• The PAZ association demonstrated at Parc Monceau to protest against pony rides.

  • The volunteers criticize the inaction of the City of Paris in the face of operators who do not respect the "animal welfare" charter.

  • The City of Paris and the operators claim to have put in place many rules to improve the conditions of the animal and the safety of customers.

At the entrance to the park, some passers-by seemed surprised and dismayed by the banners carried by the volunteers of the PAZ association (Paris Animals Zoopolis).

All demonstrated on Friday August 5 in front of Parc Monceau in Paris to denounce the practice of pony rides.

They also accuse the City of Paris and the operators of not respecting the “animal welfare” charter.

Founded in 2012, Paris Animals Zoopolis has multiplied campaigns.

She counts more than 300,000 signatures to her petitions for more than 200 events.

Co-founded by Amandine Sanvisens, she denounces rules that are not applied: “We went to many parks, many times, we made several reports which show that the most basic points are not respected.

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Apply the rules

Looking at the charter, it is actually written that the pony must have free and constant access to fresh water and appropriate food.

He must also have mandatory rest days.

Amandine, however, specifies having made “a report of about thirty pages” on the non-respect of the rules of the charter, nothing has really changed according to her: “They told us that they shared our findings.

Following this, they announced that they would issue a formal notice to operators from May 15 to June 15 to comply.

But now, according to the association, most did not apply these measures after June 15.

Faced with requests from PAZ, the City of Paris would then have said “that they would not terminate” the operators' contracts.

Well-treated animals

For the City of Paris, no animal suffers from mistreatment.

If a charter was indeed adopted by the Council of Paris in July and 2021, the City of Paris specifies that these are “new rules fixed for very old activities, which had not hitherto made the 'object of regulation'.

Thus, the situation would have improved "for the safety of customers but also access to water and food for the ponies".

An analysis confirmed by Stéphane Michaud, founder of Animaponey: “In 30 years, we have been in contact with several animal associations, such as the SPA or the Bardot Foundation, with whom there have never been any problems. With each report, there have been surveys that have never shown anything negative about us.

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If the PAZ association regrets the lack of sanctions, the City of Paris promises to be vigilant.

In the event of breaches, the "responsible will be sanctioned" with "random checks" by the municipal police.

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  • Paris

  • Ile-de-France

  • Animals

  • Pony

  • Association

  • Demonstration

  • Park

  • Paris city hall