Combat Archive - Page 2 of 2

Natural habitat

Natural habitat
Respect for the natural habitat
Hunting
The situation
Preserving the territory of animals, a fight in our nature!

Saving and defending animals also means fighting to preserve their natural habitat. Threatened by the uncontrolled expansion of human activities, wild fauna is in danger in France, as it is everywhere else on the planet. The fragmentation of territories endangers many species and provokes conflicts with dramatic consequences. With the destruction of nature, the future of all living beings is called into question.

Our fight

Why are we fighting to protect the natural habitat?

Nature belongs to animals too

Unlike hunters who see nature as a deadly playground and the agri-business lobbies who only see animals through the prism of exploitation, One Voice has made the fight to defend biodiversity its global banner. This vision permeates all our battles: whether for captive wild animals, wolves, bears, ibexes… or against the absurd and criminal classification of « species likely to cause damage » (ESOD). We believe that every individual is an integral part of ecosystems, which are already fragile, and that biodiversity needs everyone’s help to remain healthy.

Human versus Nature?

With the fragmentation of the French rural landscape into a mosaic of forest habitats and pastoral areas, the home territories of wolves and bears increasingly overlap with areas of pastoral activity, encouraging predation on herds. Forced to live in close proximity to humans, conflicts are on the increase. In the mountains of France, wolves and bears are hunted down without mercy. Victims of hunters and breeders, the individuals are criminalised, even though they remain threatened with extinction. Rich in its complementary diversity, nature does not need humans: large predators play a crucial regulatory role.

Dramatic consequences

Lethal control cannot be the answer to this problem. This immediate solution has dramatic consequences. As well as causing changes in the demographic structures of populations, it leads to an increase in dispersal movements, a disruption in the distribution of territories… To demonise wildlife is to declare war on nature as a whole. And to humans themselves.

Key figures

An alarming fact

10 million hectares of forest disappear every year. 26% of mammals are threatened with extinction worldwide. 0,13 % of sheep and goats are victims of wolves in France

What does the future hold?

Deforestation, pollution (chemical and noise) and ocean acidification are the consequences of irrational human activity. Closely linked to global warming, this destruction of land not only directly affects those who live there, but also all living beings on the planet. It is part of a global problem of over-exploitation of resources, but is also closely linked to livestock farming and over-fishing. So preserving our forests and oceans means radically rethinking the way we live and consume.

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

Changing your eating habits by becoming vegetarian or vegan

The main causes of deforestation are livestock farming and agriculture. To protect forests and the animals that depend on them, the priority actions to take are to stop eating meat, or at least to limit it, and to select organic and fair-trade products.

Becoming a consumer with ethical choices

To protect the environment, you can choose organic and fair-trade products, or at least avoid those containing palm oil, soya and avocado; select wood with the FSC label (a standard that guarantees sustainable forest management and respect for local populations) or the TFT label (which identifies farms undergoing transformation).

The whole story of the fight

2011

As part of the International Year of Forests, One Voice is organising a national campaign to raise awareness of the consequences of forest destruction. Public awareness campaigns are being organised throughout France. In the same year, the city of Strasbourg is our partner for the planting of the Oak of Non-Violence in the Pourtalès Park. The European city is thus signalling its commitment to the fight against deforestation.

2010

To mark the two-year anniversary of the I’m listening to my conscience movement, One Voice is organising a large circle of silence dedicated to Pacha Mama, the name given to Mother Earth by the Amerindians. Pacha Mama’s thread is the one that links the great family of living beings, symbolising the link between all beings and with the planet. On this occasion, One Voice supported the associations Tchendukua, for the Kogi people, APELE, for the great hamsters in Alsace, the Bolivian association Inti Wara Yassi and Arutam.

2007

One Voice is launching the “Arbre de vie pour des forêts debout” (Trees of life for standing forests) operation at a forum organised with the participation of the Kalaweit, Ikamaperu and Friends of the Earth associations. Four hundred people gathered in Locronan for the event, with the active participation of Locronan schoolchildren, to seek recognition of the vital role played by forests. At this Mecca of Celtic culture, with its well-known respect for nature, One Voice brought together those involved in protecting forests and witnesses to the consequences of deforestation, including Albertina Nanchijam Tuwits, who represented the Aguaruna community in South America. The event will culminate in the planting of the Chêne du Nevet, a symbol of the rebirth of the forests.

