“Animals bathing in their excrement”, “significant mortality”… the director of a zoo in Gironde convicted of animal abuse

The Moulin de Montfrange park, in Gironde (Nouvelle-Aquitaine) had become a refuge for panthers, lemurs, parrots and wallabies, we can read on the France Bleu website. But the owner of this private zoo was guilty, among other things, of animal abuse and unsanitary conditions, according to the Libourne criminal court, which delivered its verdict on Tuesday, November 5.

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The man will receive a one-year suspended prison sentence, a fine of 1,250 euros and a permanent ban on carrying out any activity related to animals.

“It wasn’t a pretty sight.”

François Ruffié, the lawyer for the Association for the Protection of Wild Animals, a civil party to the trial, recalls that “significant mortalities and mistreatment” were observed in the cages. “Investigators from the French Biodiversity Office noted that certain animals were bathing in their excrement. The fences and closures were not compliant. And the photographs were not pretty to see. And there were also facts of pollution because there was a whole pile of rotting food droppings which went into the nearby watercourse”, he reports to our colleagues.

The 55 animals from the Moulin de Montfrange park will be placed, at the defendant's expense, with the 30 Million Friends Foundation.