- French animal shelters and officials are sounding the alarm about a surge in cases of pet abandonment.
- According to Transport Minister Clément Beaune, approximately 100,000 pets are abandoned in France annually.
- This problem worsens during the summer when owners abandon their pets to go on vacation.
Vacationers in France are abandoning their pets en masse as they head to their holiday destinations, prompting warnings from animal shelters and local authorities.
The Society for Protection of Animals, an animal welfare organization based in Paris, issued an urgent appeal for donations and adoptions on Saturday, stating that they have already rescued over 12,000 animals this summer and their teams are “exhausted.”
Despite caretakers making every effort to save as many animals as possible, pet abandonment cases are increasing in France, and shelters throughout the country are in desperate need of space, as stated on their website.
“Our shelters are overflowing, and numerous animals are awaiting families,” the society wrote on Facebook.
Transport Minister Clément Beaune, during a visit to a shelter on August 7, revealed that around 100,000 pets are abandoned in France each year, with 60,000 of them being abandoned during the summer.
“This indicates that there are still many people who go on vacation and leave an animal by the roadside or at a highway rest stop,” Beaune commented.
According to a 2020 report by the BBC, pet owners in their haste to enjoy their vacations sometimes discreetly drop off their animals at shelters in boxes or notify animal organizations to pick them up.
Foundation Brigitte Bardot, an animal welfare organization, stated on June 29 that France now holds the unfortunate distinction of being the “leading country in Europe for pet abandonment.”
The foundation is currently providing support for up to 10,000 animals and is overwhelmed by the growing number of abandoned or stray animals coming into their facilities.
This wave of abandonment is partially attributed to the surge in pet adoptions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ministry of the Interior allowed people to leave their homes during lockdowns to adopt pets and alleviate the strain on overcrowded shelters.
However, tens of thousands of households, facing inflation and bleak economic conditions, have unfortunately stopped caring for their newly adopted pets due to financial difficulties.
Abandoning a pet in the wild is illegal in France. In July 2022, new laws were implemented, increasing the punishment for pet abandonment from two years in prison to three, accompanied by a maximum fine of $32,740.
Denial of responsibility! VigourTimes is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
