By a final almost unanimous Senate vote, Parliament finally adopted on Thursday a bill to "fight animal abuse", with the sale of puppies and kittens in prohibited pet stores and tougher penalties for abuse or abandonment on the menu.

"This text is a fundamental step. The history of the company is progress for all and animals cannot stay out of the way," commented the government spokesperson.

Accompanied by MP Aurore Bergé (LREM) and guided by Ghyslaine Calmels, Executive Director of the Bardot Foundation, Gabriel Attal, wearing boots, set out to meet the four-legged residents.

He stopped in front of the enclosure of the old dogs, some of whom are disabled after acts of abuse.

He then visited the cattery and then stopped for a long time in the goat pen.

"I love animals and I try to defend them", confided on the phone with Brigitte Bardot Gabriel Attal, who in his ministry takes care of a rooster and a hen.

To AFP, he said he was "amazed by the work done for these animals, often recovered in difficult states, whether it is abuse or abandonment".

He recalled "very strong measures on the prohibition of the sale of kittens and puppies in pet stores with the drastic supervision of internet sales and in particular the end of captive animals in circuses".

Among the measures, the sale of puppies and kittens in pet stores will be banned in 2024. The presentation of animals in shop windows will no longer be permitted.

The sale of animals online will be better regulated.

The text also tightens the penalties for mistreatment, up to five years' imprisonment and a fine of 75,000 euros in the event of the animal's death.

Gabriel Attal and MP Aurore Berger visit a refuge of the Brigitte Bardot Foundation in Bazoches-sur-Guyonne in Yvelines, November 18, 2021 THOMAS COEX AFP

"When we foresee a hardening of the sentence in general, it is so that it is applied. There will be a follow-up by the Minister of Justice and the government so that these measures are applied. Exemplary sanctions are needed" , said Attal.

"The death of an animal becomes a crime, it is no longer a ticket. The prosecution will have increased vigilance," confirmed Aurore Bergé.

© 2021 AFP