Cockfighting ban upheld by top court in France
Print Edition
FRANCE’S top court yesterday upheld a ban on new cockfighting pits, as the country seeks to stamp out the ancient blood sport that continues in some regions despite being banned in most parts of the world.
Two Frenchmen had approached the Constitutional Council after they were prosecuted for opening a new cockpit on the French island of La Reunion in 2012.
While animal cruelty is a crime in France, laws make an exception for sports deeply rooted in tradition like bullfighting and cockfighting.
However, while it is illegal to open new cockfighting rings, the construction of new bullfighting arenas is allowed.
The two men from La Reunion argued that this was unfair.
Their lawyer Fabienne Lefevre said the different treatment of the two traditions was an “attack on the principle of equality before the law” and urged the Constitutional Council to overturn the law banning the construction of new cockpits.
However the Constitutional Council justified the different treatment by saying they were two “distinct practices.”
“By banning the creation of new cockpits, the legislator treated two different subjects differently.”
By preventing new cockpits being built, the government hopes to eventually stamp out cockfighting.
Cockfighting, which dates to before the Roman era, was popular throughout the Middle Ages, but a distaste for the brutal sport developed in the 19th century and animal rights activists began protesting against the practice.
It was outlawed in Britain some 150 years ago.
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