Rumors of equine mutilation in France in 2020

The rumor of equine mutilation in France in 2020 is a French media and court case set in 2020 that has gained momentum across France.

According to the rumor, horses and donkeys are being killed and mutilated. Around 30 animals were involved in the rumor between January and August 2020, and many more were found injured or with an ear cut off - usually the animal's right ear and post-mortem.

A number of possible explanations have been put forward, including fetishism, a cult of a Satanist nature, and an internet challenge.

The case has mobilized the French Minister of Agriculture, Julien Denormandie. Journalistic investigations show that this is "a collective psychosis" motivated by the quest for fame of certain false witnesses and influencers, with inquiries concluding that "the vast majority of deaths had natural causes", and that the mutilations are the work of scavenging animals.

Context
Cattle and horse mutilations are not a new phenomenon, with reports occurring sporadically since the 1970s and 1980s in English-speaking countries and Germany in particular, most often without clear explanation.

In May 2020, Le Nouveau Détective published an article about horses killed with their ears cut off with a scalpel.

Pauline Sarrazin's false testimony and the origins of the rumour
On June 6, 2020, Pauline Sarrazin, a woman from Dieppe, claimed to have found one of her mares in agony, its right ear cut off and its head smashed in. She alerted the police, then Les Informations dieppoises - the local newspaper. She also set up a Facebook group (Justice pour nos chevaux) to gather testimonies. The group brings together breeders who have been confronted with similar cases. Pauline Sarrazin filed a complaint on June 25.

Spread of the rumor
The first reports in France date back to early 2020, but the phenomenon accelerated during the summer. Between February 2020 and July 1, 2020, around ten horses and donkeys were affected across France, including at least 4 in the Picardie region. The first report concerns a horse in Quend beach and two others in Berny-en-Santerre (Somme), all three found dead with their right ear severed. The case was revealed by the weekly Le Nouveau Détective at the end of May, which incriminated a "gang of horse killers".

People claiming to be owners of mutilated French horses organized themselves on social networks in June 2020, in particular to record these cases. By the end of August, the number of horses killed and then mutilated throughout France had risen to 33 animals, around twenty of which had had their ears cut off.

Moral panic
As rumors swirled, on August 28, French Minister of Agriculture Julien Denormandie traveled to Saône-et-Loire to meet and support the owners of a mutilated horse.

According to the Ministry of the Interior, "certain facts are reminiscent of practices linked to sectarian rituals and in particular so-called Satanic rituals". All types of horse are concerned by these killings and mutilations, with the exception of draft horses. The cutting off and collecting of ears suggests fetishism or trophy collecting, typical of serial killers. Psychopathy has also been suggested, as well as a link with bullfighting, as the practice of cutting off a bull's ear is known, as is the act of exsanguination.

Several horse owners decided to stop taking their horses out.

The media coverage caused a stir on social networks, with calls for manhunts and lynchings of the culprits, and reports of vehicle registration plates.

During the night of August 30–31, 2020, two motorists were stopped by an armed woman breeder and her daughter, and accused of scouting to mutilate horses near Rosporden. The two women lodged a complaint, which led to a court summons for the breeder and her daughter, who were charged with violence with weapons and interfering with a public function. They received a six-month suspended prison sentence and were also banned from carrying weapons for three years. Franck Buors, the two victims' lawyer, was awarded €800 in damages for the moral prejudice suffered by his restaurant owner client, and €500 for his other client.

The Finistère Gendarmerie subsequently called on farmers "not to take the law into their own hands". On September 9, French Minister of Agriculture Julien Denormandie announced the creation of a toll-free number for owners of horse victims, to be answered by 15 specialists from the Institut français du cheval et de l'équitation.

The discovery of mutilations in the Jura region of Switzerland prompted comments in the Swiss press.

On various social networks, an "absurd joke" claimed that Nagui was responsible for the mutilations.

A special investigation unit dedicated to mutilated horses was set up at national level.

Investigations
At the end of June 2020, the Service central du renseignement territorial cross-referenced these various cases, and favored the idea of superstition or a satanic ritual. Among other things, research is carried out on the dark web.

On August 24, 2020, the Yonne gendarmerie released the sketch of a suspect, after he was spotted attempting to attack ponies on private property in the commune of Villefranche Saint Phal, with an accomplice. The suspect was put on the run by the owner of the ponies, who intervened and was injured during the altercation. The owner would later say, "I heard them talking in a foreign language, with a strong Eastern accent".

On August 28, Julien Denormandie gave an update on the ongoing investigation, which at this stage does not point to the incrimination of an organized community or a mimicry effect.

At the beginning of September 2020, according to Jacques Diacono of the Office central de lutte contre les atteintes à l'environnement et à la santé publique, the human origin of the mutilations has only been certified in 20 to 25% of cases. The possibility of scavengers has been raised. Jacky Cordonnier, historian of religions and specialist in sectarian movements (MIVILUDES), attributes the abuse and mutilation to witchcraft rituals, in particular those aimed at appropriating the animal's strength by recovering its blood, eyes or ears.

