Hérault mayor wins dog-dirt DNA battle
A court in the south of France has ruled to allow the collection of DNA from dogs in order to trace owners who do not pick up their pets’ droppings.
The Administrative Court of Montpellier ruled in favour of the creation of a DNA database for dogs in Béziers, Hérault, wanted by the town’s far-right mayor Robert Ménard.
Previously rejected by the Administrative Court of Montpellier, the project was once again turned down in December 2016 by the Marseille Administrative Court of Appeal, which stated that “The measures taken by the mayor of Béziers are disproportionate to the requirements of public safety and sanitation.”
In December, Mr Ménard said it was a “system indispensable to the fight against the droppings, bites and abandonment of dogs”.
Béziers town council revised its project by limiting it to an area in the town where there are 1,500 dogs out of a total of 9,000 in the municipality. Also, the DNA data will be held not by the town hall, but by the Ministry of Agriculture. Lastly, the municipal police will be able to establish the offence, but it will be up to police headquarters to draw up the contravention.
It has now been validated by the Administrative Court, which ruled that “none of the arguments raised created serious doubt as to the legality of the new draft”.
