Questioned by an investigation by Vakita, the animal supplier “the best known of French cinema” defends himself against the acts of ill-treatment of which he is accused.
He refutes everything, or almost. Pierre Cadéac, animal trainer specializing in the world of cinema, announced on Friday that he wanted to file a complaint for defamation against Hugo Clément and the media Vakita, at the origin of an investigation accusing him of animal abuse, published on 29 november.
Invited on December 2 on the set of BFMTV, Pierre Cadéac in particular swept away the testimony of fifteen former employees reported by Vakita, the media founded by journalist Hugo Clément. “All this was done in a framework that is not legal”, he said, criticizing in passing “the propaganda of ideas”, “incriminating investigations” of Vakita and excerpts taken out of context. “This procedure intended to intimidate us does not scare us and we will continue our investigative work”, responded Friday evening Hugo Clément on Twitter.
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Testimonies and visual documents in support, Vakita’s investigation indicates that Pierre Cadéac would have physically mistreated, in front of witnesses, many animals within his Fauna and Films structure. The cases mentioned involve a variety of animals, from a bear cub to owls. The trainer is said to have beaten up a magot monkey until he “disfigure”. A photograph shows the animal with a swollen face. A clip also shows Pierre Cadéac punching a raptor perched on his arm. According to a witness, the 40 hens of the famous Le Gaulois advertisement, representing poultry in the middle of the French cancan, would have ended up thrown into the pasture in his wolf enclosure.
replicate “moderately”
“I understand that people are shocked”, declared Pierre Cadéac to BFMTV, specifying “I like animals ; animals are my life. Nevertheless, he mentioned that“a small group of animals is a problem” among the approximately 300 animals in his charge. The trainer claims to have, for example “replied moderately”to the monkey magot “very aggressive” whom he had collected and taken care of, but who had attacked him and who “didn’t have the codes”. Also invited to the program “Touche pas à mon poste”, on C8, Pierre Cadéac mentioned having given only a simple “slap” against his eagle, claiming it was a “particular case”.
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Finally, Pierre Cadéac also crushed on C8 “social networks, this North Korean court (where) you can’t defend yourself”. A criticism rejected by Marie Lecoq and Axel Roux, the two Vakita journalists behind the investigation into cases of animal abuse within Fauna and Films. “We have been trying to get Pierre Cadéac to react for several weeks.mentioned Axel Roux in a video addressed to the trainer after his two appearances on television. To date, we have received no response.”
In April 2020, the animal protection association Paris Animaux Zoopolis filed a complaint against Fauna and Films for “acts of cruelty and serious abuse”, following the broadcast of the video showing Pierre Cadéac beating up the eagle bearing the name of Circee. “We demand an exemplary condemnation for this act of abuse,” the association then affirmed in an open letter to the attention of the President of the Republic, the Minister of Ecology and parliamentarians.
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