Animal mistreatment is never an isolated fact. What if she hid something else, much more serious? Here is what will change …
Violence on pets are increasing sharply in France. The latest report from the Interior Ministry reports an increase of 30 % in five years, between 2016 and 2021. Faced with this observation, animal defense associations alert and multiply initiatives to raise awareness. They recall that animal mistreatment is not limited to a simple isolated act: it can be revealing of a wider climate of violence within homes.
This September 24, the Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal signed an unprecedented partnership with the 30 million friends Foundation. This approach is carried by the cell to combat animal abuse (CNDA) of the general prosecutor’s office. The objective displayed: Systematizing surveys when a case of violence on an animal is reported. But the police will not stop there. In each situation, they will also have to check another essential point: the existence of possible violence on family members.
Concretely, this partnership changes the way of approaching reports. “”When we intervene in a home precisely, where there is animal mistreatment which has been reported, often, violence is general“, explained Christophe Marie, spokesperson for the foundation of 30 million friends, on Franceinfo. Now, each file involving an abused animal within a home will be the subject of checks on the family situation.
Christophe Marie also recalls the existence of a legal framework: “There has already been an important law since November 2021. It concerns cases of animal violence within a home with minor people. If violence is committed on an animal, such as serious abuse, an act of cruelty or sexual attack, there must systematically be an investigation to ensure that the minor is not endangered within this home“He says. The spokesman finally insists on the need to” mobilize the parquets “to take into account this growing reality.
Beyond the protection of animals, this device therefore makes it possible to act earlier to protect children and prevent situations of grip or domestic violence. The associations hope that this model may be extended to other jurisdictions. By crossing the eyes, the investigators will no longer be content to save a dog or a cat: they can also identify and protect the most vulnerable from the home, which for the most part, are silent.
