breed 2,000 beagles at Montbeugny.

1996

The first legal release in France was carried out by One Voice/Aequalis, who rescued 36 macaques from a French laboratory, which had undertaken to stop using primates! Placed in the Refuge de l’Arche, they will show that even though they were born captive, they are still monkeys.

Our other battles

Leather

Leather

Leather
Leather
The situation
To save their skins, we need to ban their sale!

Between environmental heresy, violence and animal and human mistreatment, the leather industry is a cruel and bloodthirsty industry. It legitimises barbaric practices, with the utmost disregard for animal rights and dignity, and abominable rearing and slaughtering conditions. The skins business is a tempting booty for many lobbies and industrialists, who do not hesitate to violate ethics in all its forms. One Voice has been fighting for many years against those who authorise and perpetuate these acts of cruelty, with complete impunity.

Our fight

Why are we fighting against the exploitation of animals for leather?

Meat and leather industries: death in the skin

The meat and leather industries work hand in hand to form a powerful and prolific lobby. Animals exploited for their flesh are generally the same as those exploited for their skins, and leather represents on average 40% of the profits made from the animal, and sometimes more if the animal is exploited solely for its skin, as in the case of crocodiles or snakes.

An industry that flouts animal and human rights

Our investigation in the Dordogne at the slaughterhouse of Sobeval, France’s largest luxury leather producer, revealed not only the spiralling suffering endured by the calves, but also the infernal pace to which the workers are subjected.
Parked in dark, overcrowded areas that are too small, the young cattle are injured and fall ill. Transport to the slaughterhouse is another ordeal: some animals die during the journey, particularly from heatstroke, trauma and respiratory diseases. Slaughter is no less cruel: our investigators were able to see the fear in the eyes of animals aware of their fate and their panic when confronted with the slaughter gun.

Leather and the environment: a toxic relationship

Tanning hides requires large quantities of water and chemicals, particularly nitrate. The European companies involved are now subject to several directives and to the REACH regulation in order to reduce the impact on nature. Unfortunately, to circumvent environmental measures, the leather industry does not hesitate to relocate to countries where legislation is at best lax, at worst non-existent: Tunisia and Bangladesh are sad examples of industries with dramatic health and environmental consequences. A cocktail of no fewer than 300 different toxic substances is discharged with impunity into nearby waterways, without any prior reprocessing.

Bangladesh exports the equivalent of €141 million worth of tanned hides every year, mostly to Europe, to supply the cheap shoe and leather goods industry. One Voice spokesperson

Key figures

An alarming fact

40% of a farmed animal’s profit comes from its hide 300 substances are discharged into the environment without reprocessing 1,5 billion animals are killed every year worldwide for the leather trade I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation

Our proposals

  • Refuse products made from leather: Make the choice not to buy products made from leather. With the Animal Free label supported by One Voice in France, you can identify products that come from responsible fashion that respects animal rights.
  • Make a donation: By making a donation to the association, you will enable us to continue to denounce and raise awareness of the ethical and health problems of the leather industry.

History

The whole story of the fight

2017

In October, Gucci announced that it was joining the Fur Free Retailer programme and would stop using fur in its next collections. This is the culmination of several years’ work for One Voice and its partners in the Fur Free Alliance!

2017

One Voice intervened in Prague, with its partners from the Fur Free Alliance, with members of parliament from the Czech Republic. By a large majority, they banned the farming of animals for their fur in their country… just a few weeks after a similar decision in Germany! In France, our VisonsLeRespect petition was successful, based on an investigation and report on several French mink farms.

2017

La Redoute in “fur-free” mode: a leading French mail order company has signed up to Fur Free Retailer, the ethical programme run by One Voice in France for its international coalition.

2017

Following One Voice’s investigation into French Angora rabbit farms, PETA and One Voice are organising a shock action in Paris to question the Minister of Agriculture about this cruel industry.

2016

A historic partnership signed with Franck Sorbier, a major name in Haute-Couture, who is committing his company to One Voice’s Fur Free Retailer programme. Ethics also have their labels…

2016

The revelations about six French mink farms have shaken up the industry… Reported by numerous national and foreign media, and on a dedicated website (VisonsLeRespect.fr), the images from this campaign provide a less than glamorous insight into the other side of the French luxury industry. Mistreatment, suffering and lies…

2016

One Voice is releasing never-before-seen footage of its months-long undercover investigation into Angora rabbit farms. The campaign was covered by the media worldwide. A petition was launched and a complaint lodged against one of the breeders who admitted selling his rabbits suffering from cancer to a laboratory.

2016

The LPP group is abandoning fur in the collections of its various brands thanks to the work of the Fur Free Alliance, with Open Cages and in partnership with One Voice.

2016

Armani is going fur-free thanks to the work of One Voice and the Fur Free Alliance and is committed to our Fur Free Retailer programme.

2016

A major cruelty-free fashion show is being organised in Shanghai by ACTAsia in partnership with One Voice, in the presence of famous names in fashion.

