The L214 association files a complaint against a company for clandestine “complicity in the slaughter of animals” on the occasion of Eid el-Kébir

The animal defense association L214 announced that it had filed a complaint with the Dunkirk prosecutor, Wednesday August 3, against the sheep society Flandres Artois (Sofa) for “ill-treatment of animals committed by a professional” and for “complicity in the slaughter of animals outside an approved establishment. The Dunkirk public prosecutor’s office confirmed having received this complaint.

The L214 association accuses the Sofa company, which specializes in the animal trade, of having “sold and delivered live sheep to individuals” in Deûlémont (North), in view of the celebration of the Muslim festival Aïd el-Kébir in July, while “sheep purchased by individuals must be sent to an approved slaughterhouse to be killed there on Eid day”.

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“It is not forbidden to sell sheep, the 250 breeders in the North sell sheep to put them in gardens, pastures etc. »defended himself to Agence France-Presse (AFP) Christophe Ryckewaert, one of the leaders of the Sofa company.

Live sheep loaded into car trunks

Images that the association says it shot the day before Eid el-Kébir, in the premises of the Sofa company, and posted on Youtube, show live sheep shackled, transported in wheelbarrows and loaded into car trunks. L214, which denounces “unacceptable practices”also asserts that“no action has been taken to put an end to patent breaches of the regulations” despite “the alert issued to the veterinary services of the North” by the association.

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In a press release issued on 1^er July, the Nord prefecture recalled that the transport of sheep was regulated by a prefectural order during the period of Aïd el-Kebir, the festival of sacrifice in Islam. This must be “insured by a supplier breeder who transports the animals in a specialized vehicle” to destination “from one of the sites approved for slaughter”.

“The transport of sheep and goats by individuals is prohibited during this period”, had recalled the prefecture. The latter, requested by AFP, did not react immediately.

The World with AFP