A 29-year-old man attacked his partner and the family animals: two cats and a French Bulldog. Violence, a threat of death, stabbing of a cat and the spraying of bleach on these animals. Thursday, June 8, One Voice will be a civil party in this sad case again illustrating the link between violence against humans and animals.
Wednesday, March 1, 2017 Mr. B returns home, intoxicated. Taking the pretext that Moana, his one-year-old dog, had urinated on the toilet floor, he suddenly grabbed him by the cheeks and pretended to strangle him in front of his partner who is also afraid.
Annoyed by the reaction of his partner, he tells her that he will go after her cats next. Unable to catch them, he grabbed the dog by the leg to lock it in his transport cage. Armed with a kitchen knife, he then wounds Gandja one of the cats at its lower back, then shows the blade of the knife stained with blood to his partner, telling here that her cat is dead.
The plight of the animals does not stop there because he grabs again the wounded Gandja and forces lactose powder into its nostrils before enclosing it in the transport cage along with Moana. He then puts the transport cage into the bath tub and sprinkles them with a toilet gel product and bleach tablets.
Ms. H is in turn abused and threatened with the knife as she tries to protect her animals. She manages, however, to leave the apartment while her attacker sprinkles the animals with water and other products. She will eventually be rescued along with her animals a few minutes later by police doing their rounds in the neighbourhood.
The investigation will establish that this is not the first episode of violence against this woman and her dog. She will confess that a violent fight broke out a week before, during which he attacked Moana by throwing her against a wall.
Despite the seriousness of the acts committed and the threats made, Mrs. H decided to return to married life, like many battered women, and to keep her animals near her.
One Voice, who was a representative civil party, will be present during the trial which will take place on June 8 in Lorient to ask for protection and compensation for the cat Gandja and the dog Moana.
Muriel Arnal, president of One Voice says: “We are very concerned about the plight of the victims of this case when they return to their abuser. Animals being the first victims of violent individuals allows their torturers to assert their power and to reign terror on the children and their spouses. Several studies have shown this behaviour to be true. It is time for France to adopt a real criminal policy for domestic violence involving pets. This is already the case in the United States, which allows for temporary or definitive custody measures of the animals.”
