Overview
Cause Animale Nord Homeless Man Puppy Stealing refers to an incident in which alleged members of the French animal rights activist group Cause Animale Nord are seen stealing a puppy from a homeless man in the streets of Paris, France. Following the viral circulation of the video, and subsequent listing of the dog for adoption, in September 2015, the story quickly went viral in the French social media and prompted a heated debate surrounding the group’s actions.
Background
On September 19th, 2015, members of the French animal rights activists group “Cause Animale Nord” were caught on camera stealing the puppy of a homeless man on the streets of Paris. Shortly after, witness Nghi Le Duc posted a video of this on his Facebook page (shown below, left), where it received over 1.8 million views in the following 5 days. The video can also be viewed on YouTube (shown below, right).[1] In the video, 2 members of the activist group are shown subduing the homeless man before trying to grab the man’s puppy. During the segment, both the puppy and the man are heard crying as the man tries to get his dog back, before a 3rd member of the activist group grabs the puppy and runs off; after which the homeless man chases after them while leaving all his possessions behind.
Notable Developments
On September 20th, the official Facebook group for Cause Animale Nord[5] created a post in which they shared they named the puppy “Vegan” and advertised the adoption of him (shown below). The post was deleted a few days later by the group as commenters condemned the group’s actions in the reactions.
“Vegan (name choosen in memory of our convictions), small bitch, rescue of the day during the “let their skin to the animals” protest in Paris. We withdrew it from a romani who was using it to beg. The police doesn’t do anything, we act. You can act too, you only need a little bit of courage… The “PA” (Animal protection) is not being behind a screen or parade in a demonstration, it’s to really act daily. She will be complied and proposed for adoption.”
On September 22nd, Anthony Blanchard, President of Cause Animale Nord, put up an official reply towards the situation regarding the puppy (shown below, left), claiming they believed the puppy was drugged which led to them taking it away. A day later, on September 23rd, the group made a new post in which they put the puppy up for adoption, this time including a price of €195 (shown below, right). As of September 24th, the posts have gathered respectively over 1,400 and 1,300 replies, with the majority still condemning the group’s actions.
On September 23rd, a Change.org petition[2] was created asking to “investigate the functioning of the association Cause Animal North” as a result of the video. In less than 24 hours, the petition was already signed over 75,000 times; which increased to over 125,000 signatures by the end of September 24th (local time).
Between September 23rd and 24th, various videos of the scene were uploaded to Imgur, reaching the site’s most viral images section on at least 3 occassions. The most popular video managed to gather over 850,000 views and 8,000 points within 18 hours;[6] following by the other 2 receiving respectively over 730,000[7] and 113,000 views,[8] 7,000 and 3,000 points, within less than 14 and 9 hours. Each of the posts also promoted the Change.org petition. The video was also shared on the r/videos subreddit,[9] where it received over 3,200 upvotes in less than 14 hours. The story was subsequently picked up by various non-French news outlets as well, including SBS,[10] LiveLeak,[11] BuzzKeys,[12] 9news,[13] DailyStar[14] and DailyMail.[15]
Official Investigation
By the end of September 24th (local time), the official Facebook page for the French National Police created a post in which they informed readers that they had been informed about the video various times, and subsequently opened an investigation towards the assault and theft by Cause Animale Nord.[17] In two hours after creation, the post had already received over 5,000 likes.
"[REPORTS] Many of you reported the video of the assault of a homeless man by animal rights advocates to remove his puppy.
An investigation was opened.REMINDER: Victim or witnessed an assault, immediately contact Police -secours by dialing 17."
Search Interest
[Not Yet Available]
External References
[1]YouTube – Un SDF qui a perdu son chien à Paris cause de ‘Cause Animale Nord’
[2]Change.org – Ouvrir une enquête sur le fonctionnement de l’association Cause Animale Nord
[3]Facebook – “Cause Animale Nord Post”:Facebook post
[4]Facebook – Cause Animale Nord Post
[5]Facebook – Cause Animale Nord Timeline
[6]Imgur – Three french took violently the puppy of an homeless person.
[7]Imgur – This is unacceptable.
[8]Imgur – I am so fucking angry right now…
[9]r/Videos – Homeless man’s puppy gets stolen, put up for adoption under the name ‘Vegan’
[10]SBS– Animal rights group defends stealing homeless man’s puppy, puts it up for adoption
[11]Liveleak – Homeless man’s puppy gets stolen, put up for adoption under the name ‘Vegan’
[12]BuzzKeys – 3 French animal rights activists steal puppy from homeless man
[13]9news – French animal rights group steals pleading homeless man’s dog as shocked bystanders watch on
[14]DailyStar – Gutless officials drag homeless man to the ground and take his PUPPY
[15]DailyMail – Heartbroken homeless man wails as ‘animal rights activists’ wrestle him to the ground and steal his dog in footage that has caused outrage across France
[16]Reddit – Activists from “Cause Animale Nord” take a homeless’ puppy by force in Paris
[17]Facebook – Police Nationale