One hundred euros in damages. The sum is derisory, but it is symbolically strong. By recognizing the harm to an animal in a cruelty case and granting this compensation for a cat, the Lille criminal court may have opened a judicial Pandora’s box on Thursday. This is, in any case, a first in France. “This means that an animal can obtain damages,” rejoices Me Graziella Dode, lawyer at the Lille bar and specialized in animal defense.
The case, which she pleaded, was however nothing exceptional. In July 2023, a woman from Lille, alerted by the howls of a cat, set out to search the neighbors’ trash, where she found the mutilated corpse of a cat about a year old. The investigation will show that the animal was beaten to death.
“It’s considering that the animal is a person”
A couple appeared before the judge on Thursday, whose partner had confessed to having killed the house cat with fists and wooden slats. “They have an autistic child whose behavior towards their cat, Lanna, was not appropriate. One day, the animal scratched him and the companion lost his temper. He beat the animal to death,” says Me Graziella Dode, who intervened on behalf of the LPA-NF (Animal Protection League of Northern France), as a civil party.
Prosecuted for “acts of cruelty towards an animal”, the man received an eight-month suspended prison sentence and a ban on keeping a pet. But the originality of the judgment in this case is the recognition of this animal harm.
According to Fabien Marchadier, professor of law at the University of Poitiers, this judicial decision is indeed a small revolution. “It means considering that the animal is a person and that it may be more complicated to apply the property regime to it. It also opens up a series of questions about breeding or medical experimentation on animals,” points out the author of Animal sensitivity. Legal Perspectivesco-written with Régis Bismuth, in 2015.
Compensate the animal’s suffering
This request for harm specifically for the animal is not new. If lawyer Graziella Dode has been pleading for it, in vain, regularly since September, there are precedents. “In October 2018, a similar request was rejected by the Metz court for a horse named Saphir. This was to compensate for the suffering of the animal whose wounds had been poorly treated. Then in 2022, the Court of Appeal of Saint-Denis-de-la-Réunion also refused to compensate dogs after the fire in a kennel,” says Fabien Marchadier.
It is therefore the perseverance of Graziella Dode which is rewarded today. “I hope that the Lille decision will advance the animal cause,” admits this young woman of 34 years old whose personal commitment dates back to a very young age. “When I was little, I wanted to be a veterinarian, then an animal journalist,” she says. 20 minutes. As soon as I became a lawyer in 2016, I trained to specialize in animal law. »
Plead by putting yourself in the animal’s place
Taking an example from her Marseille colleague, Me Isabelle Terrin, the lawyer based in Marcq-en-Barœul, near Lille, does not hesitate to plead by putting herself in the animal’s place. “I am also inspired by what is being done for the environment, because ecological harm already exists in law,” she explains. But the victory she has just won remains very fragile. “It is possible that the decision will be overturned on appeal or in cassation,” according to her.
A hypothesis shared by Fabien Marchadier. “It must be recognized that legally, granting animal harm remains shaky, but it is in keeping with the times,” he analyzes. Since the 1960s, there has been damage caused by affection for animals, which is compensable and has become a common practice today. However, the first decision, at the time, caused a real scandal. »