The lawyer for the 30 million friends Foundation assured in several media this Saturday, November 9 that the public company, prosecuted after a TGV had crushed Neko, in January 2023, to avoid a delay, was acquitted on appeal .
A crushed cat and a relaxed public company. Twenty-two months after the death of the cat Neko, the SNCF was acquitted in the lawsuit brought against it by several animal rights associations. On January 2, 2023, this cat belonging to two Bordeaux women escaped their vigilance while they were waiting in Montparnasse station. The animal had taken refuge under their train a few minutes before departure. Despite requests from the two owners to delay the departure, the train, with 800 passengers on board, left, crushing the feline which, according to the railway company, was not “not visible”.
The 30 million friends Foundation filed a complaint and SNCF Voyageurs was found guilty in July 2023 of “neglect” in this case and sentenced to a fine of 1,000 euros by the Paris police court. Worried that the conviction would set a precedent and lead to numerous train delays, the public company appealed. The case was retried on September 27 and the SNCF was finally acquitted by the Paris Court of Appeal this Friday, November 8, the lawyer of 30 million friends announced this Saturday to France Bleu Gironde and to Parisian.
A petition and a reaction from the Minister of the Interior
Neko's death greatly stirred public opinion. Several animal rights associations stepped up to the plate, denouncing the inaction of the SNCF. In addition to 30 million friends, the Animal Protection Brigade, Action Animal Protection, and even Chihuahua in Distress were civil parties to the trial.. The affair caused a reaction even from Gérald Darmanin, Minister of the Interior at the time, who said “particularly shocked”. The day after the cat's death, a petition was launched to ask the SNCF “the establishment of appropriate procedures to safeguard the integrity and life of an animal finding itself in the same position as Neko” – it currently has 112,000 signatures. The complainants, as well as the associations, were all opposed to the notion of an act “involuntary”.
During the first hearing, the lawyer for the two complainants denounced a “inadmissible act”. “We stop a train for abandoned luggage but not for an animal”he lamented. The SNCF lawyer, Philippe Sarda, for his part denounced “an instrumentalization” of this affair by associations defending the animal cause.
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