Our other fights

Domestic violence

Hunting dogs and dog training

Bear

Bears

Bears
Bear
Hunting
The situation
One Voice moves mountains for bears

One Voice fights in France and throughout the world for the respect of wild animals and intervenes through actions, long-term investigations, fruitful collaborations with international NGOs and major rescues.

Active in India, Asia and France, One Voice is working to change practices and attitudes, and is working to change regulations which currently do not protect animals.

Our fight

Why are we fighting for the bears?

Bears in the Pyrenees: the double punishment…

Victims of hunters and breeders, the brown bears had disappeared from our mountains.
At the end of the 1990s, individuals from Slovenia were introduced to repopulate the Pyrenees. Torn from their native soil, they underwent the stress of being transported by helicopter and had to learn to live far from their relatives in an unfamiliar environment.
A few years later, there are still not enough bears to ensure their survival: the latest count, dated 2022, puts the number at 76, well short of the viability threshold of 110.
Persona non grata, the bears have not only been forced into exile, but are now the target of scare shots and constant harassment.

… and some resounding victories

Flashballs, rocket-propelled grenades… These appalling weapons are used against them at any time. They can no longer move around their own territory without risking being chased and injured! A source of intense stress, these shots can cause hearing damage, separate cubs from their mothers and even cause miscarriages. One Voice refuses this double punishment. Two years in a row, in 2022 and 2023, the association led emergency legal marathons to prevent these scare shots. And they succeeded. The courts ruled in our favour each time.

In India: a 360° victory for « dancing » bears

Poached, torn from their mothers, with their snouts pierced with tin and a rope that hurts for life, lippus bears, an endemic Indian species, had been illegally exploited for 400 years for « dancing » in India. It took us seven years to change the course of their destiny. But the joint work we carried out with our partners, Wildlife SOS, Free the Bears and International Animal Rescue, paid off in the end. More than 620 bears have been rescued and placed in the safety of our sanctuaries in India. There, we also created the Forestwatch anti-poaching unit.

This rescue could not be complete without a global approach to the problem. In addition to Forestwatch’s work, carried out in collaboration with government agencies and the police wildlife department, the Kalandar bear handlers who exploited the bears were integrated into a rehabilitation programme to help them retrain. As a result, the children have been able to go to school, the women have benefited from vocational training and everyone has health cover.

In Asia: investigations that are helping to change attitudes

Our fight for the bears also took us to Vietnam, where we worked alongside bears exploited on farms for their bile, a pseudo-remedy sold at a premium. Placed in captivity in tiny cages, the cubs were drugged and mutilated. We pleaded their cause to the public and to the highest levels of government. Vietnam put an end to these practices in 2022.
In 2008, when the Olympic Games were being organised, the eyes of the whole world were on China. One Voice seized this opportunity to turn the spotlight on zoos and reveal the sordid conditions in which animals are kept, particularly bears. In China, One Voice is contributing to the Caring For Life programme initiated by ACTAsia, which teaches children in Chinese primary schools to protect and care for animals.

Key figures

An alarming fact

76 remaining bears in the Pyrenees 2/1Million of French sheep, goats and cattle are victims of bears in France (0.000002%) 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 other battles

Angora

Circus

Pound

Animals pound

Animals pound
Pound
The situation

Wandering is the cause of much suffering. Dogs and cats most often, but also other animals dependent on humans, find themselves homeless, struggling as best they can to survive. One Voice fights for them in France and around the world.

Our fight

Homeless animals: a widespread phenomenon

The problem of homelessness is as vast as it is complex. The main victims are cats and dogs, whose overpopulation, in the absence of a systematic sterilisation policy, is the cause of much suffering. In France, there are no fewer than 10.7 million felines on the streets. Abroad and overseas, such as in China, Mauritius and Réunion, massive slaughters are planned, against which One Voice is taking legal action and mobilising public opinion. In Darjeeling, India, it is working with its local partner, DGAS. It has already financed the construction of a clinic and a refuge to welcome and adopt abandoned animals and supports sterilisation/vaccination campaigns for dogs and cats. In France, sterilisation and a ban on the sale of animals through classified ads are at the heart of its campaign.