2015

One Voice is leading the Fur Free Alliance internet campaign in France for World No Fur Day, organised on 27 November.

2015

The Fur Free Retailer Programme (FFR), developed within the Fur Free Alliance, has been set up in France by One Voice.

2015

Hugo Boss, convinced by the Fur Free Alliance, has announced that it will be abandoning the use of real fur in its collections from autumn-winter 2016.

2014

The Spanish group Inditex, known for its Zara, Massimo Duti and Bershka brands, is going fur-free thanks to the work of the Fur Free Alliance, of which One Voice is a member in France.

2012

The Caring for Life programme was launched in China with ACTAsia, with the aim of educating the younger generation to be kind to all forms of life. The commitment of Kiki, a seven-year-old girl who distributed No Fur China badges and explained to her classmates why they should refuse fur, was quickly emulated. Her school became one of the programme’s pilot schools, and Kiki was named Caring for Life’s best ambassador!

2011

As part of the Fur Free Alliance, One Voice is lobbying the European Commission against seal hunting in Canada.

2010

French restaurant owners mobilise against seal hunting, as part of the FFA’s international campaign.

2009

The first large circle of silence against fur was organised in Paris, at Place des Innocents. Others will follow across France.

Our other battles

Hunting

Fur

Bear

Angora

Hunting dogs and dog training

Loups

Respect for the natural habitat

Circus

Pound

Animal experimentation

Fur

Fur

Fur
Fur
The situation
The exploitation of animals for fur: an industry that shames itself

Every year, around 100 million animals around the world are bred and killed for their fur, mainly mink, foxes, chinchillas and rabbits. Alone or crammed together, they wait to die, cloistered, in complete denial of their needs. Profitability comes first. There’s no water for mink, who like to swim, and a wire floor that hurts their paws. Such living conditions drive them mad. They develop stereotypies, self-mutilate and even eat each other. Then comes the killing, which is just as barbaric. They are gassed or electrocuted, before being skinned.

Our fight

Why are we fighting the exploitation of animals for their fur?

A poison for humanity and the environment

As well as the cruel fate reserved for its victims, the fur industry is also a source of incredible pollution. As major producers of nitrogen and phosphorus slurry from these carnivorous animals, fur farms pollute surface waters and groundwater, and release large quantities of ammonia, nitrous oxide and methane. Treating the skins also requires a number of products that are toxic to humans, to the extent that those who work there are likely to develop serious pathologies, from skin and eye irritation to lung cancer.

One Voice, victories in France and Europe

In France, our surveys in 2017, 2019 and 2020 in the last French mink farms revealed to the general public and to our national and European representatives the cruelty of these factory farms, the pollution and the health risks they represent, particularly linked to Covid.

Thanks to the action of One Voice and its European partners, Europe has already banned the trade in dog, cat and seal skins. Like France, many countries have banned fur farming on their soil.

Some of the biggest names in fashion have joined us, including Lacoste and Ba&sh, as well as the Elle group, which has pledged to stop publishing anything in favour of real fur! Our Animal Free label encourages companies in the fashion sector to phase out all materials of animal origin.

An international fight

As the French representative of the international Fur Free Alliance coalition, One Voice is developing the Fur Free Retailer programme, which labels companies that refuse to use animal fur. The commitment of European citizens to fur animals has enabled 1.7 million signatures to be collected at the beginning of 2023. The message is clear! One Voice is also working alongside its partners in the Fur Free Alliance, whether in China, Russia or North America.

Mink are semi-aquatic, solitary and territorial animals. They spend their days looking for food, diving and exploring their environment – up to three kilometres of water. These conditions of confinement are unbearable for animals that love their freedom. One Voice survey of 6 French mink farms

Key figures

An alarming fact

89% of French people are opposed to the fur trade (IPSOS poll, January 2022). 30 animals skinned to make a mink coat 1 des 5 the world’s most polluting industries I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation

Our proposals

Our proposals against the use of fur

  • Saying no to products with fur
  • Discover our “Stop Fur” campaign
  • Inform yourself and those around you about the consequences of exploiting animals for their fur

Resources

Discover all our resources on the subject of fur

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History

Nearly 30 years of fighting and winning against fur

July 2019

Thanks to our discussions with Lacoste, the brand is making a commitment against fur by joining the Fur Free Retailer programme, of which we are the French representative.

April 2019

Alongside our partners in the Fur Free Alliance, we are demanding the closure of mink farms in Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia.

March 2019

The cages of the mink kept captive on the Montarlot farm have been broken into. One Voice has denounced this as a disaster for biodiversity.

January 2019

London Fashion Week has pledged to stop showing designs containing fur. In March, the Amsterdam Fashion Week will follow suit.

November 2018

Along with its partners in the Fur Free Alliance elsewhere in the world, One Voice is launching a campaign in France to encourage the Prada brand to make a commitment to stop using fur. The campaign was a success: the brand’s steps were taken. A week later, a major march took place in Paris to call for an end to fur farming in France.

