Document type: Answer to o a question, published in th Journal Officiel de la République Française
Authors: Question: Mr Karl Olive (Yvelines (12th district) - Ensemble pour la République). Answer: Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty
Question: Mr. Karl Olive would like to draw the attention of the French Minister for Territorial Partnership and Decentralization to the funding allocation earmarked to deal with the problem of stray cats, and in particular their sterilization, which concerns many local authorities. Cats proliferate rapidly, since a single pair of cats can give rise to 20,000 others in the space of just four years, a problem that needs to be addressed. Numerous associations take care of stray cats, but the associated costs are considerable and taking on this burden is a heavy responsibility. Sterilizing a female cat costs an average of 150 euros, and sterilizing a male cat 100 euros. To enable local authorities to respond to the growing problem of cat population growth and the increase in abandonment, funding of 3 million euros was approved by Parliament as part of French Finance Act 2023-1322 of December 29, 2023 for 2024, with a view to supporting local authorities in the sterilization process. He would therefore like to know how this law will be implemented in practice, and what steps local elected representatives need to take to benefit from this aid.
(Question sent to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty)
Answer: The French budget for 2024 set aside the sum of 3 million euros (M€) for the sterilization of stray and domestic cats by local authorities. In this context, the French Ministry of Agriculture's Food Directorate launched a call for projects to manage stray cats run by municipalities and, through a transfer of powers, by voluntary public establishments for inter-communal cooperation (EPCI). This money has been awarded as part of the pilot provided for in Law 2021-1539 of November 30, 2021 to combat animal abuse and strengthen the bond between animals and humans. This law effectively provides for the establishment of agreements between the State and Mayors or the Leaders of local authorities and Chairs of voluntary EPCIs, so that the management and care of stray or stray cat populations can be improved, and the competences and resources of each signatory can be recorded with this objective in mind. In overseas departments and regions, special arrangements may be put in place under the responsibility of Regional Prefects. For example, depending on the specific features of the region, dogs of domestic species may also be eligible, provided that both species - canine and feline - are involved in the project. To apply for this grant, the municipalities and EPCIs concerned were invited to respond to the above call for projects, which was open from September 2 to October 10, 2024. Full details of this call for projects are available on the website of the French Ministry of Agriculture. This €3 million fund is not sufficient to finance the management of stray cats throughout France, and therefore cannot fulfil its objective. Moreover, several studies have shown that stray cat management only works in the long term, and that a sporadic campaign will not be effective. In light of this, it was decided to support local authorities who already have a stray cat management system in place (given that this is one of their authorised areas of action), to see what good practices are in existence and make the best use of this money. The pilot can thus be properly implemented within the bounds of this funding available in 2024 only. Looking forward, the pilot scheme will have to be evaluated so that the Government may draw up its report to Parliament, as provided for in the above law. The pilot could then put forward recommendations and best practices that would benefit all communities.
