One Voice wants recognition for animals’ absolute right to respect. This means that our pets must be treated as real companions, and not as goods, something to make us feel good, a doll, a weapon, a tool or a guinea pig – and much less as meat on legs! Humans do not respect these animals because they do not understand them and do not take their sensitivity into account. One Voice has taken on the task of accompanying humans in their role as « companions » to see these mentalities and uses change.
Living together is not so easy
One Voice is calling for respect for our pets. Living together every day takes effort. We have to understand our animal companions and not just meet their physical needs. Dogs, for example, are social animals who need company, exchange and games to suit them. We must be aware of the ethology of the species who will be sharing our lives to guarantee their well-being and establish a healthy, balanced and lasting relationship. One Voice has therefore adopted the task of helping humans who welcome an animal into their homes to communicate with them, understand their real needs and to be able to recognise and avoid behavioural problems. One Voice is completely opposed to these animals being exploited in any way. Our companions are not there to assist us, they are not tools, even less are they slaves. Keeping pets is covered by specific legislation. Europe often takes the lead in this area. One Voice is also encouraging France to follow the initiative of some of its neighbours who provide better legal protection for our animal companions. The association is also requesting pet status for horses; only this will enable us to defend them better.
Stopping things from going wrong
One Voice is also committed to preventing problems that can arise when we live with animals. When there is no communication animals are quickly mistreated. This can often occur unnoticed, yet it exists nevertheless when an animal’s needs are poorly understood through lack of knowledge. But violence in certain humans can take on major proportions and open the door to other forms of violence. One Voice’s role is to intervene legally for acts of mistreatment to stop once and for all. One other problem that can be seen in France and around the world which energises One Voice is related to mass abandonment and the lack of any controls over pet reproduction. This had lead to vast numbers of stray animals. In some countries, starving dogs spread epidemics and act as punching-bags for local populations. One Voice tries to educate the public through vaccination and sterilisation campaigns. In France, much is still to be done to help cats.
The trade in animals
One Voice is opposed to all use of pets for trade. Animals are not objects. They are sensitive beings who feel physical and psychological pain. Separating them early from their mothers, transporting them in horrendous conditions and exhibiting them like mere goods is unacceptable. Even worse, industrial farms have started to appear. Dogs and cats are now battery farmed with no hope of becoming balanced adults. Pet stores exhibit them under conditions that are incompatible with their well-being and sell them for astronomical prices while shelters are overflowing with animals looking for a family. These stores act as "presentation cases" that encourage people to make impulse buys and intentionally take away all responsibility from them when they do so. It’s often the case that a few months later animals bought in this way swell the numbers or shelters or are put down, if they do not develop serious illnesses due to poor breeding conditions. One Voice’s role is therefore to guide people who want to adopt an animal and show them how to welcome these animals responsibly into their homes and so ensure that this trade in pets disappears.
In the shadows of the law: absolute horror
While they should be loved and cared for in a home, for some animals their existence is a living nightmare. Dogs and horses, and sometimes cats, are killed for their meat. Their skins can also be used. Then there are the laboratories which continue to make these animals suffer despite the existence of substitute methods – and which use dogs from dubious sources… Because the traffic in pets has many aspects: dogs and cats stolen for laboratories, imported illegally for pet stores, dogs bred illegally and intended for fighting… One Voice denounces these practices that it plans to see stopped through constant presence in the field and close co-operation between investigators and the authorities.
Animals’ absolute right to be respected must be recognised.
