On Tuesday, October 15, 2024, when Mathieu Barra opened the door to the kennel, “a box patched together with wire mesh,” he grimaced with fear. The animal officer took the first doggy in his arms without trembling and swallowed back the tears. “I felt his bones.” Employee of the Penthièvre and Mené shelter in Bréhand, the 35-year-old young man participated in the rescue of the illegal dog breeder in Bréhan, a town of the same name in Morbihan. In office since April, this is his first job in animal protection. For this enthusiast, this initiation was brutal. “Already, when we see pictures, it hurts, but when we are there, there are the smells, the sounds…” The horror comes to life. “It was moving. No, that’s not the right word. It was horrible. When I carried him, he peed on me. I felt it even in my boots. These dogs had never been handled.”
A rescue convoy
That day, like other associations from Brittany and elsewhere in France, the Costa Rican shelter responded to the call for help from the national president of the APA (Animal Protection Association), Arnold Lhomme. The mission: immediately rehabilitate about ten of the 70 dogs that are victims of abuse. Thin, abandoned buckets overflowing with excrement… These dogs would have been intended for sale to individuals. The APA had sounded the alarm three weeks earlier, the DDPP (Departmental Directorate for Population Protection) in Morbihan filed a complaint with the public prosecutor’s office and an investigation was opened by the gendarmerie.
“Dogs in pain, that’s not a good thing to hear”
Marie-Annick Thominiaux, secretary of the Bréhand shelter in charge of investigating abuse, had discovered the shelter three years earlier following anonymous reports. At that time, no operation could be performed. (Le Télégramme/Alice Gleizes)
“It’s right in the middle of the country, in a very wooded place,” describes Danielle Trochet, president of the Costa Rican retreat. In this description, reality makes short work of this idyllic landscape: “Dogs in pain, it’s not good to hear,” whispers Marie-Annick Thominiaux, secretary of the association responsible for investigations into abuse situations. Guided by the screams, the rescuers follow “a path which starts behind the fir trees and leads to a very homemade scrap metal gate, closed with a padlock”. Inside “20 or 30 boxes placed in single file on clay, pressed against each other”. In each room of “about 9 m²”, “between six and eight dogs are crammed in”, describes the president. “We carried the dogs in our arms 300 m to the trucks. They were completely desperate, extremely thin,” Danielle condemns. “I didn’t go all the way, I didn’t see the bodies,” recalls Marie-Annick. “A smell of death,” confirms Mathieu, still shaken. We found bodies everywhere, hidden in flower pots, under blankets, covered in lime.”
The ten dogs taken in by the Bréhand shelter were quarantined while their health records were updated. (Le Télégramme/Alice Gleizes)
“Three years is a long time”
The two activists, regularly in the field, had come to the scene three years earlier following several anonymous reports. While climbing the fence, Marie-Annick and Danielle saw kennels in poor condition, “but there were a lot fewer”. A report to the DDPP, “a polite response” but no action, and a copy of the letter to City Hall remained a dead letter. “Three years is a long time to intervene,” laments Marie-Annick.
The shelter was able to take in about ten dogs, six beagles, two white goldens and two Beauce shepherds. “We will make sure that they are rebuilt, that they grow back, so that they can be put up for adoption.” At the moment they are in quarantine, “they are isolated while the veterinary team updates the health records and checks their condition”. They will be released around November 10th. In Mathieu’s arms, Raven, a young beagle, has already recovered. “A dog recovers quickly,” he said, his eyes full of tenderness and hope.
Practical
Donations are preferred at the HelloAsso link, APA, 70 dog rescue.
