In 2008, Sandra took care of a dog about to give birth in a car park in Saint-Gilles. She cannot agree to let puppies be born in these conditions. After bringing him to her apartment, she witnesses the birth of nine babies. “At that moment, I asked myself, what should I do?”, she says. It was from this problem that she first experimented with the concept of transporting animals to France. An initiative that largely contributes to giving a second chance to dogs and cats looking for a (new) family (Photo: www.imazpress.com)
“It was someone who worked with the SPA (Society for the Protection of Animals) in Sainte-Marie who told me about this story of sending animals to France. The mother and two of her babies were taken over were placed with families here in Reunion” , Sandra rejoices.
In order to send an animal to the French mainland via a commercial flight, it is mandatory that it be attached to a travel ticket. Several animals can be attached to the same ticket. There is no real limit except when the quota of cages in the hold is reached. For smaller animals such as cats, kittens and certain puppies, they can travel in cages intended for passenger cabins.
– Samplaning 974: connects volunteers and associations –
Stray animal rescue societies call for the generosity of travelers eager to accompany these little animals to France. They usually send between one and two dogs per voluntary, up to 4 or 5 in rare cases, collected by volunteers on arrival. To facilitate this process, in 2016 Sandra – who prefers not to disclose her name – had the idea to create the Facebook group Coavionnage 974.
Since she was little, she has been feeding and giving water to the stray dogs and cats she comes across. Now a teacher, she continues to take care of these hairballs that she finds around schools or in her home. For 15 years Sandra volunteered here, in Réunion, for a Marseille association, “L’Arche de Fréja”, also helped Sainte-Marie SPA and offered to be a host family.
– A partnership between SPA in Réunion and France –
In November 2023, more than 73,000 stray or wandering animals were registered in Reunion, according to the prefecture. If the solution to a massive sterilization campaign is struggling to be implemented, finding a family for these furballs on the island is proving to be an equally difficult task. To do this, Reunion SPA sends some of its animals to France in the hope of being adopted.
Réunion SPA works with the Vallée de la Lys shelter in northern France, 40 km from Lille, and sends around 250 animals there a year. One of the shelter managers goes to Reunion with eight cages and returns with 20 to 25 animals, of which 2 to 3 per animal. cage.
At Vallée de La Lys SPA, 90% of the animals come from the island. It takes 15 days to 3 weeks for them to be adopted. “The level of abandonment is low in Northern France and we work with a shelter that almost only accepts animals from Réunion Island, so it is easier to place these animals and make these shipments,” says Jean-Luc Mignot, president of SPA Réunion .
– A race for plane tickets for associations –
Coavionnage 974, for its part, highlights the difficulty for associations to find travelers. “Certain associations heard about flights that got lost, volunteers who didn’t have animals to take with them for various reasons, that’s where the idea for the site came to me,” says Sandra.
The Facebook group currently has 7,400 members, with many volunteers offering their trips every day.
“I get notifications about mail requests from travelers, and as soon as I have a moment in my day, I just have to confirm,” she adds. The rest happens between associations and travelers who contact each other to start the procedure.
– Sending an animal to France is not cheap –
On departure from Réunion Island, it costs an association to send a cage in the hold between 150 and 200 euros, 125 euros for a cabin cage.
“Until October 2023, shipping was only done on Air Austral, which was the last company to offer attractive prices of 100 euros per cage per person at the counter, it happened that the company agreed to put several animals in a single cage, but it is very coincidental,” confides the chairman of SPA Réunion.
This increase multiplied by seven the annual costs of sending animals to the French mainland, from 7,000 euros to 50,000 euros.
“We receive between 5,000 and 6,000 euros in donations per year, which is already not bad. The rest we live on thanks to the money generated by adoption. For sterilizations, we invoice Cinor for the work done”, explains Jean-Luc Mignot.
When sending animals to the French mainland, it is also necessary to take into account the costs of getting them back in shape: getting them in good shape, grooming, sterilization, identification, vaccination and certificate of good health to be given to the companies.
In total, an animal’s trip to the French mainland costs around 600 euros. With vet costs, some cost almost 1800 euros.
– A permanent solution? –
“We have to enforce the law hard here. There are too many illegal breeding, bartering of animals and objects… So more and more associations are being created,” emphasizes Sandra.
For the president of SPA Réunion, Jean-Luc Mignot, the only solution is “a mass sterilization of all stray and stray dogs and cats. Individuals must also have access to sterilization with offers at lower costs, even free. We must curb wandering and hiking.
“We lack awareness, it is also a political will in the use of money. When we see the cost of running a pound and euthanizing 10,000 animals a year, we could use the budget to relieve the congestion is really bad use of money,” he regrets.
– “Every month 500 puppies are born in the wild” –
Of the 50,000 cats and dogs euthanized in mainland France each year, almost 11,000 are euthanized here in Réunion, or 20% of the national total, and 7,000 are killed on the road.
“I think it’s much more than 73,000 stray or stray animals. Every month 500 puppies are born in the wild. There must be more than 100,000 stray dogs on the island. And for cats it’s harder to quantify, because they live quite hidden, and there is also a very large population”, explains the chairman of SPA Réunion.
Read more – Abandoned, left to fend for themselves… in Reunion, almost 73,000 animals roam the streets
– I would also like to help! –
This is a process that does not cost the traveler additional costs in connection with registering a dog or cat, which is covered by the association. A manager usually checks in upon departure from the island, so no worries about the logistics of preparing the flight.
Upon arrival, you will find your flyer in the oversized luggage level next to the conveyor belts. Simply collect it before leaving it with volunteers present when you arrive. The animals will thus be taken to their adoptive families or foster families while they wait to be adopted.
Flights to Réunion are also being sought from France to take the transport cages home.
You can make a donation to La Réunion’s SPA and/or join the Coavionnage 974 page on Facebook.
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