Céline Gardel, a police captain helping animals in Toulouse
Police captain Céline Gardel created an animal protection association in Toulouse in 2019. In addition to helping dogs and cats, she offers training to law enforcement to raise awareness of the cause. His next challenge: to create an animal protection brigade.
A dog found dead after being abandoned near a shelter, a female dog beaten with an axe… The acts of abuse that have occurred in Toulouse in recent weeks have particularly marked Céline Gardel. “This summer, the news was murky,” laments the police captain. This 45-year-old mother “allergic to violence and injustice” has made the animal cause her fight. “This abuse is unfair because there is innocence in animals. Even when you hit them, they stay loyal,” she says.
To help them, Céline Gardel created the association “The 4 pattounes” in April 2019. Its objective: to improve the daily lives of animals. “The association is based on four pillars: helping animals in shelters, promoting their adoption, raising awareness among young generations from CP to 2nd grade on abandonment and animal protection and fighting against animal abuse with a network of forces of the order”, explains its president, not without a certain pride. About sixty police officers, municipal police officers and gendarmes from Toulouse are part of it.
Training to raise awareness among law enforcement
With her association, Céline Gardel also intervenes with the police. She was indeed able to realize the lack of training in animal protection of her colleagues. “There was nothing”, regrets the police captain. To make the police and gendarmes aware of the cause, she then created face-to-face training with professionals and online, also accessible to all. “Abandoning your animal is three years in prison and a €45,000 fine. But the police do not have this knowledge, due to a lack of training,” notes Céline Gardel.
She adds: “When someone wants to file a complaint for animal abuse, the police advise to approach the investigators of the shelters”. The president of the association knows this well since she was one of them. She investigated reports of animal abuse when she was a volunteer at the SPA before launching “Les 4 pattounes”. “At first, I joined the SPA to walk dogs, make myself useful and be close to animals,” says the police captain.
Céline Gardel wants to create an animal protection brigade
This bond with animals, Céline Gardel tied it very early. “I grew up in the countryside so I was surrounded by animals. I’ve always had a cat, a dog…”, smiles Céline Gardel. This is still the case today. The president of the association currently has two “tigers” and a “love ball”. Clearly, two cats and a dog. Named Hancock, the latter had suffered violence. “The 4 pattounes” had taken care of it. In 2021, Céline Gardel’s association came to the aid of 56 animal victims of abuse.
The police captain “driven by the cause” now wants to go further. She hopes to create an animal protection brigade. “He’s my workhorse. I will fight to the end for there to be specialized intervention units”, assures the mother of the family before continuing: “There will be no more animals in pet stores in 2024 and in circuses in 2027. But who will monitor all this? There is no point in inflating the legislative arsenal, we should just be given the means to apply them”.
The police captain received a medal for her commitment
His desire to create an animal protection brigade also earned him a Commitment medal from the Mutuelle des Forces de Sécurité (MGP) last March. “There is real recognition. It’s the greatest satisfaction,” smiles Céline Gardel. While waiting for the establishment of this brigade, the police captain continues to give training “on his personal time”. Magistrates will also soon follow.
“At the request of the Attorney General, we are going to intervene on October 17 before the magistrates of his jurisdiction, that is to say Toulouse, Saint-Gaudens, Montauban, Castres, Albi and Foix to raise their awareness. Referents and a delegate of the prosecutor who will only do the animal cause will also be created. This is a real shift to taking into account and dealing with abuse animals”, rejoices the mother of the family. She also hopes that this will lead to awareness within the police, but also in society, even if there has been “change in three years”.