The unlikely scene of a deer taking refuge in the middle of Chantilly station this month has at least helped to remind French society of one thing: in 2021, hunting with hounds, its packs of dogs released into the wild, its servants and spears still exist in our countryside. But these are above all questions that have been raised by this new incident: how can we tolerate these situations even today? Is this what the 21st century looks like? It is high time to answer them.
For an assiduous observer of the regional press, the chaos generated by this practice from another age is by no means exceptional. Since the start of the 2020 school year alone, associations have been able to identify no less than sixteen serious incidents of this type!
In Touraine, a llama was devoured alive by the pack which had entered a breeding farm. The owner could only witness the scene, helpless. A deer was tracked down into the streets of Compiègne (50,000 inhabitants) and saved in extremis by the mobilization of an entire housing estate. Still in Compiègne, the hunting dogs chased and bit the dog of a walker. The horsemen present failing to be obeyed, the man had to tear him from the pack and take him in his arms to protect him. In the Aisne, the village of La Ferté Milon (2,000 inhabitants) was invaded by hunters and their dogs, tracking down a deer who had taken refuge in private property. In the Indre, a pack chasing a deer crossed the A20 motorway, causing a multiple pile-up and the death of four animals.
The Villers-Cotterêts crew were seen twice literally hunting on the RN2, with riders and valets pacing the emergency lane on both sides. On the RN31 which bypasses Compiègne, the crossing of the hunting pack behind a deer caused a chain accident, involving three vehicles. The dogs of the Bonnelles-Rambouillet crew entered the home of a resident of Mesnuls (800 inhabitants) with servants spanning her fence after them. In the Aisne again, a family saw their hens attacked by a local crew dog, while the rest of the pack hunted around the village. One of them was killed in front of the children.
These incessant social frictions, which each time require the intervention of the police and firefighters, in themselves justify a debate in Parliament on the maintenance of such a practice.
The opinion of the French is clear and is revealed overwhelmingly as soon as we deign to ask them the question: in addition to the regular polls which all give more than 80% for an abolition, we cannot ignore the Referendum for Animals and its almost a million signatures or the other two petitions, those of 30 Million Amis and Pet Alert, each having already exceeded 250,000 initials.
At a time when, driven by science and the urgency of a large-scale health disaster, we are questioning our relationship with wild life; twenty-five years after the “Bateson report”, which already proved through biological analyzes to what extent the suffering and terror experienced by the prey of these hunts are unjustifiable; a few days after an incident which again puts us face to face with this question, nothing should hinder our progress.
The movement in opposition to hunting with hounds as it exists today is an example of popular ecology for our century: the French most affected are taking matters into their own hands and pushing for a democratic solution. We, the signatories of this forum, members of civil society, elected officials, citizens, call to support this legitimate aspiration!
The images of Chantilly give France a new opportunity to enter the century of ecology and reason by putting an end to a practice as dangerous and needlessly cruel as hunting with hounds. Let’s know how to seize it
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Text proposed by the association Abolissons la vénerie Today (AVA, which calls for signing its text on its page: http://ava-france.org/en-finir/).
The list of signatories, as of Monday February 1, 6 p.m.:
Patrick Kanner, President of the Socialist Group in the Senate, PS
Laurence Rossignol, Senator of Oise, PS
Raphael Glucksmann, MEP, Public square
Matthieu Orphan, Member of Parliament for Maine-et-Loire, EDS
Cédric Villani, Member of Parliament for Essonne, EDS
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Member of Parliament for Bouches-du-Rhône, LFI
Adrian Quatennens, MP for the North, LFI
Julien Bayou, National Secretary of EELV, Regional Councilor of Île-de-France
Karima Delli, MEP, EELV
Valerie Petit, Deputy for the North, LREM
Jennifer De Temmerman, Deputy for the North, LREM
Claire O’Petit, Member of the Eure, LREM
Lionel ollivier, mayor of Clermont, Oise
Philippe Berta, Member of the Gard, MoDem
Bastien Lachaud, Member of Parliament for Seine-Saint-Denis, LFI
Christine Pires Beaune, Member of Parliament for Puy de Dôme, PS
Marie-Pierre de la Gontrie, Senator of Paris, PS
Dimitri Houbron, Deputy for the North, Act
Vincent Ledoux, Deputy for the North, Act
Cedric Maisse, departmental councilor of the Somme
Eric Coquerel, Member of Parliament for the Seine-Saint-Denis, LFI
Delphine Wespiser, Miss France 2012
Elodie Gossuin, Miss France 2001
Bénédicte Taurine, Member of Parliament for Ariège, LFI
Monique de Marco, Senator of the Gironde, EELV
Loïc Dombreval, Deputy for Alpes-Maritimes, LREM
Hubert Julien-Laferriere, Deputy of Rhône, LREM
Guillaume Chiche, Deputy for Deux-Sèvres, LREM
Laurianne Rossi, Deputy for Hauts-de-Seine, LREM
Albane Gaillot, Member of Parliament for Val-de-Marne, LREM
Anissa Khedher, Member of the Rhône, LREM
Samantha Cazebonne, Member of Parliament for French Abroad, LREM
Kalune, singer
Sinsemilia, musicians
Marc Limballe, musician
Xavier Cantat, photographer
Xavier Mathieutrade unionist actor
Jessyca Falour, Radio / TV animator
Celine Boussie, whistleblower
Xavier Guillot, trade unionist
Beatrice Lejeune, mayor of Bailleul-sur-Therain, Oise
Fabien Barège, Mayor of Porquéricourt, Oise
Véronique Grignon-Ponce, mayor of Dompierre, Oise
Jean-Paul Douet, mayor of Montagny-Sainte-Félicité, Oise
Jacques Boutault, deputy mayor of Paris Center.
