Victory in Carcassonne, where the rooster Saturnin will be able to continue to sing in his barnyard. Justice rejected the complaint of a neighbour complaining of noise pollution, bothered by the song of the gallinaceous.
In Carcassonne, in the hamlet of Villalba, a man complained about the singing of Saturnin, a rooster born in the spring of 2019. Happy in his barnyard, the animal often sings, which would affect the tranquillity of the neighbour. Disturbed by the cries of the gallinaceous, the man, therefore, sued the owners of the animal for noise pollution and claimed 5,000 euros or the death of the rooster.
Since then, justice had to decide and if it upheld the neighbour’s complaint, the Saturnin rooster would have been taken from its owners or killed.
“We had inquired to give it to an association that does animal mediation with young disabled children, if it ever bothered anyone. But when we saw that it only bothered one person, we decided to keep it with us , ”explained Charlotte Voltes, the owner of the rooster.
The rooster Saturnin is saved
To save their animal, its owners had launched a petition entitled “We must save Saturnin”. It met with great success since it collected more than 2,900 signatures. The couple also asked the town hall of Carcassonne to modify the public lighting of the village, to prevent the rooster from being «disordered» and to ensure that it sings less often. This Thursday, February 16, justice has decided. The neighbour’s complaint was dismissed, much to the relief of the owners of the rooster and their little boy, who were happy to stay with the animal and the hens and continue to search for fresh eggs in the morning.
“This judgment is a great satisfaction , reacted Franck Alberti, the couple’s lawyer. He recognizes the rural character of the hamlet and saves Saturnin. We are in a small village where the bells ring every half hour between 7 a.m. and 10:30 p.m., where the tractors of the three winegrowers cross the main streets from 6 a.m. at harvest time. Beyond this neighborhood conflict, we do justice to those who become aware of the benefits of the countryside.»
The protected rooster crow
This is not the first time that residents of a village have complained about the crowing of roosters, going so far as to take them to court. This fact happened with the Maurice rooster, on the island of Ré, as well as Pitikok in the Hautes-Pyrénées. Like Saturnin, they were the subject of complaints from neighbors, but were also saved by the courts.
In January 2021, a law was passed to protect the sensory heritage of the countryside . Thus, the sounds of bells are protected, as are the smell of cows and horses, the noise of tractors, the chirping of cicadas… and roosters.