Pursued by an association, the refuge of lions and tigers will be judged in Rouen

This is a first step forward, in the conflict who opposes the Aves France association (Act for living things and wild species) at the tiger caress structure, which hosts 14 tigers and lions To Arelaune-sur-Seine (Seine-Maritime). The latter, which presents itself as a refuge, will have to answer for acts of unlawful opening and transfers of lion cubs before the Rouen Criminal Court, in January 2022.

The charges of mistreatment and endangering the life of others, denounced by Aves, were not retained.

Malfunctions not “just administrative”

A first complaint was filed in December 2019, after several visits to the site by Aves members. The second complaint, which dates back to November 2020, was used, according to the president of the association Christophe Coret, to bring up a completed file in the meantime.

“The illegal opening is because the owners [de Caresse de tigre] did not have the authorizations to welcome the public more than the exemption in place, namely seven days a year. It was not respected. “He adds that the couple who own the felines is” in recurrence, since he had already convicted for illegal opening in 2014 “.

Regarding the transfers of lion cubs, they would have been made illegally. “This is where there is deception, because they say they are a refuge, but there are children who have grown up who have gone into the world of the circus”, continues Christophe Coret. Although the charges of mistreatment and endangering the lives of others (because the public would have entered the animal cages) have not been upheld, a hearing in the criminal court is a victory for the association: “It shows that the problems are not just administrative. There are going to be scores to settle. ”

We tried to reach the shelter, without success. The couple of owners, last November, denied all the accusations against them: “I gave the authorities all the papers of my animals. We save them, we don’t traffic. We are in order, ”he commented.

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