RETRO 6/12. Bullfights banned by the courts in Pérols, giant tick in the Gard… the events which marked the region in June 2024

JUSTICE PROHIBITS CORRIDAS IN PEROLS: THE MUNICIPALITY APPEALS

While the commune of Pérols had decided to organize a novillada on July 15, 2023, the municipality's deliberation, attacked by the Radically Anti-Corrida Committee and the Anti-Corrida Alliance, was deemed illegal by the administrative court on July 4 June 2024. The court considered that the tradition, taurine has not benefited from an “uninterrupted” character in recent years, the last bullfight having taken place in 2003 in the city. The Montpellier administrative court thus confirmed the conclusions of its public rapporteur.

The same municipal decision had already been suspended by the summary judge in May 2023 and the bullfighting show had not taken place. The mayor of Pérols, Jean-Pierre Rico, appealed the decision on June 6, 2024. The case must be judged in the Administrative Court of Appeal of Toulouse.

A GIANT TICK VECTOR OF THE CRIMEAN-CONGO HEMORRHAGIC FEVER VIRUS IN THE Gard

A giant tick was discovered in the town of Arrigas in Gard during a butterfly inventory in mid-June 2024. Present in mainland France and around the Mediterranean for 2 to 3 years, the Hyalomma marginatum or tick with striped legs, is potentially a carrier of a dangerous disease. Larger than usual ticks (up to 8 mm long) and with yellow-striped legs, this arthropod can be a vector of Congo hemorrhagic fever for which there is currently no cure or vaccine.

For the moment, no cases of transmission of this virus have been reported in France, which means that the common tick, a frequent carrier of the bacteria responsible for Lyme disease or the encephalitis virus, remains much more dangerous than the giant tick.

SCANDAL THE SINKING OF THE CHRISTMAS ARK IN BEZIERS: THE PRESIDENT SENTENCED TO 12 MONTHS SUSPENDED PRISON

Noël Azzopardi, manager of the Arche de Noël animal shelter in Béziers, was sentenced on June 17, 2024 to 12 months in prison, accompanied by a permanent ban on keeping animals. The shelter, denounced by associations and individuals for its unworthy conditions, was closed and fined 10,000 euros. A flash investigation, initiated after multiple reports and a revealing video, led to the seizure of 127 animals in November 2023.

Despite damning accusations, notably regarding the unsanitary management of the site and the sale of sick animals, Azzopardi denied any wrongdoing, blaming the volunteers. He was prosecuted for animal abandonment, mistreatment, clandestine breeding and for not having declared his activity and establishment. Described as an “undignified death” by One Voice’s lawyer, the shelter operated under complaints that were often dismissed. The conviction marks a brutal end for a structure that remained out of control for a long time.

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