Man Loses Legal Battle Against Bird
Maurice. PHOTO: Sky News
A French man Jean-Louis Biron has lost his lawsuit against a Cockerel named Maurice.
Biron, who lives in the city of Rochefort, brought the case against the four-year-old bird after buying a holiday home next to his owners in nearby Ile d’Oleron, a small island off France’s west coast.
However, a French tribunal rejected the complaint about the bird’s early morning crowing and ordered that Maurice’s owner, Corinne Fesseau be paid €1,000 (₦399,275) in damages.
The two-year dispute – symbolic of a culture clash, has pitted the old rural way of life against modern values.
Maurice with his owner, Corrine Fesseau. PHOTO: Sky News
“Today Maurice has won a battle for the whole of France,” owner Corrine Fesseau said.
Mr Biron started complaining about Maurice’s early morning crowing to his owners, Jacky and Corrine Fesseau, but they refused to get rid of their beloved cockerel.
“The cock’s screeching starts at 4.30am and keeps up all morning and well into the afternoon,” Mr Biron wrote in an official letter to his neighbours in 2017.
As Maurice continued to crow, the row escalated and – against the advice of their lawyers and a mediator – the two sides decided to fight it out in court.
A man wears a T-shirt in support of Maurice, whose loud crows landed him in court accused of noise pollution. Photograph: Régis Duvignau/Reuters
The case featured in national newspapers, T-shirts supporting Maurice went on sale and letters of solidarity from as far away as the US were sent.
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