Wandering and suffering

Domestication has created animals that are dependent on humans. Wandering is by no means synonymous with freedom for them. Solitude, hunger, thirst, fear and bad weather are just some of the difficulties they have to face. Even cats, who are wrongly believed to be self-sufficient, are in great distress. Regularly targeted by certain humans, they have to deal with boundless violence: stoning, drowning, strangulation, immolation… One Voice’s Cellule Zoé is taking legal action against their torturers.

The association’s investigators also go out to meet homeless cats to denounce the ordeal they endure on a daily basis and to support the work of its partner shelters, which feed and sterilise them. In 2012, the association set up an innovative partnership with one of these shelters and a retirement home. Called Chatipi, this project has created a home for several cats without families in a Burgundy nursing home. The aim, which was achieved, was to bring comfort to both the elderly and the cats, by making the place an intergenerational meeting place for seniors, children and cats.

Stray donkeys in Brazil

Dogs and cats are not the only victims of abandonment. In the Nordeste region of Brazil, the number of stray donkeys has multiplied since they are no longer used to transport people. Abandoned by their « owners », starving, left to their own devices, the donkeys roam and reproduce in a climate of almost general indifference. There are now so many of them that they cause traffic accidents. As they have become a nuisance, they are sometimes buried alive! Captures are organised to keep them on farms. But the infrastructure is rarely sufficient, and they die en masse, without anyone caring about them. Thanks to local and international partnerships, One Voice has been able to begin the long process of rehabilitating them. By publicising the problem in the media, it has already won the support of the authorities. But even with real political will, there is still a long way to go…

Wandering and natural disasters

In developing countries, natural disasters create complicated situations. Lost animals find themselves homeless, and the already difficult situation of those who were strays becomes dramatic. The health risks, both for them and for humans who are already in a precarious situation, worsen considerably. This is what has led One Voice to intervene, following the tsunami that devastated South-East Asia, the floods in India and the earthquake in Haiti. Caring for, vaccinating and feeding not just cats and dogs, but also cows, sheep, goats and horses, is a vital emergency…

Key figures

An alarming fact

11 millions of 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

Promoting sterilisation
Adopt, don’t buy!
Sign the petition for better protection for dogs and cats
Sign the petition for dogs and cats: our family
Make a donation to help stray animals

Our other battles

Dolphinariums

Fur

Bear

Domestic violence

Domestic violence
Domestic violence
The situation
Animal abuse and domestic violence: brutality goes hand in hand

Concealed, silent, violence is everywhere, including in the home. When blows rain down on spouses and children, they also fall on pets. Firmly opposed to all forms of violence, One Voice is working to ensure that the link between animal mistreatment and domestic violence is recognised.

Many countries have already understood this, particularly when it comes to the fight against domestic violence, where penalties and support measures apply to violent spouses and children as well as to household pets, which are a source of comfort but are martyred and sometimes used as blackmail tools.

Our fight

Why are we fighting to recognise the link between animal abuse and human violence?

One Voice, a pioneer in France on the link issue

In 2007, One Voice sponsored the inaugural conference at Oxford University entitled « The links between animal mistreatment and violence towards people », thus demonstrating its leadership on this theme. Professionals from animal welfare, child protection, crime prevention, law, social work, education and veterinary science from five continents sat around the table to analyse the evidence for this link, its moral significance and its implications for social and legal policy. The articles written by academics for this conference formed the basis of a book, Violence against animals and humans: the Link. This book has been translated by One Voice with the aim of raising awareness of these issues among the French public.

