Document type : article published in Le Monde (subscriber edition)
Author: Mathilde Gérard
Preview: The SPA took action at a private address in the Orne region in January 2023, where 81 dogs and six Finnish Lapland puppies were being kept in one house.
Abandoned dogs, refusal to care for an animal, those sufferering from "Noah's syndrome" who care for dozens of animals in substandard housing, the problem of overpopulation in breeding farms... This Wednesday, January 17, Tamara Guelton, who heads the legal team at the French Société de Protection des Animaux (SPA), will be reviewing the dozens of cases of abuse that law enforcement officers may encounter, as part of a training session at the Ecole des Officiers de Gendarmerie Nationale in Melun (Seine-et-Marne). "Are we dealing with an act of cruelty [an offence under the penal code] or with abuse, an offence punishable by a fine?", the legal expert asks her audience, which is today made up of thirty-two gendarmes and four police officers, all on active duty, and hailing from Morbihan, Alpes-Maritimes, Corsica, Guyana. For a two-week period, these officers are in training to become "environmental and public health investigators". In addition to cases of animal abuse, their training includes waste, pollution, fire, trafficking in phytosanitary products or drugs, and doping. "We now have 3,500 specialized investigators," explains General Sylvain Noyau, head of the Environment and Health Command, created on July 1, 2023 to strengthen law enforcement actions in this area. Even though the missions of the gendarmerie and the police don't just concern the environment, and we're not going to become all green all of a sudden, we have to do much better and know how to work with other specialized partners such as third-sector associations", says the general.
The French SPA is a reference association for the forces of law and order, whether the matter in hand is reporting animal welfare issues, acting as a civil party when necessary, or taking in animals that have been legally seized. Headed since 2018 by Jacques-Charles Fombonne, himself a former general in the gendarmerie, in January 2023 the SPA signed a partnership agreement with the Ministries of the Interior and Agriculture to strengthen cooperation. [End of the part available without subscription]
