The macabre discovery at the start of the week of two foxes hanging from the entrance panel of a village in Saône-et-Loire provoked a wave of indignation among animal defenders, including the association One Voice, which launched a call for witnesses accompanied by a reward of 10,000 euros.
On Monday, the inhabitants of Dracy-Saint-Loup, a rural town of 625 inhabitants, discovered the corpses of canines hanging from a location sign.
The latter were quickly removed by the gendarmes and an investigation was opened, according to the town hall.
“Shameful” act
This act, considered "
shameful
" by the unlabeled mayor Jean-Claude Lhoste, also sparked the ire of several associations and activists for the defense of animals and biodiversity.
Among these, One Voice launched an appeal, pledging "
to pay the sum of 10,000 euros
" to whoever would "
transmit to it solid information making it possible to formally identify (...) the people responsible for these deeds
”.
“
This information will then be transmitted to the public prosecutor as part of a complaint by the association
,” added One Voice in a press release published on Tuesday.
Because according to the association, “
beyond the monstrosity of this staging, these acts constitute criminal offenses
”, on the legislation on hunting and concerning the illegal abandonment of “
waste
” on the public highway.
“There are other things to tell about Dracy”
For his part, the mayor regrets the bad publicity given to Dracy-Saint-Loup, a village located 8 km from Autun, on the borders of the Morvan.
“
I like it when people talk about my village, but not in this way
,” he lamented.
"
There are other things to tell about Dracy, such as the ongoing construction of a greenway to Autun
," he said.
Each year, between 600,000 and one million foxes are killed in France as part of shooting or hound hunting, digging up, trapping and administrative beats, according to the Association for the Protection of Wild Animals (Aspas).
Since a decree of 2019, they are among the "
species likely to cause damage (ESOD)
", in particular because of the diseases they can spread.
Outside hunting periods, they can therefore be trapped or dug up all year round or killed on poultry land or with prefectural authorisation.
Associations contest this classification, praising in particular their ecological virtues for the regulation of rodents which cause damage to crops and carry other diseases.