A French court has ruled in favour of a cockerel owner after her bird’s early morning crowing provoked a noise pollution complaint from neighbours.<\/p>\n
Maurice, who roosts on the picturesque isle of Ol\u00e9ron off the Atlantic coast, was accused of disturbing a retired couple who own a holiday home nearby.<\/p>\n
News of his legal troubles flew around the world, gaining him a flock of supporters.<\/p>\n
His owner, Corinne Fesseau, was cock-a-hoop at news of the ruling.<\/p>\n
“It’s a victory for everyone in the same situation as me. I hope it will set a precedent for them,” she was quoted by AFP news agency as saying.<\/p>\n
At a hearing in July, her lawyers had argued the complaint was ridiculous because crowing roosters were part of country life.<\/p>\n
Ms Fesseau, who has lived on Ol\u00e9ron for 35 years, would have had to move or somehow silence Maurice if the judge had ruled against her.<\/p>\n
She now will be given \u20ac1,000 (\u00a3900; $1,100) in damages from the plaintiffs instead, her lawyer said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The legal battle involving the bird saw a “Save Maurice” petition garner 140,000 online signatures.<\/p>\n
The four-year-old has become a celebrity of sorts in France, where the Gallic Cockerel is one of the national emblems.<\/p>\n
Merchandise has been made in his honour and letters of support have come from as far away as the United States, according to Reuters news agency.<\/p>\n
The high-profile case is considered an illustration of the growing tension between residents living in rural France and those moving to escape city life.<\/p>\n
“This is the height of intolerance – you have to accept local traditions,” Christophe Sueur, the mayor in Ms Fesseau’s village, told AFP.<\/p>\n
The mayor of another town, Bruno Dionis du Sejour, wrote an open letter in May calling for the sounds of rural life – including cows mooing and church bells – to be inscribed on France’s heritage list to protect them against such complaints.<\/p>\n
Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"