A police officer or a gendarme will be trained and designated as a referent on issues of animal abuse in the 4,000 police stations and gendarmerie brigades in France, announced Gérald Darmanin this Friday, January 27.
Pets: those partners who do us good
They will be “particularly trained to take complaints to fully understand the law that applies” and of “welcome people who come to denounce these acts”declared to the press the Minister of the Interior, during a trip to a site of the SPA in Chamarande (Essonne).
“Animals are vulnerable, sentient beings that deserve our protection. The acts of violence they sometimes suffer are unbearable.denounced the Minister.
An increase in offenses since 2016
Since January, 15 police investigators and gendarmes attached to the Central Office for the Fight against Damage to the Environment and Public Health (Oclaesp) have joined a new service specializing in the fight against animal abuse.
In France, 12,000 offenses against domestic animals, tamed or held in captivity, were recorded in 2021 by the police and the gendarmerie, up 30% since 2016, according to figures from Beauvau.
