By
Aymeric Figueiredo
Published it
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In the Dammartin-en-Goële industrial area, stray cats play spoilsport. As a result, the association has Free cats in Goële intervenes to limit the phenomenon.
For two years, the association had entered into an agreement with The Aldi depot to take care of these abandoned cats that gather in front of the store.
But for several months now and the arrival of a new manager, the dialogue has stalled, and neither the president nor the volunteers have access to the place to care for the animals anymore.
Mutual assistance
“We had signed a tripartite agreement with two leaders to take care of the cats,” explains Sonia Lechan, opposition municipal councilor in Dammartin-en-Goële and volunteer for the association. Thanks to this agreement, several projects were able to be successfully completed, according to the volunteer.
“We were able to capture them, sterilize them and release them or get them adopted to avoid nuisance. The former manager had even suggested that the company should pay for sterilizations with our association fees,” she assures.
It’s a shame, we were really starting to see results. Everything falls apart.
Today, a screen door was installed where the volunteers passed and access to the website is prohibited to those, explains Sonia Lechan. A few meetings took place, but the association only received one termination.
In the name of safety
Why this change? On the Aldi side, the group’s communication invokes safety reasons to explain the suspension of the convention. According to them, the volunteers’ efforts lacked a framework. “A warehouse is a place that can be dangerous, there are trucks. We can’t have people walking around without equipment and bowls everywhere. What happens if there is an accident? “.
A reason that Sonia Lechan does not understand. “With the previous manager, we had defined specific locations. Our intervention took place on the office side, through the parking lot reserved for employees. It was framed,’ she emphasizes.
Who is responsible?
Is this a liability battle? “We are not closed and we know there is a problem,” Aldi’s communication continues, “but the issue of stray cats is also a matter for the municipality. »
According to the group, there are ongoing discussions with the municipality, without the communication being able to say exactly where they stand. “It really is a global problem,” acknowledges Sonia Lechan, “but the municipality finances the association so we can intervene,” continues the volunteer.
In fact, the association is standing up hatches and feeding places near neighboring businesses, without, she assures, it poses a problem.
She can therefore continue her act despite everything. “We had started discussions with Aldi because we had been contacted by employees. According to them, the cats were problematic for hygiene reasons. They especially come to Aldi because there is food, unlike neighboring businesses,” explains the volunteer.
Asked about this point, however, Aldi assures that “cats do not enter the warehouse”. “It’s not a problem for the teams to travel,” we’re told. Will the dialogue finally be able to resume?
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