I’ve been in France for almost two years now. It doesn’t feel like it, because nearly all of it has been spent inside, hiding from French people who are part of the death cult who don’t think anyone with chronic illness deserves to live. And yet, somehow, with the only 10% of my time that has been spent going out to the store or doctor’s office in this past two years, I’ve witnessed more animal abuse than I have in my entire life in the states.
The animal culture in France is… concerning. And I don’t think I’ve come to this conclusion by just being severely unlucky by stumbling upon people beating up on their pets. People tell you about the food culture, and the grumpy ennui, and the endless bureaucracy. No one mentions that you will be witness to people beating up their dogs in public. Not neglect, not “oh that dog looks kind of sad”. I’ve witnessed hitting, kicking, and strangling. Dogs yelping out in pain. And if that’s the stuff I’m witnessing in public, so what the fuck is going on behind closed doors?
I helped a friend take their two cats to the veterinarian, and both the doctor and nurse handled the cats like they were purposely trying to traumatize them. Shoving their hand into their carrier, grabbing them by the scruff, ripping them out, holding them in the air by the scruff (this is dangerous and painful for adult cats), flipping them around. I stood there horrified, unable to do anything because a) my French is not nearly good enough to explain to the vet why what they are doing is wrong and how to handle cats and b) they weren’t my cats. But I came home and cried over it all the same. If even the people who chose a career helping animals treat them like this, what can we expect from the rest of the country?
A neighbor moved in last year across the way from me. Their cat, who I called Bruno, constantly hung around my house because I feed strays. The problem was, this cat still had his giant testicles swinging in the wind. The neighbors left him outside all night, in the rain, hail, and whatever else. He would constantly attack all the other cats, waking me at 5AM many mornings with howling cat screams I would have to go out and break up. Thus, he was usually covered in huge wounds, ripped out fur (sometimes it looked to be way more than what another cat could have done), missing skin, bloody cuts all over, that were never cared for. He ate food like he was starving. He attacked me any time I tried to stop him from trying to get in my house. He was a friendly cat, attention starved and would rub on you endlessly if he was happy, but his resource guarding and territorial bullshit was a menace for an entire year. We even said something to the neighbors about him, and they did not give a shit. There is very little understanding of responsibility or care for animals that people claim are theirs.
Breeders and rescues here promote “dominance theory”, which is an antiquated and debunked idea (that promotes abuse and generally be shitty to your dog to make them “obey” to you). And you can see it everywhere. One of the groups of people I’ve seen routinely abuse their animals are the police here, including the SNCF security officers (known to me and my friends simply as “train cops”) who I, just today (and what prompted me to finally write something down about this), saw one of them dragging their muzzled, emaciated-looking dog by the collar/throat off of a train and up the stairs so severely, the dog’s front paws were flailing in the air, and it’s back paws dragging on the ground as it struggled to breathe.
Most likely connected to this belief that animals aren’t sentient beings, the hunting culture in France is what I would describe as “bonkerballs”. There is no proper regard or understanding for/of animals (or people), and that is very apparent from how the French deal with hunting. There are a ton of “accidental” shootings each year of people just minding their business in non-hunting territory like their own back yards. I grew up in the woods of Pennsylvania, my dad was a hunter. I thought I understood hunting culture. But in France, the culture is of complete disrespect for animals and nature in general. The hunting lobbies here lose their shit any time there’s a law passed to stop them doing things like using glue traps. Who the fuck hunts with glue traps? Assholes, that’s who.
And still I would want to believe that these are just one-offs and not representative of France, were I not the only person who feels the need to say something about it when it’s happening in front of me. When some guy dragged his puppy down to a platform to wait for a train (with his family!!) and proceeded to kick the poor dog repeatedly while is sat there whimpering and yelping, I was the only one out of at least 25 people who did or said anything. The frail, tiny 5ft tall American girl is the only one concerned? Only after the guy started saying shit at me did some other guy shout back at him. From across the tracks. At a safe distance. After I had stormed down the platform to confront him.
I am not in a position to confront police officers or really anyone considering my size, health, and visa status. But also, I shouldn’t fuckin’ have to. And it’s really starting to wear on me. The ignorance and complacency with the terrible treatment of animals in this country is really soul-crushing sometimes.
(As with all my blogs about France, please do not take this as an invitation to “but other countries” me. I’m not talking about other countries. I’m talking about France, and specifically my experience here. I never claimed the US does not have people who abuse animals, I’m simply speaking to the culture acceptance of it. No one said there isn’t animal abuse in other countries. Nor is this an exhaustive documentation of the animal cruelty in France. You can search the extent of it on your own, if you want to have a bad day.)