Betsabée Haas, assistant to the town hall of Tours delegated to biodiversity and animal condition
Thierry Brochot, deputy mayor of Creil, EELV
Karim Boukachba, assistant to the town hall of Creil and community advisor
Sidonie Parisot, deputy mayor of Paris 14th in charge of animal condition
Dominique lavalette, departmental councilor of Oise
Anthony Auger, municipal and community councilor of Gisors
Aurélien Gack, municipal councilor of Hénin-Beaumont
Pierre Rigollet, Poitiers city councilor, animal welfare officer
Agnès Dione, Poitiers city councilor
Alain Blanchard, departmental councilor of the canton of Montataire
Loïc Pen, emergency doctor, municipal councilor of Nogent-sur-Oise
Ophélie Van Elsuwe, departmental councilor of Clermont de l’Oise
Florence Cerbaï, regional councilor for Ardèche
Fatima Parret, regional councilor of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Monique Cosson, regional councilor of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Emilie Marche, regional councilor of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Corinne Morel Darleux, regional councilor of Auvergne Rhône Alpes
Fabienne Grebert, regional councilor of Auvergne Rhône Alpes
Myriam Laïdounis-Denis, regional councilor of Auvergne Rhône Alpes
Pascal Troadec, deputy mayor of Grigny, Essonne
Pierre Sommé, sculptor, deputy mayor of Thiescourt, Oise
Jean-Christophe Leclercq, deputy mayor of Douai, North
Didier Jeanjean, deputy mayor of Bordeaux in charge of nature, Gironde
Eddine Ariztegui, deputy mayor of Montpellier delegate for animal welfare, Aude
Francis Feytout, Bordeaux city councilor delegated to respect for living things and the animal condition, Gironde
Jean-Marie Goater, municipal councilor of Rennes delegated to animals in the city, Ille-et-Vilaine
Célia Serrano, municipal councilor in Montpellier, Aude
Laetitia Ben Sadok, Clermont-Ferrand municipal councilor in charge of animal health in the city and biodiversity, Puy-de-Dôme
Vega Janiaux, municipal councilor of Fontenay-sous-Bois delegated to animal welfare, Val de Marne
Pauline Rapilly-Ferniot, municipal councilor of Boulogne Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine
Sylvain Raifaud, municipal councilor of Paris 10th
Marina Verronneau, municipal councilor of Metz, Moselle
Lydia Frentzel, municipal councilor of Marseille delegated to animals in the city, Bouches-du-Rhône
Dahman Richter, city councilor of Nancy delegated to animal rights and welfare, biodiversity, Meurthe-et-Moselle
Marie-Françoise Hamard, municipal councilor of Strasbourg delegated to animals in the city, Bas-Rhin
Pierre Athanaze, Vice-president of the Métropole de Lyon, Rhône
Nathalie Dehan, councilor at the Métropole de Lyon and municipal councilor in Vénissieux, Rhône
Marie-Therese Michel, municipal councilor of Besançon responsible for animal health, Doubs
Sandra Krief, Grenoble municipal councilor responsible for animal health, Isère
Fiona Mille, co-head of the EELV Animal Condition Commission
Manuel Leick-Jonard, co-head of the EELV Animal Condition Commission
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