In Toulouse, justice creates a center dedicated to animal abuse
STORY – Facts of animal abuse increased by 30% between 2016 and 2021 in France, not counting those that are not known.
This is a first in France. In September, the Toulouse Court of Appeal created a center specializing in the environment and animal abuse. Several serious events that occurred last summer – a dog injured by several blows of an axe, a cat raped with a stick… – prompted the Attorney General Franck Rastoul to focus on animal abuse.
This specialized center, which it forms with a legal assistant and a project manager, follows the procedures of the six courts within the jurisdiction of the Toulouse Court of Appeal in Haute-Garonne, Ariège, Tarn and Tarn- et-Garonne, while forging links with population protection departments, veterinary services, associations and public prosecutor’s offices.
Court congestion
Each public prosecutor’s office has also appointed a lead magistrate, and two specialized delegates have been appointed to the prosecutors of Saint-Gaudens and Castres. Others will follow. The division works on around thirty files and relies on the alerts of France Nature…