May 2018

One Voice has obtained a refusal to expand the mink farm in Emagny and is continuing its campaign to close this farm as well as the one in Montarlot.

March 2018

One Voice is launching a campaign to prevent the expansion of the mink farm in Montarlot and to close the one in Emagny.

2017

In October, Gucci announced that it was joining the Fur Free Retailer programme and would stop using fur in its next collections. This is the culmination of several years’ work for One Voice and its partners in the Fur Free Alliance!

2017

One Voice intervened in Prague, with its partners from the Fur Free Alliance, with members of parliament from the Czech Republic. By a large majority, they banned the farming of animals for their fur in their country… just a few weeks after a similar decision in Germany! In France, our VisonsLeRespect petition was successful, based on an investigation and report on several French mink farms.

2017

La Redoute in “fur-free” mode: a leading French mail order company has signed up to Fur Free Retailer, the ethical programme run by One Voice in France for its international coalition.

2017

Following One Voice’s investigation into French Angora rabbit farms, PETA and One Voice are organising a shock action in Paris to question the Minister of Agriculture about this cruel industry.

2016

A historic partnership signed with Franck Sorbier, a major name in Haute-Couture, who is committing his company to One Voice’s Fur Free Retailer programme. Ethics also have their labels…

2016

The revelations about six French mink farms have shaken up the industry… Reported by numerous national and foreign media, and on a dedicated website (VisonsLeRespect.fr), the images from this campaign provide a less than glamorous insight into the other side of the French luxury industry. Mistreatment, suffering and lies…

2016

One Voice is releasing never-before-seen footage of its months-long undercover investigation into Angora rabbit farms. The campaign was covered by the media worldwide. A petition was launched and a complaint lodged against one of the breeders who admitted selling his rabbits suffering from cancer to a laboratory.

2016

The LPP group is abandoning fur in the collections of its various brands thanks to the work of the Fur Free Alliance, with Open Cages and in partnership with One Voice.

2016

Armani is going fur-free thanks to the work of One Voice and the Fur Free Alliance and is committed to our Fur Free Retailer programme.

2016

A major cruelty-free fashion show is being organised in Shanghai by ACTAsia in partnership with One Voice, in the presence of famous names in fashion.

2015

One Voice is leading the Fur Free Alliance internet campaign in France for World No Fur Day, organised on 27 November.

2015

The Fur Free Retailer Programme (FFR), developed within the Fur Free Alliance, has been set up in France by One Voice.

2015

Hugo Boss, convinced by the Fur Free Alliance, has announced that it will be abandoning the use of real fur in its collections from autumn-winter 2016.

2014

The Spanish group Inditex, known for its Zara, Massimo Duti and Bershka brands, is going fur-free thanks to the work of the Fur Free Alliance, of which One Voice is a member in France.

2012

The Caring for Life programme was launched in China with ACTAsia, with the aim of educating the younger generation to be kind to all forms of life. The commitment of Kiki, a seven-year-old girl who distributed No Fur China badges and explained to her classmates why they should refuse fur, was quickly emulated. Her school became one of the programme’s pilot schools, and Kiki was named Caring for Life’s best ambassador!

2011

As part of the Fur Free Alliance, One Voice is lobbying the European Commission against seal hunting in Canada.

2010

French restaurant owners mobilise against seal hunting, as part of the FFA’s international campaign.

2009

The first large circle of silence against fur was organised in Paris, at Place des Innocents. Others will follow across France.

2009

In France, One Voice is relaying the international boycott of Canadian seafood products organised by the Fur Free Alliance.

2008

One Voice is investigating in China and is joining forces with ACTAsia to take action on the ground and improve the lot of animals there.

2006

On the evening of 18 November 2006, One Voice is organising a large silent march at the Trocadéro against fur and foie gras.

2003

Muriel Arnal is interviewed on France 5 about the exploitation of mink for fur.

2003

One Voice is organising a national anti-fur day on 15 November, with awareness-raising events in Paris, Nantes and Strasbourg.

2003

One Voice is investigating the farming of animals for their fur in Croatia. It saved 33 chinchillas and succeeded in closing the facility that bred them (see the history of our fight against fur).

2002

On 24 October 2002, Cabu joined us in our campaign to save the seals. He handed over the 19,493 signatures to representatives of the Canadian embassy.

2002

One Voice supported the work of Katherine Pradeau in 2002. This young designer receives very little funding because she refuses to use fur. Her models will wear our anti-fur badges during the fashion shows and our message will be broadcast on her invitations.

2002

One Voice and Peta are organising awareness campaigns across France.

2001

Muriel Arnal debates the president of the furriers’ federation on France 2.

2001

Demonstrations are being organised in Strasbourg, Marseille, Lille, Le Mans, Toulouse and Rennes.

2000

Conference at the British Parliament with the Fur Free Alliance (FFA) and in the presence of Muriel Arnal for France, to call for a ban on the import of dog and cat skins into Europe. We will obtain a ban on this trade.

