This archive report was first published on 10 July 2019.
Published on July 10, 2019, a controversy surrounding two supermarket managers in L'Arbresle, a small town in eastern France, has come to an end.
The pair, who managed a SuperU grocery store, had participated in a captive hunt in 2015, where they shot at animals kept inside an enclosed area.
The setup, designed to guarantee a kill for private trophy hunters, backfired when pictures of the pair posing with guns next to a lion, a hippopotamus, a zebra, an alligator, and a leopard spread on social media.
The backlash was swift, with calls to boycott the store and a growing chorus of online abuse.
Condemning the actions of their managers, the U cooperative, which owns the SuperU store, stated, "These images go against the values and commitments upheld by the U retail cooperative. We firmly condemn them, even though they relate to private activities by the supermarket owners."
"In light of the condemnation raised by these activities within the cooperative and the legitimate emotion among the public, the shop's managers have decided to immediately leave the chain and their shop in L'Arbresle," the statement continued.
The SuperU store in L'Arbresle has pledged to bring in new managers and will reopen on Thursday.
