Adopted wild boar Rillette can stay with her owner, French court rules

A wild boar adopted by a French horse breeder can remain with her owner, a court has ruled, after authorities’ threats to remove and even euthanise her triggered a storm of protest.

Found as a tiny piglet near rubbish bins outside a horse farm in Chaource, central France, in April 2023, Rillette has grown into a large sow who runs around with the horses and dogs on the farm.

After early attempts to release her back into the wild failed, farmer Elodie Cappe had Rillette sterilised and vaccinated, provided her with an enclosure and put in several requests with the regional prefecture for authorisation to keep a non-domesticated animal.

The requests were all rejected while local authorities threatened to confiscate or euthanise the animal. Cappe faced potential prison time and a fine of up to €150,000 (£126,000) for “capturing or detaining wild animals”.

Elodie Cappe with Rillette on her farm. Photograph: Stéphanie Lecocq/Reuters

The case riled animal rights campaigners, made headlines and sparked a petition and a local demonstration. Even Brigitte Bardot pleaded for Rillette – jokingly named after a regional dish of shredded pork – to be allowed to stay on the farm.

In a ruling published on Thursday, the Châlons-en-Champagne administrative tribunal ordered the prefecture to reconsider the application to keep the animal and ordered the state to pay Cappe €1,500 in damages.

“This is a great victory, the court really wiped out the prefecture’s arguments. The fact that we had the media behind us really made a difference,” Cappe said, adding that she would donate the damages to a charity.

Cappe said Rillette was unfazed by the news. “She is just playing, she does not care. She belongs with us,” she said.