Here at HOPE we receive many letters from British people who have come across cruelty to animals in France and don’t know what they can do about it.   We received one such very sad letter this morning and have been given permission by the person concerned that we may publish it along with our reply.  We hope that by doing this people will realize that they are not alone.  Be it a neighbours dog on a chain without food or shelter or, as in this case a tragedy on a much larger scale.

We cannot solve all the problems but we may be able to suggest something that will help. Remember, you are not alone.

Our Association is still trying to help this person and will keep this post updated.

 To: <hopeassoc@orange.fr>
 Sent: Thursday, August 18, 2011 9:28 PM
 Subject: Hope Association Contact Form Neighbours Dogs
 Hi,
 I was hoping to get a bit more info about if and what can be done about our neighbours dogs. We have had a problem with a neighbour who breeds hunting hounds, he has twenty something dogs many of which are kept on chains and never let off and others which roam our fields and garden. In the past they have been up and killed all our chickens, poo in the garden and bark all night.

The latest set of puppies have been up and into the gites jumping up and scratching children here or running off with guests shoes. They are adorable but covered in fleas and causing problems. This week the Gendarmarie came down and looked around and were disgusted to find one dead dog being eaten by the  others, they took photos, shut the loose dogs in the house and said  the SPA would be by that evening to pick up the dogs but when they  came back later said on the way up the bureaucracy ladder it became  clear that the gendarme weren’t prepared to pay the fee to the SPA for taking the dogs, that the dogs were not malnourished and fined the owner and told him all the dogs have to be contained and turned it  around on us that are garden wasn’t fully fenced. We would of paid the  fee to the SPA if that option had been offered, we just want to see the dogs in a happier and better place.

The dogs have since been loose again, the smell from the property is vile and we don’t know what to do for the best of the dogs. I don’t know if there is any advice you can give or what the chances of anything being done is but any info would be great.

Kind regards (Name withheld).

Subject: Re: Hope Association Contact Form Neighbours Dogs
Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2011 07:14:40 +0100
Dear 
I sympathize with your problem. You don’t tell me where you live so I don’t  know which SPA is involved?
The police and therefore your local Maire have been involved and what you must do is keep on at them. Also contact the SPA involved. Most communes have special people in charge of organising the local Chasse and your Maire will know who it is, find out and go and tell him and demand action. Take lots of photos however tragic or disagreeable they may be. Threaten publicity.
 
Depending upon where you live you should contact the Directoir des Services Veterinaires, for Niort area this is 05 49 79 37 44, you must also write in to them describing exactly what has happened and enclosing photos if you have them. You should also be aware that if the SPA take the dogs away then it is very likely they will be put to sleep as they are full to overflowing.  It’s tragic but it’s reality in France today.
 
 You could also contact your local vet for advice if they are the helpful kind.
 
I regret that you are living in a France that considers animals expendable and they do not understand the British loving their pets. Shortly the Chasse will start up again and the problem with be forgotten by the authorities as just too much of a storm in a British tea cup, only by doing as I suggest and not letting matters rest will you be able to improve the lot of the animals.
With kind regards,

Hi Siobain,
Many thanks for your quick response.  We have tried to keep relation friendly for the past couple of years as we were doing renovations and didn’t have people holidaying in the gites so it wasn’t affecting business just us and we didn’t want to make things worse for his dogs or have anything done to our animals in revenge.

The Maire has been told and the Gendarmarie have been down, our hopes were up as the youngest gendarmarie that came down felt as we did, that no dog should be kept like that, but as it went to higher powers it became clear that they were not going to do much about it. He breeds the dogs for the local chasse and I doubt they will do much about it but I will try. The Gendarme have photos but we do not and I don’t think our neighbour would appreciate us on his land now! The phyical condition of the dogs isn’t too bad but they are covered in fleas and ticks, i’m more concerned about mental and physical welfare being chained up all the time with no attention. The owner had a triple heart bypass last year and has been in hospital for weeks at a time where someone would just drive by once a day and throw them some meat, leaving the poo and dead carcasses there as you can imagine the smell off the place is rancid.

As much as I hate it, being put to sleep would probably be better than years and years of the same. A couple of years ago one of his dogs was paralysed in it’s hind legs by being hit by a car, we found it scrambling around one of our fields with it’s front legs crying in fear and pain, we went and told him he just shrugged his shoulders and said yes it’s bad isn’t it, dragged it into his car put it back on his land and left it.

We have found some local french women recently who also feel it is disgusting behaviour and we are hoping to get a petition together which may help. On a wider level is there any higher level at the EU or French government we can contact with our petition or concerns? The french gov state they want to encourage business in rural France and tourism further afield from Paris and our business combines both but it does not leave the best impression of France when they witness that sort of treatment of animals. I don’t have much spare money at the moment but sign me up to any animal campaigning you are involved in!

Many thanks again for your quick response.
Kind regards
(Name withheld).