2000

One Voice has denounced a huge trade in the skins and furs of domestic cats and protected wild species in the Paris region.

2000

Our campaign has the support of Ornella Mutti and the renewed support of Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan.

2000

Launch with the Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan Foundation of an unprecedented campaign denouncing the fate of dogs and cats skinned alive in China and Thailand for the French and European fur markets.

1999

One Voice obtains the abandonment of the planned expansion of a mink farm in Alsace.

1998

On 24 October 1998, we organised the first European Anti-Fur Day, during which our patron Théodore Monod marched with us.

1998

Our “We’re not in the cave age” campaigns are making headlines in several towns.

1998

Several actions have been organised, notably in front of Givenchy’s head office with Muriel Arnal and PETA.

1998

First European campaign with PETA and the support of Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan and Princess Catherine. She will also receive support from singer Sapho and Pascal Brunner, as well as designers Balenciaga, Moschino, Marine Sitbon and Oleg Cassini, and Jean-Jacques Goldman and Stella McCartney.

Our other battles

Angora

Angora

Angora
Angora
The situation
Angora rabbits, lives of suffering in the name of fashion

The softness of an angora jumper is deceptive. It conceals an indignity of exploitation and lives destroyed in the name of fashion. In 2013, PETA revealed the fate of Angora rabbits in Chinese farms. One Voice wanted to see what was happening in France. In 2016, 2018 and 2020, our investigations revealed a fate that is hardly any better. Locked up and isolated in tiny cages with random hygiene, these touching little creatures are condemned to a life of solitude spent dreading painful hair removal sessions.

Our fight

Why are we fighting against the exploitation of Angora rabbits?

While the French breeding industry claims to respect animal welfare, our images show the brutality of these hair-removal sessions. Carried out three times a year, the sessions last on average between twenty and forty-five minutes per rabbit. While several methods can be used to harvest the hair, the most common is table-top hair removal. The rabbit is immobilised, with its body stretched out on a wooden table, tied by a front leg and a back leg.
Roughly handled, terrified, twisted in all directions, they scream in pain. Once depilated, rabbits can succumb to thermal shock. Our investigators have seen some of them struggling and even screaming for several seconds before the process even begins. It all happens in front of the cages of their fellow rabbits, who witness the ordeal.
Even more shocking, when observed on a breeding farm, is the removal of hair from the laps of young rabbits: upside down, trapped between the legs and held by the paws with one hand, while the other pulls out the hair…

The harsh fate of Angora rabbits

Hair production depends on the age of the rabbits and determines their longevity. They are generally considered usable up to the age of 6 or 7. Males, which produce less hair than females, are eliminated after sexing (a technique used to determine sex), carried out at birth or after a few months. Some are kept for breeding, and exchanged with those of other breeders to limit inbreeding. As for the females, they are exploited until they can no longer procreate. While ‘surplus’ males are sometimes eaten, most undesirable rabbits (those that are too old or sick) are killed off in the usual way, often by a stick to the back of the head. Younger rabbits, meanwhile, are ‘just’ thrown violently to the ground, according to our investigators. As for the remains, one of the farmers admitted to burning them rather than having them rendered.

French rabbit farms: lawless zones

It is estimated that 9,000 tonnes of rabbit hair are sold around the world every year, most of it to China. Following strong growth, the French sector has shrunk from 2,000 farms in the 1980s to around thirty today. Left to their own devices, these farms enjoy a high degree of tolerance when it comes to controls. As these farms are not intended for human consumption, their health is of little importance. However, our investigators found a number of breaches of the law. Ignoring cries of distress, violent killings, the treatment of corpses or, worse still, the « recycling » of sick rabbits for animal experimentation are all scandalous practices, made in France.

The true nature of rabbits

Social and playful, rabbits love to hide, nibble, explore, run, jump and have fun. In the wild, they live in groups of 5 to 7 individuals on average, forming colonies to watch over and defend their territory against predators. In the farms visited, One Voice’s investigators found living conditions that were more than basic. The rabbits are kept alone in small cages, apart from the mothers and their young. An empty space in which it is impossible for them to jump, as the ceiling is so low… Their life in these structures is reduced to sleeping, drinking and eating, when they are not starving for hair removal.

The rabbit is immobilised, its body stretched out on a wooden table, tied by a front leg and a back leg. Their natural prey instinct always predisposes them to flee, so once trapped on the table, their stress is immense. One Voice investigator

Key figures

An alarming fact

9000 tonnes of rabbit hair sold worldwide 30 farms in France I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation

Our proposals

  • Ban the breeding of Angora rabbits and the trade in their wool.
  • We have already won the case for banning the trade in dog and cat fur in Europe. So it’s possible!

History

Nearly 30 years of fighting and winning against the exploitation of Angora rabbits

June 2019

We are launching a campaign against the opening of a new Angora rabbit farm in the Somme and contesting the subsidy paid by the département.

