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SNCF responded to the death of an animal at the Paris police court.
ONE “sad incident”, “sorry” by SNCF, or “a deliberate act of heinous cruelty, as judged by the 30 Million Friends Foundation? Six months after the death of a cat crushed by a train, SNCF appeared at the Paris police court on Monday “involuntary attack on the life or integrity of a domestic animal”. remarked the prosecutor. Should the SNCF have done more for this cat? It is a real social debate. »
On January 2, as a mother and her daughter prepare to take the TGV from Paris-Montparnasse station to return to Bordeaux, their cat Neko escapes from its transport cage. Sheltered under a wagon, he was discovered by his owners, who pleaded with several agents to prevent his departure. In vain. “It’s just a cat…” would have answered one of them to Melaïna, 15 years old. The cat is found dead, its body cut in half on the road. Despite their “many requests for appointments”, customers don’t want “no sign of empathy” from SNCF.
also readCat crushed by a TGV: what is the rule in the case of animals on the track?
At the end of January, the 30 Million Friends Foundation filed a complaint against the railway company. “In addition to the abominable cruelty of the facts, the animal was in good standing as his mistresses had paid for a ticket. It is therefore a SNCF passenger who was deliberately run over! », had condemned the foundation’s president, Reha Hutin. A petition has gathered almost 100,000 signatures. Even Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said to himself “particularly shocked”.
At the hearing, Mr.e Xavier Bacquet, lawyer for the Fondation 30 Millions d’amis, begins by claiming that the police court lacks jurisdiction, so that the SNCF is referred to the criminal court for having given “intentionally killing a domestic animal”. But the president declares himself competent: “For the offense to be constituted, it is necessary to prove the intentionality of the cause of death”,he argues.
“Mortality”
“What happened is all the more appalling as the guide provided to the station staff provides an emergency procedure to stop a train when there is a risk of imminent danger. remember M.e bacquet. Nothing could therefore justify not taking into account the danger which the departure of the train posed to the life of a living and sensitive being. » If there is a procedure to stop a train when“an animal larger than a sheep” is on track “because it can cause material damage”, explains the station manager, witness cited by the prosecution, “there is no protocol for a feline”. That night, he clarifies, it was only “when the train is already running” that he sees Neko “Run under the wagons, at the same speed”.The driver was not notified.
“We wouldn’t have done everything? protests SNCF’s lawyer, Me Philip Sarda. Yes, because we respected the texts and we didn’t see the cat in time. The irony is that the cat’s owners – who let him out of his cage – were fined 4e class, while SNCF is charged with a fine of 3eclass”.As regards SNCF staff, “blameless” he mentions, he was “Extremely tested by the violence of popular vindictiveness on social networks”. This case “Has she made SNCF think so that it doesn’t happen again?”, asks the president. “It deserves reflection, but it is extremely complicated”, claims M.eSarda. induce “Mortality”,the prosecutor asked for an acquittal for SNCF. The decision was reserved for 4 July.
