To Raise and Rise

During the filming of my last documentary, Where the hills are greener, about local and organic agriculture, I met some fascinating personalities, including several animal farmers. Mireille, a charismatic goatherdess; Jean-Marc and his white sheep on the hill; Pascal and his pigs wallowing in the fields... All made me want to deepen the delicate theme of animal welfare. Although the Grammont Law, in July 1850, punished abuse of our ‘wordless companions’ and that the RSPCA ensured that it was enforced, mistreatment continues to occur every day.

Pascal’s final question in Where the hills are greener remains: Do we eat happy animals? This question also involves us, because well-treated animals - in both senses of the term, as Eric, a herbalist in veterinary treatment will demonstrate - can be truly healthy in many ways. I have always felt close to animals, and I hope to do them justice by portraying the work of a dozen respectful farmers and other animal activists: an educational farm shelter for abused or reformed animals, a carer, and finally, to address the taboo subject of death, an association fighting for the legalisation of mobile farm slaughterhouses. These initiatives will prove, I hope, that there are credible alternatives to intensive breeding and to the ‘industrial’ treatment of animals, considered as basic consumer products, without any concern for the comfort they deserve.