At the end of this meeting which was held between Muriel Nguyen, prefect of the Somme, Stéphane Haussoulier, president of the departmental council and president of the Syndicat Mixte Baie de Somme Grand Littoral Picard, Bruno Dalle, general manager of the services of this same union and Daniel Chareyron, mayor of the town, the prefecture specified in a press release what had emerged.
“Aware of the attachment of part of the population to the animal, the authorities remain attentive to the expectations and sensitivity of the inhabitants on this subject. First of all, there is a real security issue raised by the presence of a wild animal as close as possible to human activities. The prefect of the Somme and the elected officials are jointly responsible for the protection of the population. With this in mind, the authorities are looking for the best solution to reconcile this safety issue with the welfare of the animal and the sympathy of the public towards it. It had been decided, initially, to move the sow to an animal park in Seine-Maritime. Given an initial veterinary analysis and the desire expressed by some residents to maintain the sow in Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, the action plan envisaged by elected officials and State services is now as follows: :
– A veterinary analysis of the health of the sow must be carried out –
The prefecture and the city then study the possibility of creating an enclosure on site.
– If this eventuality does not turn out to be feasible, the transfer of the sow to the Roumare animal park still appears as a possible option.
The authorities have set themselves the objective of finding a solution by the beginning of the summer. Indeed, the security issue is reinforced with the start of the tourist season and the arrival of a larger and uninformed public in the Baie de Somme sector.