March to Close Slaughterhouses in France 2 Favorite 

By Judy Molland

If you thought that France was a nation of meat-eaters, think again.

Saturday, June 2, saw a big march in Paris, as several animal rights groups came together to demand the closure of all slaughterhouses in France. At the former slaughterhouse Vaugirard, where on an arch the statue of a bull can be seen, an obelisk was temporarily placed : “For the dead animals in slaughterhouses, so that one day the blood of beasts will stop flowing. ”

It was here that Georges Franju shot some of the movie “Le Sang des Betes” (Animal’s Blood) in 1949. Part of the demonstration involved reading what Franju wrote as he recounted his first experience witnessing the slaughter of animals: “The first time I went there, I came back home, cried for two days, hid away all the knives, I just wanted to die.”

If you check out the video of this march, you will see that the plea “Fermons les Abattoirs” (Let’s Close The Slaughterhouses) means more than just the slaughterhouses. One of the speakers at the march says that just like Martin Luther King, they have a dream, which is to bring an end to spilling the blood of all creatures. “Cessez le cauchemar des animaux” is her plea. (Stop the nightmare that all animals endure.)

Take a look at this video to get a sense of the fiery French: http://vimeo.com/43460202