Serge Muller, deputy of the National Rally of Dordogne, has set himself the goal of saving Plaisir des fleurs, a horse from Bugue, in the Périgord Noir, suffering from infectious equine anemia (EIA), a rare and incurable disease. In order to avoid euthanasia, which the law requires when a horse is contaminated, the elected official, after having exchanged with the owner and sharing the latter’s petition, sent a letter to the Ministry of Agriculture, this Wednesday, July 26, reports France Bleu.
Against this disease, classified as a category 1 health risk, there is no treatment. It is also contagious to other horses. And that’s where it hurts. Indeed, although the equine is a healthy carrier of the disease, as the owner assures, it is “likely to contaminate its congeners throughout its life”, explains the administration of Dordogne.
And this, even if the equine is isolated from other horses, which the owner of the animal offers. A solution that does not work, continues the prefecture. Tested in Italy, this alternative does not make it possible to stem the number of animals carrying the disease. Unlike automatic euthanasia: in France, only one or two outbreaks of the disease are identified each year, continues the prefecture.
Asked by France Bleu Périgord about the reason for his commitment to Plaisir des fleurs, the former caregiver explains that he was guided by his heart. And “if I have the opportunity to write a letter to the Minister and it is read first because it is written ‘Deputy Serge Muller’ and the message is heard, I tell myself that this is the role of the deputy”.
Because, for him, the equine “can be the whistleblower on a drift or a law that is too rigid. And, if we can try to change something, why not. […] There can always be relaxations in the law.” In addition to the owner and the Ministry of Agriculture, the elected official also contacted the Brigitte-Bardot Foundation and the prefecture. “If the horse can be pardoned, then we can try to relax this law. »
