Trapped in France: The Cruelty and Danger for Animals and the Urgent Call for Action

Every year, tens of thousands of animals are trapped in France. Beyond its cruelty, this practice constitutes a major danger for many of them, wild or not, who are immobilized, mutilated or killed. In the vicinity of the commune of Aurons, a fawn was recently caught in a snare trap. Faced with the growing concern of all citizens who fear for wild animals and their pets, One Voice alerts the mayor to identify the author of this illegal pose and once again denounces the practice of trapping, while calling the public to mobilize alongside us.

Pets or wild animals, none are spared

A few months ago we announced to file a complaint for Mani, a cat who came close to amputation after being caught in a snare. After long hours of suffering, he was finally released and his paw saved in extremis. Cooper had been saved from a jaw trap, et a wolf was found strangled in a fox trap in the Gard. We had filed a complaint for them too. Despite repeated warnings, nothing changes, and the forests turn into an obstacle course for the animals.

In the small village of Aurons, appalled residents recently alerted us after discovering a panicked fawn trapped sometime in August 2023. For several hours, he remained immobilized, a strong metal wire tightening all the more around his neck as he tried to escape.

Far from being anecdotal, these cases are symptomatic of regulatory hypocrisy. To be authorized, the traps are supposed to be “selective”. In other words, they should only work for species classified as likely to cause damage (ESOD, formerly “pests”). How can they be selective if they are placed in the middle of the forest, ready to activate at the slightest movement? In reality, these instruments operate indiscriminately, regardless of the animal.

Traps, the ESOD-rated animal nightmare

Beyond the trapping of non-targeted individuals, every year, from foxes to martens, from crows to jays, hundreds of thousands of animals lose their lives, killed by trappers. Strangled in snares, mutilated in jaw traps, held by a leg often broken before being finished off, imprisoned in cages or tangled in nets, nothing is spared them.

The ordeal of members of these species on the grounds that they are supposedly “harmful” is permanent: at all times and in all places, hunters show a formidable imagination to overcome them. While we file an appeal against the classification of many species as “ESOD” throughout the territory, we solemnly call on the authorities to take action and take responsibility, while our forests are gradually turning into minefields for all animals.

For the fawn of Aurons, we wrote to the mayor of the commune so that the trapper is identified and prosecuted. For everyone else, collective support is essential! The public is invited to sign our petition for a radical hunting reformand report any trap that does not clearly show the trapper’s approval number (to the following address: [email protected]).

Photo : ©OneVoice

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