Document type: news item from Gendinfo
Author: Antoine Faure
Preview: [...] In order to combat animal abuse and trafficking in protected species more effectively, a special unit has [...] been created within the French Office Central de Lutte contre les Atteintes à l'Environnement et à la Santé Publique (OCLAESP). Its fifteen members - gendarmes, police officers and a veterinarian - are spread across the country, with a central office in Arcueil and investigators in each of the OCLAESP's ten teams. Its commander is a gendarme, Captain Dominique, who is supported in Arcueil by three analysts (two police officers and one gendarme), and a veterinarian who combines the roles of technical expert, investigator, trainer and international advisor. This National Unit to Combat Animal Abuse (DNLMA) has been fully operational since August 1, 2023. "The DNLMA's priority mission is to handle highly complex cases with international dimensions, involving organized crime, or cases with media sensitivity," explains Captain Dominique. Other cases are handled either locally, by the environmental investigators based in local bodies and police stations, or at the next level up, by the unit's investigators in the OCLAESP teams."
All online reports of abuse are centralized by the Digital Brigade (BNum) in Rennes, which carries out preliminary filtering, before forwarding them to the relevant gendarmerie or police units, with the DNLMA copied in. In Arcueil, reservists support the team by processing the alerts sent via the Pharos platform. "It's then the role of the analysts to evaluate these files and make comparisons and cross-checks to decide which will be dealt with by the unit", continues the division commander.
Agreement with Animal Protection Societies
To succeed in its missions, the Gendarmerie of course relies on its partners: government departments, such as the Brigades Nationales d'Enquêtes Vétérinaires et Phytosanitaires (BNEVP), the investigative units of the Direction Générale de l'Alimentation (DGAL) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, and the same Ministry's Directions Départementales de la Protection des Populations (DDPP), attached to the Prefects of Départements ; along with recognized animal protection associations, such as the Œuvre d'Assistance aux Bêtes d'Abattoirs (OABA), the Société Protectrice des Animaux (SPA), the Fondation Brigitte Bardot and 30 Millions d'Amis.
