Société: Anglais

mercredi 7 mars 2018

Production scandals in French slaughterhouses

How can we reconcile eating meat and protecting animals ?

Carcasses hanging in a French slaughterhouse

Crushed chicks. Cattle and pigs bled while still alive. New videos released by L214, an animal rights association, depict unbearable violence.

Three million animals are killed every day in French slaughterhouses, including sheep, cattle and poultry, which makes France the biggest European meat producer.

Indeed, a video posted online by the French association L214 on October 14th, 2015 concerning slaughtering conditions in Alès gave rise to many protests and petitions, particularly from proponents of the animal cause. Numerous activists filed complaints following the publication of the video, and the slaughterhouse was temporarily closed due to public pressure. Later, Pierre Hirard, quality controller for a French slaughterhouse, revealed that this that this type of mistreatment was becoming more and more frequent. He also added that these infractions could lead to human health risks.

Scandal after scandal, horror after horror, L214 is lifting the veil on the reality of slaughterhouses, particularly in Le Vigan and more recently in Limoges. Animal mistreatment seems to have become more prevalent with the increase in meat consumption in France.

As production becomes faster and more efficient, animal well-being seems to have been forgotten. But in April 2017, for the first time, two employees from the Alès slaughterhouse were sentenced for “acts of cruelty towards animals.” Both employees have been fined 600€ and received eight-month suspended jail sentences. Nevertheless, one of them testified about the difficult working conditions within slaughterhouses: “We live death 5 days a week...The pace is so unbearable that any animal which resists you becomes your enemy... We are under a lot of pressure.”

The revelation of these savage practices led to the creation of a parliamentary commission on animal slaughter conditions. On September 20th, 2016, the commission returned its report. Among its suggestions: the implementation of video surveillance inside each establishment, raising awareness, and improving staff training. Alongside this measure, many MPs and Minister of Agriculture Stéphane Le Foll advise “the compulsory presence of a veterinary agent in slaughterhouses with more than fifty employees” .

Discussions are continuing between animal rights associations and slaughterhouse trade unions. At the same time, L214 has announced that it will go on publishing its shocking videos in order to obtain better animal protection legislation.

Alice François & Thomas Sabatier

Bibliography :

http://www.bfmtv.com/societe/abattoirs-quelles-pistes-pour-ameliorer-le-bien-etre-animal-103 8728.html

http://www.francetvinfo.fr/animaux/bien-etre-animal/abattoir-d-ales/scandale-de-l-abattoir-d-a les-avec-la-cadence-on-s-habitue-a-la-maltraitance-animale_1129395.html

http://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/2016/02/23/01016-20160223ARTFIG00077-une-nouve lle-video-choc-tournee-dans-un-abattoir-du-gard-certifie-bio.php

http://www.bfmtv.com/societe/maltraitance-animale-a-l-abattoir-d-ales-un-proces-inedit-et-e mblematique-1128080.html

http://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/societe/conditions-halal-sanctions-les-questions-que-pose-lavideo-choc-de-l-abattoir-d-ales_1726002.html

mercredi 14 février 2018

The impunity of ‘powerful’ men

On the 10th of October, only five days after the revelation of the Weinstein scandal, the french magazine “Les Inrockuptibles” published an edition with Bertrand Cantat on the front cover.

This front page has come as a bombshell. Indeed : in 2003, Marie Trintignant died from the wounds inflicted by her partner, Bertrand Cantat, the singer of the famous French rock band Noir Désir. He was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment but he only served three. This is the second time he is on the front cover of “Les Inrocks”. A lot of people, famous or not, reacted to this, such as Marlene Schiappa or Nadia Daam, a journalist who replaced the extract of the interview on the frontpage by an extract from the autopsy of Marie Trintignant.

This is not the first time that a famous man who has raped or murdered is being shown as an icon. Actually, the list of ‘powerful’ men whose careers are doing well after they have been violent is long, as we can see in Mirion Malle’s cartoon. Woody Allen, who had been accused of sexual aggression on his 7 year old daughter in 1993, has produced 29 movies since, even though his son Ronan Farrow has accused him several times. Still today, he remains unpunished. Roman Polanski, who was accused several times of sexual aggression, on minors, left the USA where he had been accused to continue his life in Europe without any problem. Recently, the film library of Paris launched a retrospective of his work, showing that exposing the work of a rapist is not really an issue for a lot of artistic structures or media.

Some people, such as the journalist who interviewed Cantat in “Les Inrocks”, believe that once the man has been judged and has served his sentence, he can keep on living just the way he used to before. But in the cases of Allen, Polansky and many others, famous men are not even judged for their acts, so they are obviously not punished. The biggest issue is that the victims are not believed, even if there is proof of violence or witnesses. The proof is often considered insufficient and the affaire is dropped. It works the same way for non famous men too. It explains why women don’t always press charges against their aggressors.

One can wonder, what can we do to change this situation. First of all, the victims need to be heard and believed. With only 2% of false rape accusations, trusting the victim will almost always be the good choice. Secondly, the media should stop inviting and promoting abusive artists, because their visibility shows that raping or murdering someone can be forgotten easily once out of jail. Last but not least, people should remember and honor the victims, as the Paradis sisters who posted a picture of Marie Trintignant on Instagram.