"It is time for citizens to get involved for the animal cause". These are the words of Hugo Clément, one of the initiators of the “animal referendum” project. Launched on Thursday July 2 by the journalist from France 2 and several business leaders, this shared initiative referendum (RIP) project aims to improve the living conditions of animals in France.
Who launched the project?
The idea was born during a lunch between Xavier Niel and Jacques-Antoine Granjon, the boss of Veepee. "They asked themselves what they could do and called us, Hugo Clément and me," says Marc Simoncini, founder of the Meetic dating site. The latter, sensitive to the animal condition, have already collaborated in the past. "With Hugo Clément, we bought a circus in Morbihan to close it to the public," delivers the founder of Meetic, which finances the association for the defense of animals L214. It was then the journalist who used his network to launch the initiative. "I made the bridge between associations and business leaders," he explains. "The timing was perfect to launch the project, believes Marc Simoncini, because the Covid heightened awareness of the abuse of the planet. "
What do they want?
Three of their six proposals are aimed at breeding: the ban on cage breeding, which concerns 58% of laying hens according to the organizers, the closure of fur farms and the end of intensive farming. The other half of their proposals target sectors often singled out by animal defenders: research, circus and hunting. They are calling for a ban on shows with wild animals, the end of animal testing and a ban on hunting with hounds, which consists in tracking down a deer until exhaustion, the digging up of badgers and foxes as well as other "traditional" hunts.
Who supports them?
The initiative is supported by 23 associations such as L214, Sea Sheperd, which fights for the defense of the oceans, the SPA (Society for the Protection of Animals) and the Bird Protection League (LPO). About fifty personalities have also joined their call such as Nicolas Hulot, Juliette Binoche, Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Pascal Obispo or Bruno Solo.
37 deputies and senators of all political stripes have so far joined them. This is the case of Matthieu Orphelin, co-president of the Ecology, Democracy and Solidarity (EDS) group in the National Assembly, as well as a large majority of the deputies of the same group. “In France today, we can do much more for animal welfare. In several countries in Europe, fur farming is banned, ”said the MP. He ensures that from the first parliamentary niche of the EDS group, they will table a bill that will take up the main principles of the "referendum for animals".
Do they have a chance to succeed?
“The issue of animal welfare is supported by 80% of French women, whether they are left or right, urban or rural. Why does the political class continue to ignore public opinion? "Wonders Hugo Clément. To reach this political level, he therefore relies on the shared initiative referendum (RIP), which can lead to a bill or a referendum on condition of obtaining the signature of 4.5 million citizens and 185 parliamentarians . "We have not yet launched the petition to citizens because we must first rally the deputies and senators but we are starting a survey on our site," explains Hugo Clément. Launched Thursday July 2, this pre-petition has already collected approximately 220,000 signatures.
After the "failure" of the RIP aimed at preventing the privatization of the Aéroports de Paris group, will this "animal referendum" be the first to reach the end? "If we manage to collect a million signatures for airports, we may very well have four million for animals," enthuses Marc Simoncini, the founder of Meetic and spearhead of the project.
