Following a report of mistreatment and in coordination with the Departmental Directorate for the Protection of Populations of Calvados and the Gendarmerie, the OABA (Oeuvre d’Assistance aux Bêtes d’Abattoirs) intervened from March 25 to 27, 2026 on a farm in order to take care of 200 cattle. Last Friday, Rural Coordination tried to oppose the removal of the animals despite a ban on keeping the breeder concerned.
The breeder, permanently sentenced in 2021 to a ban on keeping, still raised nearly 200 Charolais cattle in unworthy conditions. The animals, having become wild again, are strongly slimmed down and present significant growth retardation, a sign of chronic undernutrition.
The operation began this Wednesday and took place without incident until Friday morning when breeders claiming to be Coordination Ruralerecognizable by their yellow caps, tried to oppose the removal of the animals. The OABA strongly denounces this action. It is unacceptable for unions to oppose a legal measure aimed at ensuring the protection of animals, especially when the owner is banned from keeping animals for 5 years. If an animal protection association must today intervene urgently to protect animals, it is because these unions have failed for years, remaining inactive in the face of the breeder’s difficulties and letting him sink without ever providing the slightest support.
At the request of the administrative authorities, the animals were placed in a shelter farm managed by the OABA where they now benefit from veterinary monitoring, appropriate nutrition and dignified living conditions.
“Despite a definitive ban pronounced in 2021, the State was unable to put an end to the abuse sooner due to the lack of reception structure. This sad situation perfectly demonstrates the need to have pounds for livestock, like those existing for pets. It is regrettable that the State, despite a definitive condemnation of the breeder, cannot put an end to the suffering of the animals, due to a lack of reception infrastructure. It is all also irresponsible for an agricultural union to oppose such a safeguard measure. Unions constantly say that they are the primary guarantors of animal welfare, that they show it by helping people in difficulty instead of opposing the removal of mistreated animals!” – Frédéric Freund, director of OABA
A legal proceedings is underway against the operator. THE Caen parquet placed the animals with the OABA, pending a future judgment.
OABA will become a civil party in this matter, as it systematically does when it comes to lasting protection of animals from mistreating farms.
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OBA
Work of Assistance to Slaughterhouse Animals
