Document type : Article published in Le Monde
Author: Mathilde Gérard
Preview: The text adopted on Thursday bans shows with wild animals in circuses and dolphinariums, and prohibits the sale of dogs and cats in pet shops. Welfare groups have welcomed this progress.
Three weeks ago, it seemed that agreement could not be reached. Yet on Thursday 21 October, the fourteen members of the joint committee (CMP) of the two chambers examining the bill to combat animal abuse voted unanimously and with no abstentions in favour of a compromise that provides the basis for several improvements to animal welfare protection in France, including a ban on the display of cetaceans in dolphinariums within five years, a ban on wildlife shows in travelling circuses within seven years, and a ban on the sale of dogs and cats in pet shops from 2024...
Given the differences of opinion between the French senators and deputies on these three points in particular, with the upper house demonstrating its unwillingness to include outright bans in the legislation, the agreement arrived at by the CMP was by no means a done deal.
It took the rapporteurs from the two chambers many hours of preliminary discussion, continuing late into the night before the session of the CMP, to reconcile their positions and reach a consensus. The challenge for the three members of the parliamentary majority group who had brought forward the proposed legislation - Loïc Dombreval (Alpes-Maritimes, La République en marche, LRM), Dimitri Houbron (Nord, Agir) and Laëtitia Romeiro Dias (Essonne, LRM) - was to avoid at all costs leaving without an agreement. To have done so, given the constraints on the legislative timetable imposed by the forthcoming elections, would have amounted to a death knell for all the intended measures. The Senate rapporteur, Anne Chain-Larché (Seine-et-Marne, Les Républicains), also wanted "anything other than a failure to agree. The discussion may have become heated at times. But we allowed ourselves time to discuss and understand each other's concerns". On both sides, both the Assemblée Nationale and the Senate, we had all drawn up our red lines. For the three co-rapporteurs from the Assemblée, it was the fate of wild animals in circuses and dolphinariums that was at stake. We wanted the principle of a ban to be enshrined in law for all wild animals in travelling circuses," says Laëtitia Romeiro Dias. We took into account the Senate's request for time to support those in the profession and to find accommodation elsewhere for the animals, hence the extension of the period before the ban came into force being extended from five to seven years. The deputies and senators also agreed on a ban on reproduction for wild animals [in captivity] within two years, so as not to increase the number of animals kept by circuses.
Regulation of animal sanctuaries and the definition of their activities in law
Dolphinariums were one of the major sticking points in the discussions between the two chambers. It was agreed that the proposed ban, which would come into force five years after the promulgation of the Act, would cover displays featuring dolphins and orcas. Breeding would also be banned by that time.
"The only possible exemption to this ban on the keeping of these animals would be in the context of scientific research programmes approved by the State, and not for self-certified programmes," says Ms Romeiro Dias. For her part, the Senate rapporteur is pleased with this compromise: "Our guiding principle was no ban without a plan", whether this concerned arrangements to accommodate the animals elsewhere or research, emphasises Ms Chain-Larché.
The MPs and senators also agreed to set out a legal definition of the activities allowed in sanctuaries, which should be not-for-profit establishments without public access that take in wild animals injured in the wild or removed from captivity, and where reproduction is prohibited.
The section on pets also gave rise to intense negotiations: the representatives from the lower chamber wanted to ban all sales of animals in pet shops to prevent impulse buying, while the Senators were opposed to a strict ban, fearing that purchases would shift to the Internet. In the end, the representatives agreed on a proposal to ban the sale of dogs and cats in pet shops (but not rabbits); they also allowed animal shelters to use pet shops to offer animals for adoption. Any acquisition or adoption will also be subject to the prospective owner obtaining a certificate of knowledge and to a seven-day cooling-off period.
A strong aspiration
For their part, the senators had made it a prerequisite that the sterilisation of stray cats should not be made compulsory, fearing that the costs and responsibility for the practicalities would fall on mayors. The CMP has asked for the matter of sterilisation to be considered jointly by local authorities and the State and for a more precise assessment of the requirements - the precise number of stray cats is unknown and is estimated to be between 10 and 12 million.
"Compared to the unnuanced text that came out of the Assemblée, this compromise will be seen as a step backwards, but it is more reasonable," concedes Loïc Dombreval, who had nevertheless called for mandatory sterilisation. We need to know the exact cost of sterilisation drives and where the money will come from, with an ongoing plan to pay for it."
The text that has been agreed on by the committee will again be put to a vote in both chambers - first in the Assemblée Nationale on 15 November and then in the Senate. For Dimitri Houbron, "there is no law that has taken such a head-on approach to matters of animal welfare. It took a lot of work to finalise this compromise text without watering down its aspirations." Loïc Dombreval also expresses his satisfaction that the legislation is the result of "a shift in the way elected representatives view our approach to animals. It may be considered a minor topic, but the fact that it has been taken seriously, and that there is agreement that there is still much to be done, is very satisfactory".
Animal protection groups, some of whom were doubtful that an agreement could be reached between the two chambers, have on the whole welcomed the proposed measures. "This is a historic day in the fight we have been waging for decades to help animals," said Christophe Marie, spokesman for the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, in whose view "France has gone part of the way to catch up with its European neighbours."
"This is a first big step for animal protection," commented Christine Grandjean, the Foundation's chair. "It's enough. Now it is up to us to continue to push for further refinements the law to be fully applied."
