Nothing is decided. In April 2024, the Refuge des Tortues, located in Bessières (in the Haute-Garonne department, less than two hours from Toulouse), found itself at the heart of a vast legal scandalthus forcing the site to close. A “search took place following an investigation”, explained the president of the association, Jérôme Maran, before announcing that “three people were indicted” for breach of trust and mistreatment of the 1,400 turtles housed on site.
Five months after the controversy, the collective “Sauvons le Refuge des Tortues” (formed the day after the searches) announced the placing under administrative supervision, then the “death” of the establishment. But today, the news is less radical.
A reprieve for the Turtle Refuge
Indeed, the collective announced in a press release dated November 18, 2024 that the Turtle Refuge has the right to a reprieve :
It was with 'relief' that we discovered the judgment of November 7 placing the Turtle Refuge Association in receivership. […] We can only be satisfied with this decision which would not have been possible without the mobilization of the support collective, its supporters and our lawyer.“, let the teams know.
The doors of the Refuge are therefore not yet definitively closed, especially sincea decisive hearing is planned for early 2025. “On January 13, 2025, the court will look again at the future of the site and the association. We therefore have little time left to put the solutions in place to consider opening in 2025.“, indicate the members of the collective, ready to reopen the place.
Half relieved, half worried
Despite this announcement perceived as a “relief”, the “current situation remains worrying and animals were moved by the administration, it is explained in the press release. We hope to quickly have information on these movements and the motivations for these movements.”
For the sake of the scaled residents and of the future of their parc XXLthe Collective “Save the Turtle Refuge” warns:
we hope to be able to work with the different services in a constructive manner, we will remain in this state of mind, but will once again be vigilant in view of what we have experienced.”
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