“It is the end of the commodity animal and the end, at least in part, of the spectacle animal”, welcomed on franceinfo Thursday, November 18 Jacques-Charles Fombonne, the president of the Society for the Protection of Animals (SPA), after the adoption by Parliament of a law on animal abuse. This law provides, for example, for the progressive prohibition of wild animals in circuses, the end of the sale of puppies and kittens in pet stores, heavier penalties in the event of abandonment and better supervision of online sales. “It’s a first foot in the door”, he ruled, while the SPA collected 46,000 animals last year.
franceinfo: Why is this an important step forward for the SPA?
Jacques-Charles Fombonne: There had been the Grammont law in the 19th century, [première loi de protection animale qui sanctionnait les mauvais traitements commis en public sur les animaux domestiques]. I hope that this will be the founding text of the 21st century. This corresponds to what the SPA wanted and the directions for which we have been campaigning for many, many years. However, we would have preferred that internet sales be completely banned. We realize that this is not enough.
Is the sale of animals online a strong trend?
Yes, this is the hole in the racket. It is the door open to breeding, with people like you and me who improvise breeders. They have two or three lactating females, have them do as many litters as possible and sell you puppies or kittens with false vaccines and health certificates as well as false registrations. We tell you “it will not cost you anything, I take care of the formalities, I register the animal in your name” and the seller’s name never appears. So you have no recourse. There are a lot of badly weaned, mistreated, malnourished animals and this is really the door open to trafficking. We buy anything on the Internet. I did 35 years in the gendarmerie, I know that as soon as there is money to be made, people will be there to meet the demand.
What more would you like?
We would like the end of the bullfight and a real reflection on animal experimentation. Finally, to take up the idea suggested to us by President Badinter, we are asking for the creation of a post of Defender of Animal Rights, in the same way that there is one for humans. He could be appointed independently at the highest level of government, with a single mandate, so that he is not accountable to anyone. One of his missions could be to find out exactly how many animals are abandoned. We are talking about 100,000 abandoned animals a year, but nobody really knows.
What do you think of the “certificate of commitment and knowledge”, which will be imposed on each owner before adopting a pet?
This is both a good idea and a bad idea. We do this in our shelters, just like most associations. It is therefore a good idea if we inform people, so as to give them the animal that will best suit their lifestyle, but it should not become a “dog license”, because we is sufficiently controlled and this poses a lot of follow-up problems. However, it needs to be done seriously. Keep it simple and people understand what their pet needs.