Unprepared game animals sold in French supermarket
The sale of hare, pheasants and other game covered in clear plastic and sold in their entirety have caused upset for some customers
An E.Leclerc supermarket in France has been selling the whole animal 鈥� fur, feathers and all 鈥� wrapped in plastic, causing upset to some customers.
The supermarket, located in Mori猫res-les-Avignon, Provence-Alpes-C么te d鈥橝zur, sold whole hare, pheasants and other game in transparent plastic wrap.
Photo causes outcry online
The issue first came to public attention when a customer posted images of the dead animals on sale in the supermarket to her Twitter account. She asked: 鈥淚s this a new way of presenting meat in our supermarket?鈥�
The Tweet garnered attention online, including from animal protection association la Fondation Brigitte Bardot, which was critical of the supermarket鈥檚 approach.
Christophe Marie, spokesperson for the foundation, told news source : 鈥淲e were contacted by many disgusted social media users. [It is] shocking to see these types of images.鈥�
Many also reacted to the origin of the dead animals as they were not caught locally. One commentator responded to a Facebook post containing the images, writing: 鈥淲hile some might say, 鈥楾his comes from local hunters who probably killed more than they needed鈥� we can see 鈥極rigin: Belgium鈥� on the label.鈥�
The supermarket has since removed the animals from shelves and issued an apology 鈥渢o anyone who was affected鈥�.
Animal rights groups also see benefits
However, animal rights protestors have agreed the supermarket鈥檚 actions may have overall benefits for their cause.
Mr Maire said: 鈥淚t is paradoxical because this could have been an awareness-raising activity carried out by activists to show that meat is, before anything else, an animal that has been killed. It鈥檚 a good thing to make customers aware of the responsibilities of what they are buying.鈥�
Denis Schmid, spokesperson for an animal protection society in Vaucluse where the supermarket is located, told local news source : 鈥淐lients being able to see, concretely, a dead animal under the plastic wrap makes the fate of the animals we consume visible, whereas a steak or breaded fish fillet does not do that.
鈥淲e are touching on a sinister reality. Without [seeing the dead animals] we do not always think that behind the meat or the fish, there are living animals.鈥�
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