A dedicated gendarme or police officer will now be responsible for registering complaints concerning animal abuse, in each gendarmerie and police station. “They are defenseless in the face of human malevolence and this is particularly unbearable for us,” said the Minister of the Interior.
A new device to put an end to animal abuse. Gérald Darmanin announced this Friday morning from a SPA refuge in Essonne the creation in all police stations and gendarmeries in France of a referent dedicated to complaints concerning violence against animals.
“Animals are vulnerable beings, endowed with sensitivity, who deserve our protection. The acts of violence they sometimes suffer are unbearable”, explained the Minister of the Interior after his visit to a kennel and a cattery. .
Abuse up 30%
With one objective: to train 4,000 police officers and gendarmes and allow them to be in contact with the State veterinary services and animal protection associations.
There is urgency as the number of attacks on domestic animals has increased by 30% since 2017. 12,000 incidents were observed last year, from ill-treatment such as deprivation of food to acts of physical violence, including mutilations.
Serious abuse, for example, increased by 36% between 2019 and 2021, figures probably aggravated by the wave of mutilation on horses all over France in 2020.
The boss of Place Beauvau had already announced last fall the creation of a section of about fifteen investigators to deal with the most serious cases such as animal trafficking networks.
Dogs, main victims
This new system is accompanied by a tightening of the legislation, after the promulgation in November 2021 of the law against animal abuse.
“What is particularly unbearable about pets is that they are defenseless against human malevolence”, still judged “Gérald Darmanin.
Dogs are the main victims of this violence – 46% of cases in 2021 – far ahead of cats (24%). The perpetrators of these abuses are mostly men at 73%, while it is women who most often file complaints, according to Interior Ministry figures.
The minister’s announcements leave animal advocates skeptical for the moment. Hélène Thouy, lawyer and co-president of the animalist party, regretted RMC announcements “far from the scale of the problem”.