As of September 8, 153 investigations have been opened throughout France in connection with this case.

In the town of Arnac-la-Poste, searches have been carried out by the gendarmerie services, who are in contact with the national gendarmerie, to check whether there have already been any similarities in investigations at national level. Numerous leads exist in the search for a perpetrator or possible imitators, but none have been successful.

Holidaymakers' vehicles have been wrongly reported (leading to their harassment), and accusations incriminating young suspects, attributed to a vet, have proved false. At the end of August, rumors of horse mutilations in Pouzauges and Talmont-Saint-Hilaire, Vendée, turned out to be false.

On August 30, the Gendarmerie arrested a 35-year-old Polish national in Seine-Maritime, who resembled the composite sketch circulated by the authorities in Yonne, at the wheel of his van. Investigators also discovered a commando knife in the vehicle. After verifying his alibi, the man was cleared and released. On September 7, 2020, another suspect resembling the sketch was taken into custody in the Haut-Rhin region, but later cleared and released.

Questioning the attacks
The initial results of the survey show that, of the 460 cases recorded, only 84 were of human origin, i.e. almost 20%. By the end of summer 2020, 500 cases of mutilation had been reported, of which 80 were attributable to humans (16% of attacks). These results were published in September 2020 in a Libération CheckNews, some of the reports being rumors. According to Mathieu Deslandes, a journalist with La Revue des Médias (INA), who investigated the subject, these attacks were not coordinated. "These are isolated cases that have no link between them. There are no gangs crossing France to attack horses".

On August 27, a forensic examination of the corpse of a horse found in Sainte-Colombe-sur-Gand, in the Loire region, ruled out human involvement, as the post-mortem mutilations (eye gouged out, ear cut off and snout sliced off) were the result of the action of a scavenging animal such as a badger or rodent. In most cases, the "mutilations" observed are ultimately considered by experts to be classic attacks by scavengers on already dead animals, who primarily target the parts that are easy to remove (ears, eyes).

Of the ten or so cases of mutilation known in Ille-et-Vilaine, none is of human origin. The flood of calls was considered by the gendarmerie to be a "veritable collective hysteria".

At the end of 2020, Marie-Béatrice Tonanny, national coordinator at the sub-directorate of the judicial police, revealed in an interview with the Agence France-Presse (AFP) that "acts of cruelty have not exploded compared with other years [...] There has been a small increase, perhaps due to media coverage and copycats. What has exploded is the number of reports, of calls from people telling us 'my horse is injured'".

Pauline Sarrazin's version questioned
An investigation has been opened against Pauline Sarrazin. On June 4, 2020 - two days before the death of her mare - Pauline had received a message from the Direction départementale de la protection des populations telling her that she would be checked. The alert had been given on June 2 by a veterinarian who had already had to euthanize 5 of Pauline Sarrazin's horses in 7 months, the others being "skinny", "underfed" and "infested with lice". On several occasions, he told Pauline Sarrazin that the quantities of feed provided were insufficient, that she obviously couldn't afford to keep so many animals. He didn't mention the accumulated unpaid bills - confinement had deprived her of her temp assignments, he understood - but suggested that her kindness was being abused.

In January 2021, she confessed that she had lied: she had made people believe that her mare had been attacked, whereas she was responsible for the mare's death. Her dog Louna had attacked the mare's corpse for lack of food and, not wanting her to be euthanized, she had invented the lie.

FEE
The French Equestrian Federation filed a civil action on August 19, 2020, in support of the equine owners who had lodged a complaint. The Interministerial Mission for Vigilance and Combat against Sectarian Drifts (MIVILUDES) has also announced that it is providing assistance on this case.

Brigitte-Bardot Foundation
The Brigitte-Bardot Foundation filed a civil suit.

Political figures
Jean-Luc Poulain, president of the Paris Horse Show, denounced on RTL "a network of mentally ill people" and "unspeakable" acts.

Agriculture Minister Julien Denormandie speaks of "acts of cruelty of unimaginable barbarity".

Gendarmerie
The French Gendarmerie issues advice to horse owners: monitor meadows daily, do not leave halters on horses, and install a CCTV.

Pauline Sarazin
On June 25, 2021, Pauline Sarrazin was sentenced by the Dieppe Criminal Court to a "four-month suspended prison sentence for ill-treatment and false denunciation", and banned from owning an animal for three years, as well as from exercising a profession related to horses.

Journalist for Informations Dieppoises
Augustin Bouquet des Chaux, journalist with Informations Dieppoises and the first to have "starred" the false plaintiff Pauline Sarrazin, made his mea culpa in view of the consequences of his error: "It wasn't done in haste, I wasn't looking for buzz at any price, the courts were taking the case seriously... I could have been a little less assertive, but I don't feel I made a mistake", even if "without Pauline S., the mutilated horses, it would have stayed in Détective".

According to public prosecutor Étienne Thieffry, "There is sometimes a gap between the way we perceive accounts of offenses and the impact they can have [...]. We had to take the time to investigate".