Document type : French National Assembly written answer published in the Journal officiel de la République française
Authors: Question: Corinne Vignon (La République en Marche - Haute-Garonne). Answer: French Ministry of Agriculture and Food
Question: Ms Corinne Vignon draws the attention of the Minister for Agriculture and Food to one of the measures in the Bill to strengthen the fight against animal abuse. In particular, it specifies that only shelters will be able to take in stray dogs and cats or those allowed to wander freely. In practice, the associations involved and their paid or volunteer teams are very much in demand. Their indispensable work helps to ensure that animals are cared for, fed and offered for adoption. These organisations also participate in sterilisation campaigns. Consequently, she wishes to know whether the Government plans to provide specific financial assistance to associations that do not run a shelter but use a fostering system.
Answer: Domestic carnivores left to roam can pose a public safety risk if they bite. In addition, these animals can represent a public health risk with regard to diseases such as rabies insofar as the traceability of the animal is not always guaranteed. For these reasons, the Rural and Maritime Fishing Code (CRPM) gives responsibility for stray animals to mayors who must have them caught. To this end, mayors may use the services of an animal protection association and these animals must be taken to a pound. The animal is then subject to health surveillance by the establishment's health veterinarian. Article L. 211-25 of the CRPM states that if the animal has not been returned to its owner within eight days, it is considered to be abandoned and may, after a veterinary opinion, be transferred to an animal protection association with a shelter, which alone may adopt it. Shelters are subject to strict regulations that aim to guarantee the health and well-being of the animals they take in. This involves, among other things, the creation of legally-compliant facilities and operations, staff training and visits by a health veterinarian. Within this framework, shelters are subject to controls by the departmental services responsible for the protection of the public. The current legal framework does not recognise the work of animal protection associations that take in stray animals without having a shelter. Article 3a of the bill to strengthen the fight against animal abuse, adopted by the National Assembly, provides for this recognition by imposing operating rules that are not identical to those of a shelter, but similar in their outcomes. The aim of the proposed law is therefore to make the actions of these associations more transparent while guaranteeing that the health of the animals is monitored and that the conditions in which they are kept are compatible with their welfare. Greater information on the activities of these associations would also be an advantage in any future move to integrate them into a public service framework. As part of the France Relance plan to support associations that look after abandoned animals, a budget of 14 million euros was distributed among associations running shelters and those that are authorised by mayors to sterilise and then release stray cats and dogs.
