The article to read to understand everything about this story of goat hunting in Lorette

The goat hunt lasted ten days in Lorette. In this commune of the Loire, near Saint-Chamond, the mayor Gérard Tardy had decided in mid-December 2021 to organize a fight to put an end to the degradation caused by goats in the city cemetery.

This decision sparked the anger of its opponents, of certain inhabitants and of several associations for the defense of animals. Also, the mayor repealed the municipal decree authorizing the “temporary” beatings, we learned on Monday, December 27th. The text could have remained in force until December 31.

By putting an end to this hunt for goats, the city council closed the hunting shutter of this controversial episode, but the story is not over yet, various legal remedies having been launched by different actors. To understand everything about this story, News Saint-Étienne returns to the facts of this bad Christmas tale.

The slaughtered goats caused nuisance

In recent weeks, around thirty Lorettois have complained to the mayor of various degradations in their cemetery: nibbled flowers, overturned funeral articles and droppings found in the alleys. The nuisance is proven.

There is no doubt that the goats are implicated. A herd of about fifteen heads originally evolves on the hill bordering the cemetery, and the feces found in the aisles of the funeral home were enough to prove their guilt.

Why did these goats come to feed in the cemetery?

The small group of goats had been wandering around for some time without causing any particular problem, but the complaints suddenly piled up on Gérard Tardy’s desk towards the end of November.

According to several observers of local biodiversity, this coincides with a time when food became scarce on the hill where the animals grazed. The Lorette cemetery would thus have served as pantry for the cattle, delighted to find there the flowers deposited by the Lorettois, in particular on the occasion of Toussait at the beginning of November.

In an attempt to remedy this problem, the municipality assures that it has haystacks to satiate the animals far from the cemetery, in vain.

How did the goats get into the cemetery?

Guided by their instinct, the goats had no trouble crossing the frail barrier from Lorette cemetery. Several animal protection associations and Julien Lequeux, a local opposition figure, did not fail to denounce this security breach.

Gérard Tardy recognizes the lack of airtightness of the site. According to him, reinforcing the enclosure of the site would cost some 80 000 euros in the city, or around twenty euros per inhabitant over the age of 18.

Who owns these animals?

The elected representative on the right gave notice to the company Altice, owner of land on the hill where the cattle took refuge after sowing discord in the cemetery. Altice owns SFR, and the operator has a few antennas planted upstream from the cemetery. Part of the land in question is screened to protect this equipment, the rest is free to access. Goats do indeed evolve in this space.

Gérard Tardy therefore asked the company to ask for compensation and the construction of a barrier at its expense. Corn the group defended itself : “We have nothing to do with these goats”, defended Cyrille-Frantz Honegger, director of Altice Center-Est, declaring nevertheless to be ready to work with the town hall if necessary.

A few months ago, a similar problem had landed, but the owner of the animals involved had made arrangements. But no owner has come forward regarding the recently hunted goats, and the Lorette municipal police investigation has not borne fruit.

Why did you decide to hunt them?

The mayor of the municipality argued the General code of local and regional authorities which gives him the right to organize a beat in his town.

In the absence of an owner identified, the animals were considered to be stray. Gérard Tardy confided to assume his decision to put an end to the nuisances without having to “play the shepherd”.

Was this decision proportionate?

Several environmental associations and elected representatives of the opposition do not understand this decision which they consider too “radical”, even “cowardly” or “cruel”.

They believe that the animals could have been captured by firefighters or specialists to then be handed over to a specialized association.

The president of the hunters of Lorette, Marvin Chiaramonte, has explained in the columns of Progress that these animals were too complicated to capture because of the relief, that no association was willing to welcome them and that these stray animals presented too high health risks to be reinstated in a local breeding.

Did Gérard Tardy have the right to organize this fight?

Legally, this episode highlights a legal vagueness. The general code of local authorities on which Gérard Tardy relies leaves the door open to various interpretations.

Its police powers give it the right to “remedy the unfortunate events which could be caused by the straying of the police. evil or ferocious animals “. It remains to be seen whether the goats slaughtered in Lorette fell into the category of “evil or ferocious” animals.

In addition, another text, the rural code, authorizes the mayors to organize hunts, but under certain conditions. The animals targeted should be targeted as a last resort and only if they represent a danger “to the population and to domestic animals”.

Also, goats are absent from the list of 91 huntable species set by the national hunting federation. However, it is the hunters who slaughtered the goats of Loreto at the invitation of the mayor.

Finally, as Julien Lequeux underlined, the first beat took place before the publication of the municipal decree. The text was written on December 14, but the first two animals were hunted on the weekend of December 11 and 12, “without any legal framework!” », Protests the municipal opponent.

What possible consequences?

Several appeals were filed with the Administrative Court of Lyon to invalidate the municipal decree before the mayor himself repeals it. But the story may not be over.

Nowadays, several groups have lodged a complaint, in particular against Gérard Tardy, for “voluntary destruction of animals without necessity”: the association Stéphane Lamart, the SPA, the National Society for the Defense of Animals (SNDA), the Circle for the protection of animals and nature, Anima …

Several associations call for a demonstration on January 5, 2022 in front of the town hall to “denounce the barbarism of the mayor Gérard Tardy as well as the hunting committee of Lorette managed by Marvin Chiaramonte”. The date must be confirmed by the prefecture but a meeting with the city councilor would already be scheduled for 3 p.m.

Many online petitions demand “justice” for the goats and a “sanction” with regard to the mayor, without further clarification. One of them collected 37,000 signatures in one week, another identifies 38 000 and the third 30,400. The latter is addressed to Barbara Pompili, the Minister of Ecological Transition.

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