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Animal abuse: almost unanimous green light from deputies, not without a spat

2021-01-29T21:37:44.744Z


The deputies voted by a very large majority the text, which must now pass to the Senate. Often heated exchanges, moments of harmony and also some tussle with the government: the National Assembly on Friday adopted almost unanimously a proposal for a standard law of the majority to fight against animal abuse. This text, validated by 79 votes for despite two against from the UDI group, must now pass to the Senate for first reading. Most deputies hailed "a first step forward" requested b


Often heated exchanges, moments of harmony and also some tussle with the government: the National Assembly on Friday adopted almost unanimously a proposal for a standard law of the majority to fight against animal abuse.

This text, validated by 79 votes for despite two against from the UDI group, must now pass to the Senate for first reading.

Most deputies hailed "a first step forward" requested by the French.

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The bill should help to avoid impulse purchases of pets, which then lead to too many neglect, some 100,000 animals being abandoned each year in France.

Unanimously, the Assembly voted on Tuesday in favor of the new "certificate of commitment and knowledge" which will be issued upon the first acquisition of a pet.

It will recall the obligations of care, vaccination and related costs (food, veterinarian, etc.).

"A strong signal"

The online sale of pets will be reserved for shelters and breeders.

Friday, the deputies, again unanimous, tightened the sanctions for mistreatment, bringing them in particular to three years of imprisonment and 45,000 euros of fine in the event of serious abuse.

Faced with the recent wave of mutilations of horses or the videos of "happy slapping" (assaults) posted online, it is a question of sending "a strong signal", argued Dimitri Houbron (Agir), co-author of the proposal law with two LREM deputies, Loïc Dombreval and Laëtitia Romeiro Dias.

In the home stretch, the deputies validated other articles taking up the commitments of the September government: gradually prohibiting the keeping of wild animals in traveling circuses and in dolphinaria, the presence of such animals on television sets, in discos or at private parties, and even close mink farms.

The closure was extended during the meeting to all farms dedicated exclusively to fur production.

With others, the former “walker” Cédric Villani unsuccessfully sought to ban all shows of wild animals.

The people of the circus and the three dolphinariums of the country, already hard hit by the Covid-19 crisis, are standing up and their grievances have been relayed in the hemicycle.

The Parc Asterix announced on Monday, on our site and in our newspaper, the closure of its dolphinarium, which had eight dolphins.

Scratches

UDI MPs see the provisions adopted as a "Trojan horse" for the subsequent closure of zoos.

LR fear "a cure worse than the disease" for these wild animals with uncertain fate.

Daniel Labaronne (LREM) questioned the “pseudo-scientific studies” supporting these prohibition measures.

But, for the Secretary of State for Biodiversity Bérangère Abba, "our perception of captivity has really changed" and "our responsibility is to dispassionate these subjects".

The deputies however refused to give a "blank check" to the government, which wanted to define by simple decree the list of species prohibited in roaming.

"The government is being disowned by the majority," observed the right.

This has been the case on other occasions since Tuesday.

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The deputies thus voted for a ban in 2024 on the sale of cats and dogs in pet stores, as requested by animal protection associations in the name of their well-being.

The Minister of Agriculture Julien Denormandie unsuccessfully argued the work of the employees of these establishments as well as the controls carried out.

Since the start, most of the deputies have been pugnacious, even sometimes die-hard in favor of the animal cause.

Even within the majority, some were irritated, such as Alain Perea (LREM) who spoke out against a “political project” that could go as far as “equality between men and animals”.

But for the leader of LFI deputies Jean-Luc Mélenchon, "an era is over" when it was a question of "dominating and owning nature".

Because by force, "we destroy everything".

The bill left aside various annoying subjects such as hunting, intensive breeding or bullfighting, to the chagrin of many parliamentarians.

"We remained on the sentimentality" with regard to certain animals, tackled François-Michel Lambert (Liberties and territories).

Source: leparis

All news articles on 2021-01-29

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