Cats victims of rifle shooting near Toulouse: the inhabitants are mobilizing
Near Toulouse, residents of Flourens denounce the acts of cruelty committed against their cats, victims of rifle fire and violent beatings.
one week, plastic posters highlighted in red and yellow came to dress the posts of part of rue du Vignemale and its surroundings in Flourens. The inhabitants of the neighborhood have decided to mobilize to protect their cats, injured by pellets or violent blows.
For Elsa Lignon, whose cat, Vanille, is recovering from a shot that hit her kidney on July 23, there is no longer any question of sitting idle. After two complaints lodged with the Balma gendarmerie, for a week, she has been touring the neighborhood to question and inform. “I saw around forty people, distributed 80 letters. I realized that my cats weren’t the only ones to have been victims of cruel acts,” she says before listing a long list of animals injured for several years. As 14-year-old Pépé, who in the last 7 years has received several pellets in the spine, returned with a torn leg, a fractured hip following a violent blow according to the diagnosis of the veterinarian. Turbo, he had a depressed sternum. Rio also received a lead above the foreleg; his masters, Brigitte Hebrail and Patrice Cotte also filed a complaint in May 2021 because “the acts are going crescendo”. Laurence Berger decided to equip her cat with a camera collar.
At the Autan veterinary clinic in Quint-Fonsegrives, Dr Élodie Morri observes the phenomenon with horror. The discovery of one or more pellets in the body of the animal is often done by chance, during a routine visit. “The pellets make small holes which are not necessarily visible, which do not bleed. And, because it has prey status, the cat hides its symptoms so as not to show its weaknesses. But depending on the organs affected, the consequences can be significant, ”underlines the veterinarian.
“Shooting in the middle of the day, near our children!”
“In addition to the gendarmerie, the town hall is aware, but nothing is happening”, regret the inhabitants of the district. “It’s not because we live in a quiet village that we have to let everything pass. Shooting a cat is not defensible. These acts of cruelty are a criminal offense punishable by law (a fine of up to €30,000 and two years in prison). We live in constant fear of seeing our cats injured. We also know that the last shots were made in the middle of the day, on a weekend, when our children were playing nearby. This must stop. If it is necessary to go further and seize the public prosecutor, I will do it, ”warns Elsa Lignon who is also taken with the SPA.