Document type: Answer to question n°495 published in the Official Journal of the French Republic
Authors: question: Mme Maud Petit (Les Démocrates - Val-de-Marne (4th district)). Answer: Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry.
Question: Mme Maud Petit draws the attention of the Prime Minister's Minister for Overseas France to animal abuse in the DROM-COMs. Overseas territories may be a paradise for many tourists, but they are often a living hell for animals. After being contacted by an association, and having witnessed the issue first-hand when she lived there as a child, the Deputy feels that animal welfare is, even today, seriously threatened in the French overseas territories. Abandonment, abuse, violence, torture - it's not good being a cat or dog in some of these departments and communities. Many animals, some starving or sick, roam the streets and countryside of these territories. And when they are captured by the pound, they are, according to the association Les Amis de Sam, euthanized in 95% of cases, sometimes under unacceptable conditions. Euthanasia is not a solution, as it in no way solves the problems of abandonment and proliferation, unlike sterilization. She therefore asks the Minister what measures he plans to take to remedy this situation. She asks him about the possibility of launching a wide-reaching sterilization campaign in these territories, which would prove far less cruel. She also alerts him to the need to set up local shelters to care for these stray, abandoned and abused animals. Finally, she asks him to what extent it would be possible to set up a financial fund to help the associations who are doing remarkable work on the ground, but are often overcome by the scale of their task.
Answer: The government has been committed to animal welfare for several years, in response to a strong and legitimate societal expectation, and condemns all acts of mistreatment of animals, whether in breeding, slaughter establishments or domestic animals. To this end, since 2020 and thanks to the France Relance plan, more than 36 million euros have been granted to animal protection associations and veterinary medicine. Similarly, since the adoption of the law to combat animal mistreatment on November 30, 2021, four implementing decrees and six ministerial orders have been published, to enable the reinforcement of training for personnel in contact with pets, information for new buyers, control of animal identification on online offers, as well as the strengthening of penalties against acts of mistreatment. To extend the positive momentum initiated by the Government, a plan dedicated to the well-being of companion animals was announced on May 22, 2024. Its national monitoring committee, chaired by the Minister for Agriculture, brings together four ministries, industry professionals and civil society players, to ensure that its actions are properly coordinated. For the French government, the aim is to fully support and promote current and future initiatives in three areas: preventing and combating pet abandonment, improving the management of canine and feline straying, and preventing and combating pet abuse. To achieve this, it is structured around concrete measures contributing to five key areas: understanding the situation and identifying levers for action; informing, questioning and training; facilitating synergies between players involved in animal protection; making regulations more protective; and renewing funding mechanisms. The first axis of this plan is to better characterize and objectify situations of abandonment, straying and mistreatment, and to draw up reliable and accurate statistics.
In this respect, the mobilization of the expertise of the observatory for the protection of domestic carnivores and the centralization of data relating to the above-mentioned situations on a single platform will enable public authorities to make informed decisions. In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture will make it easier for professionals and private individuals to take on board the new regulatory obligations, notably through a responsible acquisition program, as well as by renewing communication campaigns on the fight against abandonment and mistreatment, on sterilization and identification of animals, and on access to care for the underprivileged. In addition, the Ministry will endeavor to integrate these concerns into animal-related vocational training courses. If these measures are to be implemented effectively, synergies between the various players involved in animal protection must be facilitated, notably through the establishment of interministerial governance specifying the role of each. Within this framework, the Ministry of Agriculture steers public policies relating to the protection of domestic animals, the Ministries of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion ensure those relating to wild animals, the Ministries of the Interior and Overseas Territories ensure the repression of animal mistreatment and trafficking, and support the other ministries in the application of legal procedures, under the supervision of the Ministry of Justice. In this context, an interministerial training course on the fight against animal abuse has been developed for all agents concerned, including law enforcement officers, and will go online in autumn 2024. In addition, the "Ma sécurité" platform, run by the Ministry of the Interior, will be consolidated, to become the preferred centralized tool for reports of mistreatment sent to government departments. Similarly, discussions will be held with animal protection associations to identify ways of professionalizing local associations in terms of training in best practices and regulatory provisions. Lastly, the Ministry of Agriculture will step up its efforts to raise mayors' awareness of the need to prevent stray animals and to manage pounds. The aim will also be to make current regulations more protective, on the one hand by assessing the application of the Animal Abuse Act of 2021, and on the other by updating the April 3, 2014 decree framing pet-related activities. In addition, a change in European legislation is underway, under the impetus of the French government, with the European Commission's December 7, 2023 proposal on the welfare and traceability of dogs and cats placed on the European market. The government intends to go even further, and is bringing forward strong measures at European level, such as a ban on the use of electric collars, tail docking and the prolonged use of muzzles in places where animals are kept. Last but not least, the State will be on hand to renew the funding mechanisms implemented under previous Finance Acts, notably for the sterilization of stray animals and aid to local authorities for this purpose, through the creation of a "France protection animale" fund, designed to collect any donations from companies. The government is determined to step up its efforts to protect animals, and will remain attentive to reports of stray, abandoned or mistreated animals. The latter may be prosecuted, both in mainland France and in the overseas territories.
