Document type : article published in Le Parisien
Author : Le Parisien
Preview: "Criminal initiatives" exposed by the Brigitte Bardot Foundation . The Toulouse Administrative Court (Haute-Garonne) on Tuesday suspended a controversial prefectoral decree temporarily authorizing the killing of stray dogs in the Aveyron, La Dépêche has reported. In its ruling, the Court expressed "serious doubt as to the legality of this decision", according to the daily. The decision had been taken in the wake of several attacks on herd animals since the beginning of the year, notably in the Larzac region. "Saarloos" dogs - a breed closely related to the wolf - had been spotted "roaming in the area of the attacks", according to the Prefecture, which authorized the killing of stray dogs at night for a period of one month.
" A satisfaction"
This measure had been strongly opposed by animal protection organizations. In particular, the Brigitte Bardot Foundation called on Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin "not to let Prefects play cowboy", and denounced what it called "criminal initiatives". In a letter to the Minister, Brigitte Bardot reminded him that "the Foundation is working in many countries to put an end to the killing of dogs (...) but it is in France that we encounter every barbarity, from bullfighting to hunting with hounds, not forgetting force-feeding". At the end of April, two petitions for suspension were lodged by the French Animal Protection Society and the Stéphane Lamart Association. Lamart welcomed the administrative court's decision on Tuesday, telling La Dépêche that he was "very satisfied". "In human terms, it is unacceptable for senior civil servants to issue such orders to shoot dogs or any other animal on the grounds of protecting flocks", he said, pointing out that "it is illegal to kill with a firearm in the open countryside".
