Is the future of Titine at Cape Hornu sealed? This Monday, the prefecture’s action plan was launched. The secretary general of the sub-prefecture of Abbeville, Nora Ayachi, the representative of the departmental directorate for the protection of populations and a veterinarian came to Saint-Valery-sur-Somme to meet about twenty supporters of Titine but also animals. Despite the calls, Titine did not show up.
It’s not for lack of trying! At the head of the group, there was Catherine, the healer of the Laie. “We have a special report”, assures the woman. But this proximity will not have been enough, because after long minutes of shouting “Titine”, “My baby”, the boar will never come. A complicated absence in this showdown between the collective and the state authorities. Indeed, for a month and the decision of the prefecture to send the animal to an animal park in Seine-Maritime.
Faced with the discontent, the prefecture had then finally decided to review its copy, “aware of the attachment of a part of the population to the animal”while specifying in the same press release that“there is a real security issue raised by the presence of a wild animal as close as possible to human activities. With this in mind, the authorities are looking for the best solution to reconcile this safety issue with the well-being of the animal and the sympathy of the public towards it”.
Taking note of the will of certain inhabitants to maintain the sow in Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, the prefecture had therefore decided initially on this veterinary analysis of the state of health before discussing, always with the collective of the construction of an enclosure on site. If this proves to be infeasible, the transfer of the sow to the animal park of Roumare would appear as a possible option.
A dialogue open again
Until now, the collective refused all the different options and called for the total freedom of the wild animal. This Monday, the state of mind had changed. “We are willing to take care of parking Titine, but only during the summer season”, assures Vincent, member of the collective and future president of the “Titine en baie de Somme” association, which should see the light of day at the end of the week, or even the beginning of next week. An association whose main objective is to financially support the setting up of fences, signage and the purchase of food for the sow.
Except that with the rabbit posed by Titine, this Monday, impossible for the time being to know what will happen to her. “We don’t know when this case will end, it’s always a complicated fight so we have to wait”, assures Julien, a member of the collective. Christine, she admits to being delighted with the absence of the beast. “I’m very happy because it proves that she keeps her wild animal behavior“, specifies this resident of Camon.
She is morbidly obese
If the visual examination of the veterinarian could not be done. The professional was able to watch videos of Titine before his visit. And not enough to reassure him about his state of health. “What we can see on the videos is that people are feeding him things that are not suitable. It is rare to see a boar in this overweight state. At the age that ‘she has, she’s morbidly obese. That’s the main problem for her, is the fact that she’s overnourished, probably malnourished, which is going to create health problems for them, probably in the short term The second thing that seems important for animal welfare is that it has an environment compatible with the life of a boar. Normally a boar does not come into contact with humans or very rarely. But crowds, other animals can cause stress, even if it is not always visible”, he assures.
“I am not authorized to know whether to move her or not. I am here to see if Titine is in good health and if she requires special care. It is not necessarily a medicalization but it is a diet particular protection linked to its status as a wild animal. Animal care is a specialization. Animal caretakers are trained for that. We ordinary citizens cannot manage a wild boar.”he says again.
A speech that puzzles some supporters of Titine. “Somewhere, he says she’d better be locked up. That’s a bit of the implication. She’s too big, we have to treat her. He says we have to treat her, but he’s going to come all day to do it? I don’t think so, so if it has to be treated, it means that it will be done in a park”, sighs a young woman.
The dialogue continues. Members of the collective will thus be received this Friday in the Sub-Prefecture of Abbeville. The prefecture also specifies that a another attempt at a visual examination of the sow will be carried out soon by the veterinarian.