On Friday January 12, at the High Court of Carcassonne, a young woman was tried for abandoning three dogs after adopting them. The woman, aged 33 and known only as Nathalie, did not attend the trial.[caption id="attachment_45590" align="alignnone" width="605"]
A Labrador tied to a post (illustrative image). Source: Chicken Smoothie[/caption]As reported by 20 Minutes, a French newspaper, the thirty-year-old - who has many dogs, cats and parrots - was tried for “the wilful abandonment of a domestic animal” after being accused of leaving three dogs tied to a pole between the 5th December 2014 and the 19th June 2016.Throughout these 18 months, Nathalie allegedly adopted dogs she found online only to later abandon them, finding herself incapable of caring for the animals.L’Indépendant, a local French newspaper, reported:
In custody, the accused admitted the charges and explained that she was unable to stop herself from taking on pets, and often searched them out on “Leboncoin” [a French site similar to Craigslist]. After finding herself unable to care for the animals, she left them tied to a pole in the hope that someone would be able to care for them better than herself…
Alerted by volunteers of the organisation Les vagabonds du Lauragais ('The Tramps of Lauragais' in French), the Société Protectrice des Animaux, or SPA (a French organisation similar to the RSPCA or ASPCA) immediately launched a civil case.
Again in L'Indépendant, SPA lawyer Emilie Boyer said:
I understand that she was trying to fill an emotional void when she adopted these animals, however abandoning an animal is a very cowardly act. What is more, she attached them to a pole and left them to die of hunger... I am seeking €2000 [roughly £7550] in damages and compensation.
These crimes, which were carried out as a result of “compulsions”, were acknowledged by the jury, who gave a guilty verdict.Nathalie was given a€600 fine (roughly £520 or $740) in addition to €200 (£175 or $250) in damages and compensation to the SPA. She was also banned from owning animals for the next 5 years.You can read up more about animal cruelty laws in the United States and in Canada here.
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