The French Parliament adopted this Thursday (18) definitively a bill against animal abuse. With the decision, the presence of wild species in circuses and aquariums will be progressively prohibited, as well as the sale of cats and dogs in pet shops.
In an almost unanimous vote – 332 votes in favour, one against and 10 abstentions – the French Senate hammered out the creation of a law to protect animals. The project was mainly promoted by the governing party A República em Marcha, which hailed “a new historic stage in the fight against the animal cause”.
The text, which circulated for about a year between the Senate and the National Assembly of France, was finally able to find common sense between the two chambers. The measures concern mainly pets, which must be “neither toys nor consumer goods”, said French Agriculture Minister Julien Denormandie.
Currently, one in two French citizens has a pet, but each year around 100,000 pets are abandoned in the country. Therefore, as of the approval of the law, a “certificate of engagement and knowledge” must be signed by the owner before any purchase of an animal. In addition, the sale of cats and dogs in pet shops will be prohibited from January 1, 2024, as well as their display in shop windows.
Killing a pet will become a crime and no longer a simple misdemeanor. Individuals who have been convicted of ill-treatment of animals must undergo a sensitization internship. Anyone banned from owning a pet will be on the list of people wanted by the French authorities.
Circuses and Aquariums
Main point of contention, the future of some 1,000 wild animals in 120 traveling circuses that exist across France today has resulted in an intermediate solution. It will be prohibited to present them to the public two years from now and to keep them in captivity seven years from now.
The decision displeases circus owners and directors. “How are we going to feed our animals for seven years and at the same time engage in a reconversion of activity? That’s impossible,” criticized William Kerwich, president of the Circus and Show Animal Owners Union. For him, “the law is arbitrary because there is no mistreatment of animals in French circuses”.
The detention of cetaceans in aquariums –21 dolphins and four orca whales in France– will end within a period of five years. According to the French Secretary of State in charge of Biodiversity, Bérangère Abba, the government will help workers in the sector to retrain professionally and present solutions to welcome animals.
dissatisfied opposition
Some lawmakers criticized the lack of bold decisions against controversial practices of abuse, such as hunting. For the deputies Olivier Farloni (left) and Bastien Lachaud (far left), the government of President Emmanuel Macron has protected the hunters since taking power.
“The day will still come when, in this house, we will know how to debate sensitive issues, such as some hunting practices, bullfights and intensive breeding,” stated Deputy Loïc Dombreval, co-author of the bill and a professional veterinarian.
The president of the Senate Economic Affairs Committee, Sophie Primas, from the Republicans party (right), defended professionals who work with animals. For her, the text, which she classified as “dogmatic in order to be mediatic”, was prepared “without and sometimes against” these workers.
French NGOs welcomed the Senate decision. The Society for the Protection of Animals (SPA) called the text “a great advance”. “France is no longer the cancer of animal protection in Europe”, congratulated the Brigitte Bardot Foundation. The Animalist Party applauded the passage of the law, hoping that “this is just the beginning of the elaboration of measures aimed at considering the interests of all animals”.
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