” Sensible soul to withhold. Here is a new version of the future bath mat. Not without laughing, the skin of a Rottweiller. Full face up and down, tail is complete with bone. I will not do any tanning (not the time and unprofitable). I offer this skin for sale, send me a pm [message privé] for more information. PS: I shit to do it. This is the kind of harangue that Marie-Claude L., nicknamed “MC”, posted on a private Facebook group called “MC Ostéo”. From her home, near Barbezieux, in Charente, she sold all kinds of “trophies”. Skulls of dogs, cats, ponies…. even cat bladders.
On June 14, according to media information vakita, launched by journalist Hugo Clément who spoke on June 18 on BFMTV, “MC” and his spouse were placed in police custody and then referred to the regional environmental prosecutor’s office in Bordeaux. They will be tried in November before the Bordeaux Criminal Court for “possession, transport and use of protected animals”.
Hundreds of animal remains sold
This illegal traffic was revealed in February 2022 on Facebook by the association for the defense of the animal cause Extreme Rescue, which seeks and denounces acts of malevolence and cruelty on animals. “This file, we came across it after witnessing a live Facebook in December 2021” of the defendant, tells its president to 20 minutes.
“Cutting a French bulldog head #bones #skull #osteology #oddities”, “for sale, a bison skull and two goat skulls”, “work of the day, five pig skulls, 1 female cane corso and a female Tibetan Spaniel”, etc. Messages like these, “MC” has posted hundreds. And often accompanied by photos and videos of the cutting steps. “Even in horror films you will never see that”, still protests Matthieu, the president of the association. “MC” was also doing pre-sales: “And here is the skull of the crossed mastiff dogo argentina and a couple of boxers […] Soon on sale, you can make your reservations, ”she wrote for example, adding 12 photos of skulls.
Among the remains offered, there were mainly bones of domestic animals. But, the forty-year-old also sold dead animals of protected species. Among them, that of a blue and yellow macaw at the price of 150 euros.
In March 2022, Extrême Sauvetage filed a complaint for “possession, transport and use of carried animals”. An investigation is opened and, according to Free Charente, it was in October 2022, in a barn near Barbezieux, that a “mass grave of animals where the bodies piled up” was discovered. This traffic would thus concern the bodies of “more than 500 domestic and farm animals”, according to vakita.
Illegal suppliers
But how did Marie-Claude L., who has no training or authorization to practice this form of taxidermy, manage to provide herself? According to information from Extrême Sauvetage, the quadra at the head of this illegal traffic would have managed to recover these corpses thanks to a network of veterinarians and a knacker. The latter will also be alongside the seller and her spouse facing the judges in November, because the corpses of animals collected would have been sold outside of any legal framework.
If it remains difficult to trace the origin of the corpses, the tracks exist. In July 2022, an individual, who had had his dog euthanized three months earlier, received a visit from the gendarmes. The latter told him that they had found his dog, without paws or head. The owner was identified thanks to the chip remaining in the body of his animal. The proximity between the place where the remains of the dog were found and the places of activity of the knacker and the saleswoman suggests to Extrême Sauvetage that the network was thus getting their hands on the remains of pets for the sell on Facebook.
The animals marketed have brought in substantial sums, sometimes up to 500 euros per skull. But this activity was not declared. This is why “MC”, her spouse and the knacker are also being prosecuted for “concealed work”.
For a law to protect dead animals
In France, the criminal code punishes with two years’ imprisonment and a fine of 30,000 euros any attack on the integrity of a human corpse. This law does not concern animals, taxidermy being legal. Recovering animal carcasses without the knowledge of the owners is, on the other hand, illegal. Matthieu and his teams campaign in particular for a law to protect dead animals and for a framework for the practice of taxidermy. “This woman has put the population at risk for health. The remains of the animals went into the ground, or she froze them in less than sanitary conditions. When you have maggots and worms coming out of the carcasses, there is a big problem, ”reports the activist to 20 minutes.
“The associations just want my skin while I sublimate the animals. I know a lot of people who practice like me and that’s all displeased. I don’t do anything wrong. “, for her part, defended Marie-Claude L. in the Free Charente. For its part, in January, while the investigation of Vatika was published, the 30 million Friends Foundation had denounced in a press release “the existence of such traffic in dead animals and the deception of the masters of these dogs and cats who thought – wrongly – that they were seeing their friend leave in peace. »