April 2018

A whistleblower sent us images filmed on one of the Angora rabbit farms we had investigated. Nothing had changed. We alerted the government once again.

2017

Following One Voice’s investigation into French Angora rabbit farms, PETA and One Voice are organising a shock action in Paris to question the Minister of Agriculture about this cruel industry.

2016

One Voice is releasing never-before-seen footage of its months-long undercover investigation into Angora rabbit farms. The campaign was covered by the media worldwide. A petition was launched and a complaint lodged against one of the breeders who admitted selling his rabbits suffering from cancer to a laboratory.

2016

A major cruelty-free fashion show is being organised in Shanghai by ACTAsia in partnership with One Voice, in the presence of famous names in fashion.

2015

One Voice is leading the Fur Free Alliance internet campaign in France for World No Fur Day, organised on 27 November.

2015

The Fur Free Retailer Programme (FFR), developed within the Fur Free Alliance, has been set up in France by One Voice.

2015

Hugo Boss, convinced by the Fur Free Alliance, has announced that it will be abandoning the use of real fur in its collections from autumn-winter 2016.

2014

The Spanish group Inditex, known for its Zara, Massimo Duti and Bershka brands, is going fur-free thanks to the work of the Fur Free Alliance, of which One Voice is a member in France.

2012

The Caring for Life programme was launched in China with ACTAsia, with the aim of educating the younger generation to be kind to all forms of life. The commitment of Kiki, a seven-year-old girl who distributed No Fur China badges and explained to her classmates why they should refuse fur, was quickly emulated. Her school became one of the programme’s pilot schools, and Kiki was named Caring for Life’s best ambassador!

2011

As part of the Fur Free Alliance, One Voice is lobbying the European Commission against seal hunting in Canada.

2010

French restaurant owners mobilise against seal hunting, as part of the FFA’s international campaign.

2009

The first large circle of silence against fur was organised in Paris, at Place des Innocents. Others will follow across France.

2009

In France, One Voice is relaying the international boycott of Canadian seafood products organised by the Fur Free Alliance.

2009

Relay in France of the international campaign against seal hunting launched by the Fur Free Alliance, of which One Voice is a member for France.

2008

One Voice is investigating in China and is joining forces with ACTAsia to take action on the ground and improve the lot of animals there.

2006

On the evening of 18 November 2006, One Voice is organising a large silent march at the Trocadéro against fur and foie gras.

2003

Muriel Arnal is interviewed on France 5 about the exploitation of mink for fur.

2003

One Voice is organising a national anti-fur day on 15 November, with awareness-raising events in Paris, Nantes and Strasbourg.

2003

One Voice is investigating the farming of animals for their fur in Croatia. It saved 33 chinchillas and obtained the closure of the facility that bred them.

2002

On 24 October 2002, Cabu joined us in our campaign to save the seals. He handed over the 19,493 signatures to representatives of the Canadian embassy.

2002

One Voice supported the work of Katherine Pradeau in 2002. This young designer receives very little funding because she refuses to use fur. Her models will wear our anti-fur badges during the fashion shows and our message will be broadcast on her invitations.

2002

One Voice and Peta are organising awareness campaigns across France.

2001

Muriel Arnal debates the president of the furriers’ federation on France 2.

2001

Demonstrations are being organised in Strasbourg, Marseille, Lille, Le Mans, Toulouse and Rennes.

2000

Conference at the British Parliament with the Fur Free Alliance (FFA) and in the presence of Muriel Arnal for France, to call for a ban on the import of dog and cat skins into Europe. We will obtain a ban on this trade.

2000

One Voice has denounced a huge trade in the skins and furs of domestic cats and protected wild species in the Paris region.

2000

Our campaign has the support of Ornella Mutti and the renewed support of Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan.

2000

Launch with the Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan Foundation of an unprecedented campaign denouncing the fate of dogs and cats skinned alive in China and Thailand for the French and European fur markets.

1999

One Voice obtains the abandonment of the planned expansion of a mink farm in Alsace.

1998

On 24 October 1998, we organised the first European Anti-Fur Day, during which our patron Théodore Monod marched with us.

1998

Our “We’re not in the cave age” campaigns are making headlines in several towns.

1998

First European campaign with PETA and the support of Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan and Princess Catherine. She will also receive support from singer Sapho and Pascal Brunner, as well as designers Balenciaga, Moschino, Marine Sitbon and Oleg Cassini, and Jean-Jacques Goldman and Stella McCartney.

1998

Several actions have been organised, notably in front of Givenchy’s head office with Muriel Arnal and PETA.

Our other battles

Dolphinariums

Feline wandering

Animal experimentation

Leather

Fur

Bear

Wolves

Corrida

Pound

Hunting

Hunting

Hunting
Hunting
Hunting
The situation
Hunting, a deadly problem

Hunting is a pastime practised solely for human pleasure. Every year, in the name of « traditions » and despite the collapse in biodiversity, hunters inflict unbearable suffering on animals in a variety of ways: stalking in enclosures, hunting with hounds, digging up badgers and foxes, trapping…

One Voice has been opposing this for years. To change mentalities, our association is putting all its energy into the battle, whether through ultra-risky undercover investigations to denounce these practices or legal action to bring the voice of animals before the courts and ensure that their rights are respected.

