Horses, illustration.
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Pascal GUYOT / AFP
Thirty horses have been mutilated in France in recent weeks.
The Minister of Agriculture, Julien Denormandie, promised Friday "the mobilization of all the services so that justice passes".
"20 Minutes" questioned several breeders, worried by the increase in these attacks.
"Finding a horse that died of natural causes in a meadow is not easy, so after cruel acts like that, it's very hard," blows Julien Blot, owner of around thirty animals in the Ain region. .
The concern is growing among breeders after the numerous attacks of equines in recent weeks.
Saturday, a double pony was found again mutilated, but alive, in a meadow of Right-Handler, in Allier.
In a few weeks, around thirty cases were identified in a dozen different departments.
The Minister of Agriculture, Julien Denormandie, promised Friday "the mobilization of all services so that justice passes", during a visit to a stable affected in Saint-Eusèbe (Saône-et-Loire).
While waiting for the progress of the investigations, the owners of horses watch their animals more, between fear and concern.
"We do not imagine that people are capable of such cruelty"
Cut ear in Saint-Eusèbe, smashed skull and severed muzzle in Saint-Vallier (Drôme), stabbed heart and torn organs in Cluny (Saône-et-Loire)… It is the atrocity of acts that calls out.
"It's a little hard to believe, we can't imagine that people are capable of such cruelty towards animals which are close to humans", laments Olivier Fouque, owner of around forty animals in Maine-et-Loire.
“Of course, we are afraid for our horses.
Because beyond the emotional side, a mutilated horse is unsaleable, the only solution is to euthanize it and, for a professional, that represents a significant loss of money ”.
“What seems strange is that the aggressors seem to know horses well.
An average person can be afraid of it, it is an impressive animal.
There, they seem to know how to handle them, catch them, put them to sleep… Even to stab a horse's heart, you have to go.
There are ribs on top, you need a certain professionalism, ”says Julien Blot, president of the Syndicate of Sport Horse Breeders.
The minister himself spoke on Friday "a certain technicality" in the acts committed, referring in particular to the case of a ponette emptied of her blood "without any trace" being found in the meadow where the animal was resting.
A "professionalism" which adds to the mystery of these mutilations in the four corners of France.
"It's in everyone's mind, so we're a little more suspicious than usual"
Faced with the threat, the breeders do a little more rounds than usual.
“I pass several times a day but ideally you should watch all the time, that's not possible.
Some people do shifts at night because we know that it happens especially at that time, ”says Julien Blot.
"We also hope that with the media coverage, the general public is made aware, and that a neighbor or a walker can alert in the event of a problem".
"We are more vigilant, we look at the footprints ... But we cannot put cameras in all the French countryside ...", laments Olivier Fouque.
Same spite for Bernard Lesage, owner of a stable of broodmares near Béthune, in Pas-de-Calais.
“We are not obsessed but we talk about it a lot among us.
We go to see our animals every day, we pray that this does not happen at home.
It's in everyone's mind, so we're a little more suspicious than usual, especially after the assault of a breeder in Lyonne ”.
The president of a refuge located in Villefranche-Saint-Phal was attacked during the night of August 24 to 25 by individuals who had just mutilated his animals.
The robot portrait of one of the two attackers was released by the local gendarmerie.
Satanism, morbid challenge on the Internet… No track ruled out by the gendarmes
At the national level, the authorities indicate that no lead has yet been ruled out.
“Faced with the complexity of the phenomenon, investigators avoid focusing on a single track.
All the assumptions are therefore taken into account: the angle of Satanism, the settling of scores, the insurance fraud, the morbid challenge on the Internet… ”, we say to the gendarmerie.
It is also specified that this type of attack "has already existed in the past, in the United States, in Great Britain in the 1990s, in Belgium or in Germany more recently".
The gendarmerie also ensures that "substantial resources are currently being implemented, especially on the Internet and the Dark Web" in order to identify the culprits.
Miscellaneous
Maine-et-Loire: A mare found mutilated in an enclosure near Durtal
Society
Attacks on horses: The Minister of Agriculture promises mobilization "so that justice passes"
Gendarmerie
Miscellaneous
Aggression
Horse
Society