"Doggy Daycare" and canine happy hours: how municipal candidates are trying to win over dog owners

Long the subject of complaints, the place of dogs in the city is changing to the point that candidates for municipal elections are courting their owners. Animal rights activists, however, regret that this interest doesn't extend beyond the fate of pets. Chow Chows, Shiba Inus, and Cavalier King Charles Spaniels stroll around Châtelet-les Halles, handing out treats amid their barking, and in the middle of it all, Paris mayoral candidate Pierre-Yves Bournazel. He looks very serious and is clearly very happy to be spending time with some dogs. During this election campaign period, the representative of Horizons and Macron's party isn't the only one staging a photo op with our four-legged friends. This isn't just happening in Paris. In Menton, Louis Sarkozy is proposing to create "permanent dog stations" with water fountains and "play areas" throughout the town. In Labruguière, in the Tarn region, an hour from Toulouse, Molly, a Belgian Shepherd, is practically a full-fledged member of the incumbent mayor David Cucullières' (Socialist Party) list. This pretty black dog even posed for photos with all the candidates.

Last example, in Nice, it was the UDR candidate Eric Ciotti who appeared on the Promenade des Anglais, suggesting the idea of creating a veterinary voucher:

Dog owners, "a real reservoir of votes"

Almost one in two French people owns a dog or a cat; there is a potential voter behind every pet owner. In Paris alone, there are no fewer than 100,000 owners of Fido and other canine companions. In party headquarters, few have forgotten that the animal rights party exceeded 2% in the last European elections in June 2024, representing almost 500,000 voters – a result not so far from the Communist Party's score. And yet, for years, dogs were seen more as a problem in cities, between managing dog waste, potential noise pollution, and stray animals that needed to be taken to the pound. This negative image is understandable: the city of Paris collects several tons of dog excrement each year at an estimated cost of tens of thousands of euros. Jacques Chirac had, in fact, campaigned on the fight against dog fouling in the capital in 1977 before launching, four years later, "moto-crottes," small vehicles equipped with a vacuum cleaner. More prosaically, in 2014, then-mayor of Bordeaux Alain Juppé declared in the pages of Sud Ouest that "slipping in dog poop on election day could change a vote."

As for the mayor of Béziers, Robert Ménard (independent right-wing), he introduced canine DNA profiling in the center of his town in 2023 to track down irresponsible owners, inspiring other municipalities such as Saint-Omer (Pas-de-Calais) in the process.

Is this era finally over? In Paris, perhaps. Where dog owners rarely interacted a few years ago outside of dog parks, several local associations have sprung up in many large cities. In Paris alone, there are no fewer than ten groups with often very evocative names, from the Truffles of Batignolles to the Hairy Ones of the Butte, now united within an association: Paris Canine Condition - PAR.C.C. This gives them considerable leverage to advance the place of dogs in the capital.

"We have a real vision for the place of dogs in the city"

PAR.C.C, which presents itself as "the first collective force dedicated to canine welfare" in Paris, has even published a white paper sent to all candidates in the municipal elections.

Their demands are broad, ranging from allowing all dogs on leashes to walk in parks, to their presence on buses (this decision rests with the RATP - editor's note), and the creation of a Paris Canine Council. This body would allow for the scrutiny of all municipal decisions to ensure they respect the interests of dogs.

His candidate, Emmanuel Grégoire, was not mistaken in dedicating a February morning to a debate about the place of animals in Paris. Above all, an Instagram account "Hot dogs with Emmanuel Grégoire", launched by his entourage, features numerous dogs—and sometimes even a few cats—comfortably curled up on his campaign materials.

And so much for the Paris mayor's office, which is currently clashing with users of the Saint-Martin canal dog park, who are angry about the relocation of this space dedicated to dogs without consultation.

The same goes for the Republican candidate Rachida Dati, who has been organizing dog-friendly get-togethers in her town hall in the 7th arrondissement for several years.

"Only a very small part of the issue of animal rights"

In Marseille, candidates Benoît Payan (PS) and Martine Vassal (LR) have been at loggerheads for weeks, They only agree on one point: the promise to create an animal cemetery in Marseille.

It's hard to disagree with them. Several associations have put forward numerous proposals. This is the case, for example, with the League for the Protection of Birds, which is calling for a reduction in light pollution from municipal streetlights at night; the PAZ association, which is asking candidates to close municipal zoos; and Zoopolis, which wants to put an end to "cruel methods" against pigeons and rats. So far, these proposals have received little attention in the campaign.

To try to have an impact, the animal rights party is fielding candidates in about thirty major cities and can boast of having several deputy mayors in charge of animal welfare running for re-election, as in Grenoble and Montpellier. However, the effort remains limited: only two independent lists are running in Sète and in the 9th arrondissement of Paris.