President Macron has used his adopted rescue dog, Nemo, to urge the citizens of France to commit to caring for a companion animal for the life of the animal when adopting. In other words, he is asking people to think hard about it before adopting in order that they can be sure that they can afford to look after a dog for the dog’s entire life and deal with the responsibilities.
He’s done this in a video with captions on Facebook. The captions are in French which is to be expected so this video is for French people or those you can speak French! I have translated as best I can below.
Nemo a un message pour vous !
Posted by Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday, December 22, 2020
President Macron adopted the black male Griffiondor – a cross between a Labrador retriever and a wirehaired pointing griffon – from a shelter in August 2017.
The captions to the video start with a picture of Nemo and how he was abandoned and then adopted into a family in 2017 (Macron’s family). Nemo says that he is loved in his new home. He then says that a hundred thousand animals are abandoned annually in France. Nemo continues by saying that if you want to adopt an animal at Christmas you must do it carefully in good conscience and be prepared to accept the lifelong responsibilities.
Nemo says that the government has earmarked 20 million euros for animal shelters (In terms of a financial stimulus) and that they will debate a pet abandonment bill in their campaign against animal abuse and cruelty. Under the proposed legislation to be debated next month the maximum sentence for abandoning an animal will be increased from 2 to 3 years in jail. And people who want to buy a companion animal must sign a pledge to take care of their new pet and satissfactorily meet the bills for food and medical care.
That’s the best I can do in translating the French! Wrong? Please tell me in a comment.
P.S. More pets are abandoning France than in any other European country according to an animal welfare association 30 millions d’Amis. The video is an attempt, it is said, by Macron to change the views of some citizens of France who believe that he backs traditional hunting. He wants the votes of animal lovers.
