A 70-year-old French woman, Dominique Valdès from Agde in southern France, was fined €1,250 (approximately $2,200 AUD) in January 2025 after her ginger cat Rémi allegedly trespassed on her neighbour’s property. The neighbour claimed the cat urinated on a duvet, defecated in the garden, and left paw prints on fresh plaster.
The case has taken a dramatic turn: Dominique faces another court hearing in December 2025, where she could be fined an additional €2,000 ($3,500 AUD) plus €150 ($260 AUD) for each subsequent trespass. The neighbour claims to have photographic and video evidence of Rémi continuing to enter his property, though Dominique disputes whether it’s actually her cat in the footage.
Since the first ruling, she’s kept Rémi confined indoors. “He’s gained weight, he’s become aggressive. It’s as if he’s been sentenced to house arrest,” she told French media. The case has attracted attention from France’s leading animal welfare organisation, the SPA, which called it unprecedented and “absurd.”