Our fight

Why are we fighting hunting?

The urgent need to deconstruct propaganda

Hunters claim to be the « guardians of biodiversity » of wild fauna. One Voice is constantly working to dismantle this propaganda. A quarter of the animals hunted, including pheasants, partridges, ducks and rabbits, are reared behind bars before being released to die by bullets.

The reality of hunting is also fenced-in woodlands rented out to stalk deer, wild boar and roe deer that will never get away with it, novices training alone at home to handle weapons, walkers who no longer dare to go out into the countryside…

A hobby that also kills humans and our companions

This human « pastime », which is predominantly male, is fatally damaging to forest animals. But the fate of the dogs and horses used during stalking is hardly any better. Dogs are seen as interchangeable tools, used to exhaustion. They too fall victim to stray bullets.

The reasons for the fight: to ensure respect for living things

Since 2021, One Voice has obtained the cancellation by the Council of State of traditional methods of hunting birds, such as glue hunting. In 2023, our victories in the courts have saved thousands of badgers from being dug up and more than 1,000 mountain galliforms, endangered birds that are still in the hunters’ sights.
These victories are just the first step in the fight for the outright abolition of these hunting methods, which are no longer justified. The wild animals that inhabit our countryside and forests aspire to live in peace. Everywhere they are disappearing, irretrievably. Nature is in danger everywhere. Everywhere, including in rural areas, the majority of French people are opposed to hunting. We are determined to protect these territories, which are also ours. And to ensure that living things are respected.

Prolonged hunting with dogs causes deer extreme stress and undoubtedly great suffering. The pursuit imposes constraints that are beyond the normal limits for its species. Patrick Bateson Author of The Behavioural and Physiological Effects of Culling Red Deer

Key figures

An alarming fact

45 Millions of birds are killed every year by hunters. 53% of French people opposed to hunting (IPSOS/One Voice poll, 2023). 51% of people living in rural areas are opposed to hunting (IPSOS/One Voice survey, 2023). I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation

Our proposals

  • Independence of the hunting police.
  • Hunting of species in a poor state of conservation is prohibited.
  • Hunting prohibited during the breeding season.
  • Ban on killing traps.
  • End of so-called “traditional” hunting (glue, lecques, lakes, pantes, tendelles, etc.).
  • Abolition of underground hunting for all species.
  • Abolition of hunting at hounds for all species.
  • Abolition of hunting in protected areas (national parks, nature reserves, biological reserves), closed enclosures and parks, and hunting farms.
  • Two days a week without hunting or trapping (including Sundays) and all school holidays.
  • Compulsory annual medical check-up for hunting licences, including an eye test.
  • Ban on breeding animals for hunting.

History

Nearly 30 years of fighting and winning against hunting

June 2021

The Conseil d’État confirms the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union, which One Voice appealed to: hunting with glue is now illegal in France.

April 2021

Little known, hunting in enclosures leaves wild animals no chance of survival. Our investigators have infiltrated hunts and our images have been broadcast by numerous media, including 24-hour news channels and the public service. Our team also gathered information and published an interactive map listing hunting parks in France. As a result of our investigations, three bills have now been tabled by MPs to ban hunting in enclosures.

September 2020

We are challenging the ministerial order setting a quota of 17,460 turtle doves to be shot for the 2020-2021 season. On 11 September, the Conseil d’État ruled in our favour and suspended the order.

June 2020

Alongside five associations, we are calling on the Ministry of Ecological Transition to ban the underground hunting of badgers.

May 2020

We are publishing images of our infiltration into the world of underground venery and revealing the particularly violent practices used to slaughter badgers and foxes. We launched the hashtags #Jaimelesrenards, #Jaimelesblaireaux and a dedicated website to denounce this cruel practice, call for a change in the legal status of foxes and for strict protection of badgers in France, effectively banning their hunting. Through this investigation, we are also denouncing the pollution and lack of respect for the environment caused by digging up badgers, as well as the fate of the dogs used to track the animals in the burrows. Following the lodging of an administrative appeal, the Jura prefecture has cancelled the additional period for underground badger hunting.

May 2019

Now that the Ministry has authorised the draft decree on digging up animals, One Voice is mobilising to call for the cruel practice of underground hunting, which concerns badgers, coypu and foxes, to be banned once and for all in France.

2017

A One Voice/ASPAS/IPSOS survey carried out in September 2016 found that 78% of French people want to ban hunting on Sundays and 91% want to reform this leisure activity, which kills 30 million animals a year. The French are fed up with hunting: to make sure they are heard, the Collectif du 21 septembre (78 associations including One Voice), is organising a major demonstration in Paris, against hunting and trapping.