Infiltrated at the scene of abuse

We will never be able to forget the looks on the faces of Léa and Lola, two dogs who were subjected to the assaults of a zoophile for years, and whom we rescued from this hell. This man had previously been convicted of sexually assaulting girls under the age of 15. We are also thinking of Chevelu, the stray cat who died in the street, kicked by a man who also beat his son and his partner. As a grassroots association, One Voice can no longer count the number of times it has rescued domestic animals, victims of the worst abuse. These operations are further proof, if proof were needed, of the link between animal mistreatment and domestic violence.
Our immersions in dog training clubs have enabled us to lift the taboo on practices sometimes carried out out of sight of families, ignoring the leash beatings, insults and strangulations suffered by their companions in their absence. It’s a vicious circle of hatred that often leads to aggression in the animals, who end up abandoned or even euthanised. Our investigators also filmed teachers forcing children to abuse their dogs.

Changing the laws in France

At One Voice, we believe that violence is intolerable and that those who perpetrate it must be fairly punished, whoever the victim may be. The link between violence against animals and violence against humans has enabled mentalities to change in certain countries and to better protect human victims too. For example, in the United States and the United Kingdom, child protection and animal protection services are working together, in particular through cross-reporting. Another example is the use of animals in shelters for women abused by their partners.
The link proves that there is no such thing as « violence », but rather « one » form of violence, perpetrated against individuals – human or animal – in a state of physical or psychological weakness. The need to free ourselves from a legal distinction based on the nature – human or animal – of the victim is obvious to us.

Since 1987, psychiatrists have recognised that animal abuse is an important symptom of antisocial behaviour in the present and potentially in the future. Frank Ascione Professor of Psychology at the University of Utah – USA

Key figures

An alarming fact

100 publications on the link between human and animal violence. 98 % publications conclude that there is a proven link between cruelty to humans and cruelty to animals. 57 % of men who are violent in the home have already mistreated their pet. 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

Official recognition of the link between animal abuse and human violence.
Make it possible to cross-reference reports of animal abuse with reports of violence against humans in order to step up the monitoring of violent individuals who are dangerous to society.
Reinforce the role of animal health professionals as watchdogs by obliging them to report proven cases of mistreatment to their local Departmental Directorate for the Protection of Populations (DDPP).
Strengthen cooperation between prefectures and professionals and associations working to combat domestic violence and protect children.
Raise awareness among professionals and associations working to combat domestic violence and protect children of the need to take these weak signals into account.

Our other battles

Corrida

Leather

Wolves

Hunting dogs and dogs training

Hunting dogs and dogs training
Hunting dogs and dog training
The situation
Danger, trained dogs

We denounce the existence of coercive methods of obedience that are harmful in certain dog training centres. At these centres, individuals come to seek advice on how to establish good human-dog communication, and find themselves having to forcibly subdue their companion.

We have also documented how puppies intended for security and biting competitions are trained the hard way. Puppies and dogs are strangled and beaten, electric collars and spikes are used in profusion, screaming is rampant and the least obedient are discarded.

Our fight

Humane dog training should be the norm

We encourage humane dog training methods!

All too often, we think that dogs should be made to do as they please, preferably with violence. Nothing could be less effective.

Respect and consideration are the basis of a good relationship with dogs. You also need to be familiar with the behavioural and non-verbal signs specific to this animal species. Affection and exchange are essential to avoid behavioural problems, the risk of biting and, ultimately, a peaceful and beneficial relationship between the dog and the human or family to which it is attached.

Hunting dogs, trained to track other animals.

Considered as material and valued solely on the basis of their productivity, often living in packs and malnourished in order to better pursue the animals that their humans are trying to kill when the hunting horn sounds, hunting dogs undergo specific training and have to live in outdoor kennels, exposed to the elements, and wear a GPS collar that is often electric. Whether they are hounds or small terriers, their fate is no different to that of Malinois or German Shepherds, which are used for security purposes…

Behavioural problems leading to tragedy

How many dogs are used for security or hunting purposes compared with those that have had to be put down because they refused to let them be and defended themselves? How many dogs that are abandoned in shelters are considered potential dangers and cannot be integrated into families with young children? How many are reduced to living in cages or relegated to balconies or car trunks? How many are used as weapons? How many are specifically trafficked and used in dog fights? They are trained to bite, attack and even kill other animals, other dogs…

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