Thirty-eight NGOs ask Emmanuel Macron for a “clear” roadmap on animal welfare

Here is their forum: ” Mr. President of the Republic. Despite requests from NGOs and unlike many other candidates, you did not make a commitment to animal welfare during the election campaign. You have, on the other hand, taken positions that are clearly unfavorable to the protection of animals, whether on the question of slaughter without stunning or on that of hunting.

Your first mandate has given rise, under the impetus of parliamentarians from both the majority and the opposition, to notable advances in the protection of captive wild animals and pets. However, you have shown complacency vis-à-vis the world of hunting, contrary to your discourse on ecology. Also, the condition of farm animals has not seen any major progress, despite your promises regarding the ban on the breeding of laying hens in cages or compulsory video surveillance in slaughterhouses.

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The condition of farm animals has not seen any major progress, despite your promises

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Your lack of a clear position in favor of the animal condition is reflected in the perception of the French: 68% of them consider you to be little or not at all committed to this issue, even though 81% of citizens declare themselves to be sensitive to the animal issue. In the first round of the presidential election, a large part of the voters chose candidates committed to this subject. Many of them later contributed to your re-election. Their concerns can no longer be ignored.

We ask you to listen to the many citizens for whom this issue is crucial and to draw up a clear and ambitious roadmap for animal protection. The next five years must finally constitute a major turning point on the subject. You have also expressed your desire to act more strongly on ecological issues. However, on many aspects, environmental issues and those of animal protection are closely linked.

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This is the case with regard to animal husbandry and food: planning the exit from intensive animal husbandry would ultimately reduce the consumption of products derived from animal husbandry, thus making it possible to substantially limit our greenhouse gas emissions. greenhouse, while imposing less suffering on the animals. This policy would also make it possible to achieve the objective of greater food autonomy that you are calling for in France. The current geopolitical situation and the shadow of a major food crisis in certain neighboring regions of the world should alert you to the urgency of a change of direction. In any case, climate change makes these efforts essential to feed the planet in the long term.

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It is no longer possible today to deplore the decline of biodiversity while indiscriminately supporting the demands of hunters

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This is also the case in the protection of wild animals. It is no longer possible today to deplore the decline in biodiversity while supporting the demands of hunters indiscriminately, and more generally, without taking major decisions to strictly protect certain natural territories. This is no longer acceptable in the eyes of citizens, who already suffer from the impossibility of enjoying the natural space in complete safety.

Finally, while many of our demands, such as the development of alternative methods to animal experimentation, can be the subject of a consensus and only await real political will, others will oblige you to decide between divergent interests. This is particularly the case with the cruellest hunting and fishing practices, the question of the sharing of natural space by hunters and non-hunters, or bullfighting. On these subjects, the “at the same time” is not tenable. Just as it is no longer understandable, for very many French people, that a tiny minority dictates the positions of the public authorities, against the will of a majority of citizens. Why, moreover, on these crucial subjects, not rely more often on the French to decide, as you recently expressed the will? Why not immediately announce a referendum on these issues?

On the subject of the animal condition, as on many others, you will have to listen and act with ambition, in order to restore citizens’ confidence in democracy. Our NGOs will remain vigilant and mobilized throughout this five-year term. We will be, in a pragmatic and constructive but determined way, aware of having the support of a large majority of citizens. »