The majority had made it a hobbyhorse, in tune with the concerns of society : by a final vote of the almost unanimous Senate, the Parliament adopted definitively, Thursday, November 18, a Law proposition emblematic of the presidential majority for “Fight against animal abuse”.
The vote was acquired by 332 votes in favor, one against and 10 abstentions. On the menu of this vast text are the progressive prohibition of wild animals in circuses and dolphinariums, the end of the sale of puppies and kittens in pet shops and tougher penalties for abuse or abandonment. It is “To strengthen the link between animals and people”, in line with animal laws since 1850.
The LRM-Agir majority boasts a news “Historic stage of the fight for the animal cause”, in unison with protection associations. The Animalist Party also applauds, even if it would have liked to go further. “The societal expectation is great”, noted Thursday Marie-Christine Chauvin for the LR group which dominates the Senate. “The animal condition is neither a fad of urban people in need of nature nor a passing fad but a subject to which a growing number of French people are sensitive” and “Irreversibly political”, The co-author of the bill Loïc Dombreval (LRM), a veterinarian by profession, again claimed on Tuesday when it was last adopted by the Assembly.
Angry subjects dismissed
This very broad consensus in the two chambers was obtained by setting aside several subjects of annoyance. The bill does not address “Animal abuse as a whole”, castigate the deputies Olivier Falorni (Liberties and territories) and Bastien Lachaud (LFI), according to whom the hunt in particular “Will have been particularly cajoled” during this five-year term.
“Much remains to be done”, especially against factory farming, which requires “A change of agricultural model”, pleaded environmental senator Daniel Salmon. “The day will inevitably come when (…) we will be able to discuss delicate questions, such as certain hunting practices, such as bullfighting, such as certain breeding practices ”, wants to believe M. Dombreval.
The range of measures is aimed primarily at pets, “Neither toys, nor consumable goods”, recalls the Minister of Agriculture, Julien Denormandie. One in two French people have it but every year some 100,000 animals are abandoned.
- For avoid impulse purchases, a “ certificate of commitment and knowledge ” will be issued before any acquisition.
- The sale of puppies and kittens in pet stores will be prohibited from 1er January 2024.
- The presentation of animals in the display cases will no longer be permitted. The sale of animals online will be better regulated.
- In terms of strengthening penal sanctions, the fact of deliberately killing a pet will be an offense and no longer a simple contravention.
- Those convicted of mistreatment will have to follow an awareness training course.
- The detention of cetaceans in dolphinariums – 21 dolphins and 4 orcas in France – will be excluded within five years.
- Main initial bone of contention, the fate of the thousand wild animals in the current 120 traveling circuses was the subject of a compromise. It will be prohibited to present them to the public within two years, and to detain them within seven years.
“How we are going to feed our animals for seven years and at the same time initiate a retraining, it is impossible”, retorts William Kerwich, president of the Circus and Performing Animals Capers Union. “This is an arbitrary law because there is no animal abuse in our circuses”, he asserts, promising a “Mobilization” of the profession Monday.
The president of the Senate Economic Affairs Committee, Sophie Primas, echoed the anger of professionals against an elaborate text “Without and sometimes against” them. A text “Sometimes dogmatic to be media”, she said.