They only had a few square meters to purr.
The ordeal has just ended for 32 cats, in Levallois-Perret.
On February 16, the police put an end to clandestine breeding.
The author of this alleged traffic will have to explain himself in detail by the end of this week.
At the origin of this cumbersome discovery, the desire of a 23-year-old man to have a cat.
A few days ago, looking for a feline, he came across a classified ad on the Leboncoin.fr ad site.
He answers it and goes to Levallois-Perret, in a small apartment.
The animal given to him looks young, but the seller is adamant: the kitten is two months old.
A little later, the buyer shows him to a breeder friend and his verdict falls, without appeal.
Two months ?
Impossible !
The kitty was not born more than three weeks ago and is therefore not weaned.
3⃣2⃣🐱were found in accommodation by the 👮♂️ of #Levallois following an investigation into sales of unweaned cats and therefore⛔for sale 🐈⬛The SACPA of
#Gennevilliers
and SPA of Paris collected them
investigation is ongoing🔎 pic.twitter.com/t8Estxxw0h
– Prefect of Hauts-de-Seine 🇫🇷🇪🇺 (@Prefet92) February 22, 2022
The cheated buyer immediately goes to the Levallois-Perret police station and places a handrail there.
The local police take the matter seriously and go to the scene.
Surprise, in the small 30 m² accommodation, no less than 32 toms, including two pregnant females, welcome them.
The Nanterre public prosecutor's office is opening an investigation for fraud and ill-treatment.
"The animals were sold for 800 euros each", is surprised someone close to the case.
“We had to get organized in a few minutes…”
Confronted with the large number of felines, the police alert the SPA and the owner, in bad shape, immediately agrees to give them up to the association.
"We are frequently approached by the authorities," says Tamara Guelton, head of the legal and animal protection department at the SPA.
But there, the police were hyper-reactive.
They called us urgently.
We had to organize ourselves in a few minutes…”
The cats were finally admitted to the Gennevilliers site and will remain there for the duration of the investigation.
Above all, the SPA enthusiasts took care of administering first aid.
“Some were in poor health and were not weaned.
Bad treatment of an animal by a breeder, or someone who claims to be a breeder, is punishable by one year in prison and a fine of 15,000 euros,” Tamara Guelton fulminates.
The SPA regularly collects animals recovered after police interventions.
“32 cats is about average.
The average high anyway, ”notes the framework of the protective society.
Read alsoCat trafficking in Ile-de-France: two men arrested for fraud and animal abuse
The association sees in this case the opportunity to recall once again some common sense advice.
“When you want to buy an animal, never Leboncoin, classified ads or pet stores, we insist at the SPA.
At least we move and we see his condition.
People are also encouraged to have cats sterilized.
A litter is seven to eight kittens who often arrive at our house.
There are a lot of drifts and we are the receptacle.
And above all, it is better to adopt than to buy an animal.
We also have cats, even young cats, in our shelters!
»