Nîmes: the SPA rejected after a complaint

The Society for the Protection of Animals had lodged a complaint against the torera Léa Vicens, the organizer of bullfights Simons Casas and against the city of Nîmes for cruelty to animals. According to newspaper information Ouest France, the lawyer of the SPA, Me Nicolas Huc-Morel, had denounced during a hearing, on June 30, 2021, a “distressing and barbaric spectacle”.

Unfortunately, the association was rejected on July 26, 2021 by the criminal court of Nîmes. She will even have to pay 4000 euros in legal costs. On the other hand, the court dismissed the defendants of their claim for damages.
This is not the first time that the SPA has taken bullfighters to court. But she had already been dismissed in 2020 in Bayonne, then in 2021 in Béziers.

^{Source: Dépêche du Midi / Nedir Debbiche}

The president of the court of Béziers had, however, recognized:

It is undeniable that the blows carried by the picadors cause great suffering to the animal with the established aim of deliberately attacking its physical integrity, the blows being knowingly carried out with a powerful weapon piercing the body of the animal. the animal. These are acts of cruelty.

But for justice, an element prevents going in the direction of the association. This element is the significant fact. According to the Penal Code, acts of cruelty to animals “do not apply to running bulls with or without killing”, when it is an unbroken local tradition.

Bullfighting is however increasingly under the fire of criticism, not only from associations, but also from public opinion. Several cities around the world have even decided to ban this kind of show.

(Image d’illustration : Gabriel Bouys)

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