“We are very happy”: threatened with euthanasia, the wild boar Rillette, whose fate moved even Brigitte Bardot, obtains a reprieve

The case has had a strong popular and media echo for several weeks. Last Saturday, a march in support of Rillette brought together nearly 500 people in Chaource, including C8 columnists Yann Moix and Eric Naulleau.

The administrative court on Thursday suspended the decision of the prefect of Aube prohibiting the owner of Rillette from keeping this wild boar that she had collected in the wild in 2023, according to the court order of which AFP obtained a copy.

Élodie Cappé, who runs a private stable near Chaource, south of Troyes, collected and adopted this female wild boar that had taken refuge on her property. Rillette is now an adult weighing 100 kg and accustomed to humans. But Ms. Cappé's attempts to regularize the sow's situation with the prefectural services in order to legally keep the animal have all failed so far.

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The prefecture's arguments

Her third request had been rejected at the end of November, which she contested before the administrative court of Châlons-en-Champagne. The prefecture argued that only animals from a farm of known origin can claim authorisation for detention by an individual.

But in his order, the interim relief judge of Châlons considered that the regime applicable to the detention of non-domestic animals does not require “at no time that they be born and raised in captivity”. And even if the capture of wild boars alive in the wild is in principle prohibited, the prefect always has the possibility of authorising it, the judge noted. This is why he ordered the prefect of Aube to re-examine Ms. Cappé's request within a month.

The case has been receiving strong popular and media attention for several weeks. Last Saturday, a march in support of Rillette brought together nearly 500 people in Chaource, including C8 columnists Yann Moix and Eric Naulleau, reported l'Est éclair. In December, Brigitte Bardot had also publicly given her support to Ms. Cappé, as had the Fondation 30 Million d'Amis.