Toulouse: the general prosecutor’s office at the forefront of the fight against animal abuse
The Toulouse public prosecutor’s office is launching a first in France. The perpetrators of acts of animal abuse can be condemned to stages of awareness led by a veto, a policeman and a canine educator.
Until then, justice dealt with and sanctioned the most serious animal abuse. The Toulouse prosecutor’s office has, for example, just placed under judicial control a hunter who had shot a stray dog in Rieux-Volvestre. It was last November 18, the animal had had the misfortune to rush into the car of one of his friends… As far as more ordinary violence was concerned, there was no criminal response allowed. Under the impetus of Franck Rastoul, the Attorney General of Toulouse, steps to raise awareness of the prevention and fight against animal abuse will start in 2023. They will be offered to any perpetrator of a relevant criminal offense in the contraventional field. “There were cases that went under the radar for lack of appropriate sanctions. These paying stages (150 euros Editor’s note) have both a curative, preventive and repressive function, ”explains the magistrate. The association “Les 4 Pattounes” will lead these stages. “A veterinarian, a qualified law enforcement representative and a dog trainer will intervene in turn during the session to understand what the abused animal is really going through, the penalties incurred and the means of educating without resorting to violence”, explains Céline Gardel, the president of the association. The prosecution of Castres (81) and Saint-Gaudens will be the first in France to experiment with this new legal arsenal. Christophe Amunzateguy, the prosecutor of Saint-Gaudens has in the line of sight the behavior of certain hunters: “Their dogs are sometimes parked in unsanitary places with chains which do not respect the regulations, bowls of water which are not changed. These steps could be aimed at this type of audience. »