2014

Arthur the bear is rescued from a training camp in Russia.

2014

One Voice’s investigators are carrying out an investigation into the canned hunting of lions in South Africa.

2013

An investigation by One Voice into hunting training camps in Russia reveals the use of wild animals to test dogs.

2010

Revelations after three years of infiltration into the world of hunting with hounds: One Voice’s ground-breaking investigation reveals the cruelty of this practice and its failure to comply with regulations.

2010

An IPSOS/One Voice poll shows that the French are opposed to hunting with hounds.

2008

Launch of the campaign to ban hunting with hounds in France.

1999

One Voice/Talis, in partnership with ASPAS, is organising a demonstration for an afternoon without hunting and denouncing the interference of hunters.

1999

Launch of the campaign against hunting.

1998

One Voice/Talis is carrying out a number of actions alongside ASPAS, denouncing the link between hunters and political elections. This will enable the leader of Chasse pêche nature traditions to be indicted.

Our other battles

Leather

Feline wandering

Circus

Wolves

Wolves

Wolves
Wolves
The situation
For wolves, hunted without mercy

After being exterminated, wolves have returned naturally to France. However, this good news for our ecosystems has been extremely poorly received by some: hunters and breeders have decided that wolves are their competitors and, with the support of the state, their slaughter has resumed. Until then, they had been considered a protected species, but today this status is in jeopardy, and shooting, which should only take place when all other means have been tried to avoid it, continues to multiply every year, killing dozens of wolves. Cubs are not spared either.

Committed to legal action, One Voice is constantly denouncing illegal orders and taking legal action whenever necessary. The association is also working to rehabilitate wolves, to dismantle the prejudices that cling to them, and to raise awareness of their true identity.

Our fight

Wolves: the ideal culprits

As natural predators and regulators of wild populations, wolves actually represent competition for hunters. For livestock farmers, whose sector is in crisis, they represent the ideal culprit. It’s better to blame wolves than stray dogs, as they receive compensation in the event of an attack. What’s more, 85% of shepherds’ wages are subsidized where wolves are present. All the more reason to continue pretending that wolves are a threat, despite the derisory number of sheep they actually take.

Lethal shooting: an absurd and criminal strategy

Hundreds of thousands of sheep die every year as a result of disease, lightning strikes or stalls in the mountains, not to mention those sent to slaughter. How, then, can the predation of a derisory number of sheep by wolves justify their extermination? The orders issued to authorize shooting are not based on biological reality. No scientific study has shown that lethal shooting reduces the impact of wolves in areas where they are present. In fact, the opposite is true: the pack, destabilized, often breaks up, contributing to the dispersal of individuals… Continued persecution is no solution to the problem of wolves living together. Wallonia even adopted a « Plan for harmonious cohabitation with the wolf » in 2020, to promote the return and protection of the species! In Italy and Spain, the same applies: no lethal shootings, even though wolves are far more numerous there than in France.

The big bad wolf only exists in fairy tales

Wolves are extremely intelligent, as curious as they are discreet. Their social life is complex. Couples are formed for life, and are not sparing of tenderness. The wolves of a pack communicate with each other in many ways, but the best known is howling. It’s an organized, ritualized chant, in which everyone knows when to speak, and is used to restore calm. When an individual leaves the pack, he or she is accompanied by howls that are all the more intense for their importance, and the loudest are emitted by those to whom they were closest… For some scientists, these songs are like dialects. They even compare their vocalizations to those of dolphins… We’re a long way from the black, frightening beast some would have us believe. Attacks by wolves on humans are extremely rare, and more often than not the result of rabid animals. As rabies no longer circulates in France, the presence of wolves is no danger to humans!

Key figures

An alarming fact

85 % of shepherds’ salaries are subsidized where wolves are present. Shepherds also receive subsidies for the installation of flock protection measures (dogs, fences, etc.). 0,13 % of sheep and goats are victims of wolves in France. I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation

Our proposals

  • Stop the slaughter of wolves.
  • Implement alternative and ethical solutions to pastoral problems.

Our other fights

Hunting dogs and dog training

Corrida

Respect for the natural habitat

Stray cats

Stray cats

Stray cats
Feline wandering
The situation
Cats without families, a life of wandering

In France, 11 million homeless cats roam the streets of our towns and countryside. Faced with the cold, hunger, disease and violence outside, they struggle to survive, but their life expectancy is barely more than five years, compared with fifteen years when they are surrounded by a family.

One Voice has been fighting against feline straying for years. Our investigations enable us to denounce this problem and reveal all its perverse effects. Our Chatipi programme is a practical response to the needs of stray cats and the prejudice they are also the victims of: these refuges deployed throughout France provide them with shelter, care and safety, and offer information to the public.

Our fight

Why are we fighting feline straying?

