The animal cause “is a major issue” of the presidential election, assures the candidate of the Animalist Party

The animal cause “is a major issue” of the presidential election, assures this Saturday on franceinfo the candidate of the Animalist Party, Hélène Thouy. It is “a sign of the very high expectations of citizens on this subject”estimates the co-founder and co-president of the Animalist Party which currently collects 56 sponsorships validated by the Constitutional Council. “It’s a real difficulty, (…) we have a lot of mayors who hesitate to confirm their sponsorships because they are under pressure”assures Hélène Thouy.

And yet “all recent opinion polls in this regard indicate that the French believe that this is an important theme of the presidential campaign”assures Hélène Thouy.

So why a specifically animalist party? “It is not enough to talk about the animal cause”responds the presidential candidate. “You have to be determined that things change for animals. And what you can see is that concrete things don’t happen. There are always announcement effects, but nothing that really moves”she complains.

And why not support the environmental candidate Yannick Jadot? “Because he is not ambitious enough like the others on the animal issue, it is not enough to say that we are against intensive breeding. To be a convinced animalist, you have to explain how you are going to do it and above all assume to reduce by at least half the production and consumption of fruits of animal origin”. For Hélène Thouy, “the animal cause does not belong to a political sensibility. It concerns all sensitivities”.

Furthermore, on the subject of hunting, to the question of whether there will still be hunters in France if the Animalist Party comes to power, Hélène Thouy’s answer is “no” and “it is not a difficulty in itself”. “Hunters are not a monolithic block. Hunting is a deadly hobby, which obviously causes damage for animals but for our environment”.