The association L214 is a Frenchanimal rights organization. It was founded in 2008 by the action group "Stop Gavage" for the abolition of foie gras, which now continues its actions within L214. The organization is devoted to the welfare of animals used for human consumption, putting into question the links between society and animals.
History
The name of the association comes from the article L214 of the French rural code in which animals are described as "sensitive beings", which their owners are required to treat with respect. The co-founders Brigitte Gothière and Sébastien Arsac, are advocates for antispeciesism and have helped introduce these ideas in France through the journal Cahiers antispécistes.
Focus
L214 wants to document and cover the ordinary conditions of livestock farming, fishing, animals’ transportation and slaughter in order to "fuel public debate on animal welfare." It leads information campaigns to change animal protection rules as well as consumption patterns. Investigation pictures and experiences are frequently used in reports about agribusiness in media.
In November 2013, an L214 investigation on force-feeding, in buildings of the Ernest Soulard company, which supply starred restaurants and Parisian luxury hotels, was published. In light of the controversy, the chef Joël Robuchon, target of the association, suspended his supply from Ernest Soulard, "until there is proof that animals are not abused as shown in the video". Alain Ducasse, who was also the target of the L214 campaign, still takes supplies from Ernest Soulard, despite an online petition against him. In February 2013, after repeated presence in front of retail chain Monoprix stores by L214 activists in many big cities of France, the retailer decided to stop using eggs from hens grown in battery cages in their own brand from April 2013, using free-range eggs instead.
Novotel
In February 2010, after negotiating with L214 during the campaign led against Novotel, the hotel chain announced that eggs on their breakfast menu would henceforth come from free-range hens.
Charal
In September 2008, L214 investigated Metz Charal slaughterhouse. This hidden camera investigation was led by an activist from the association hired by the firm Charal as a slaughterhouse worker. According to the association, two previous applications for visiting were refused, by an e-mail in which the Charal company declares having “made animal protection a central and specific part of their quality policy”. The filmed investigation shows bovine slaughter which “do not respect the operative regulation and lead to untenable death” according to the association. The Minister of Agriculture, Bruno Le Maire was “shocked” by the pictures showing animals seeming to recover consciousness before and during being bled. L214 lodged a complaint against Charal Company on September 2009 about cruelty to animals. Charal wants L214 to remove the video from their websites, complains about violation of their site, and challenges charges by the association, denouncing "an assembly with false and partisan commentaries, whose only aim is to shock and make meat consumers feel guilty."
Online sources
L214 makes their investigation videos and images available on their website under a Creative Commons license.