Lives of misery

Contrary to popular belief, a stray cat’s life is neither free nor happy! Their daily lives are full of pitfalls. Every day, they have to find food and water on their own, and protect themselves from other cats, dogs and humans who hunt them with guns, stone them, burn them or poison them. Deprived of care, these « homeless » cats are also victims of numerous diseases (FIV, leucosis, typhus, coryza…).

A law that changes nothing

The law against animal abuse passed in 2021 should have changed their fate, but the resources available have not matched the ambitions. When you consider that 10,000 kittens can be born from one cat and her offspring in seven years, sterilisation campaigns are the only effective way of curbing suffering and preserving biodiversity, a collateral victim of feline straying. Many European countries are implementing them. This is the case in Greece, Luxembourg, Belgium… France is turning a blind eye, a criminal apathy.

In the pound: death, out of sight

In 2023, our long-term investigation in several French pounds proved it: once captured, stray cats are ruthlessly crammed onto shelves, in their transport crates, deprived of care and affection before being killed after eight days to make room for the next ones. These mass slaughters are funded by our taxes, when public money should be used for prevention through birth control, the only effective solution to stem the tide of abandoned and stray cats. To put an end to this suffering, we need to make it compulsory to sterilise cats, as it is already compulsory to identify them.

Chatipi, a lasting solution to the vicious circle of feline straying

One Voice is setting up three-way partnerships with municipalities or living areas and local associations to identify, sterilise and release homeless cats by providing them with a wooden chalet to hydrate, feed and comfort themselves. The aim of this ethical scheme is to create spaces for stray cats so that they can be rescued, while at the same time raising public awareness of their distress and needs. More than fifty Chatipis have been set up in France or are in the process of being deployed.

Key figures

An alarming fact

11 million stray cats in France 10 000 kittens in 7 years can be born from a female cat and her offspring I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation I make a donation

Our proposals

  • An emergency plan to make the sterilisation of cats compulsory.
  • Controlling the trade in dogs and cats. The commoditisation of our companions leads to impulse buying and is responsible for abandonment.

History

Nearly 30 years of fighting and winning against animal straying

April 2019

Victories for One Voice! We obtained the repeal of a decree issued by the Mayor of Técou, which provided for hunters to be hired to trap cats in order to combat feline straying in his commune, and of a decree issued by the Saône-et-Loire prefecture, authorising the shooting of any homeless dog on sight.

December 2018

After a survey of pet shops, the “Pet shops, I’m a refuge” campaign has been launched. Animals are not commodities. Adoptions must be given priority.

2018

A major survey in France has resulted in a report on the urgent need to deal with feline and canine straying in France. One Voice is developing the Chatipi programme, which will be launched in 2019.

January 2018

One Voice is financially supporting the anti-rabies vaccination campaign and the sterilisation and castration of stray animals in the region around Virunga Park run by Bantu Lukambo in Congo.

2017

Mobilisation against the prefectoral plan to combat animal straying on Reunion Island: One Voice is taking legal action to save the cats targeted by a vast plan of indiscriminate poisoning and trapping under the guise of regulation.

2012

Launch of the campaign for donkeys in Brazil. A proposed agreement to export donkeys to China is halted thanks to international mobilisation. One Voice begins a long-term project alongside the Paola Rodrigues refuge to save and rehabilitate Brazilian donkeys.

2010

One Voice is the only French association to join ARCH, a coalition of international associations working to save animals after the violent earthquake that devastated Haiti. In partnership with the government, its action will help to prevent zoonosis epidemics that also threaten humans.

2007

An investigation in China ahead of the Olympic Games reveals the fate of dogs and cats exploited for their meat and fur. The victims include many captured strays. Municipalities even organise roundups to get rid of dogs that have become undesirable.

2007

One Voice is organising and fully financing the purchase of land and the construction of a shelter and clinic in Darjeeling, India, where dogs are accused of all kinds of evil. An information and vaccination programme against rabies carried out in agreement with the municipality and in partnership with DGAS, a local association, will put an end to their poisoning.

2007

Supporting rescue teams and supplying emergency medicines to save domestic and wild animals threatened by flooding in Kaziranga Park, India.

2005

In the wake of the tsunami, our work continues. A shelter has been set up in Port Blair to house and feed stray animals, which are sterilised and released as soon as their condition allows. In Thailand, our team is helping stray dogs that were surviving thanks to tourists.

2004

Creation of the Solidarity Action Fund to finance emergency operations. Barely 15 days later, it enabled our vets to go into the field after the tsunami that devastated South-East Asia.

1998

One Voice/Talis is working alongside PETA and other associations around the world to raise awareness of the plight of dogs in Taiwan, by organising an awareness-raising event on the forecourt of the Musée d’Orsay. The campaign was supported by many celebrities, including Brad Pitt, Kim Basinger, Michelle Pfeiffer, Peter Falk, Burt Reynolds, Oliver Stone, Jacky Chan, Steven Seagal, Alec Baldwin and many others. International mobilisation led to the passing of the country’s first animal protection law and major measures were taken to help stray dogs.

Our other battles

Circus

Angora

Hunting