The alarm was raised at 5:40 am this Sunday morning. The fire broke out in a 1000 square meter shed at the stud farm in the small town of Bernesq, near Trévières in Bessin. This shed housed broodmares. The horses were trapped in their stalls. The toll is heavy, with 70 mares and foals dead. A 21-year-old man was injured in the hands and taken to Bayeux hospital in relative emergency. The 1000 m² building was completely destroyed. The Calvados SDIS deployed significant resources to extinguish the fire. 21 firefighters were dispatched to the scene from the fire stations in Molay-Littry, Bayeux, Trévières, and Balleroy. Six vehicles in total were engaged. The cause of the fire is currently undetermined. Criminal investigation technicians have been dispatched to the scene, according to the Calvados gendarmerie. The owner of the stud farm, who resides abroad, was notified of the fire. For now, the gendarmes are favoring the accidental track. Animal abuse Franck Benillouche, the former owner of the Haras de Bernesq, was convicted in 2023 for horse abuse, following an alert issued in 2018 by the animal defense association Stéphane Lamart, which led to a veterinary inspection. The facts were damning. At the time, there were 157 horses in the stud farm. According to the veterinarian who intervened on site, many horses were underfed. She noted that only those trained for racing were properly treated. The president of the Caen judicial court mentioned in 2023 « dirty stalls », « empty racks », « bales of straw covered in bird droppings », « water troughs covered in a green film », etc.
