After the cock Maurice who sings too early on the island of Oléron, it is the turn of about fifty ducks and geese to be accused, in Soustons in the Landes, to cacket too loudly. Their owner is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday, September 3, in the Dax court, but according to both parties, the trial should be dismissed.
In this town of 7,600 inhabitants, a resident has assigned his neighbor, who raises "about fifty ducks and geese," to appear. The object of his wrath? "The incessant noise and other nuisances that my ducks would cause him," Dominique Douthe, 67, told AFP.
A breeding that is controversial
"This conflict started about a year ago when this neighbor acquired his property," says Ms. Douthe. He came to complain about the noise of my poultry twice a week from June to October 2018. "For the wife of the couple of plaintiffs, who does not want to be identified," when we visited the house, in winter, "she told AFP," geese and ducks were less numerous, therefore, less noisy ".
For the couple, it is not just noise: "the farm is located near a stream that flows into a Natura 2000 area in which it is prohibited to park a farm". "What we think is important is the respect of environmental regulations, and that is what motivated us to continue: the rules must be respected by everyone," said the wife.
"We are in the Landes all the same!"
In this small hamlet, "many houses have a corner for the breeding of poultry, we are in the Landes anyway!", However, a riverine owner owns some chickens.
The farmer contacted animal welfare associations including 30 million friends and the Brigitte Bardot Foundation. A petition from a "Hardy Duck Support Committee" gathered around 5,000 signatures on Saturday.
The mayor of Soustons, Frédérique Charpenel, wrote Friday, August 30 on his Facebook page that it was "absolutely necessary in Soustons and throughout France, to preserve the characteristics of rural (agriculture, livestock, fishing, hunting, etc.. .,) ".
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Several cases of rural noises, roosters like Maurice whose judgment will be pronounced Thursday, September 4 at Rochefort, bells that ring or frogs who croak, agitated the countryside recently. The mayor of the small village of Gajac in the Gironde has even proposed to have these noises classified as national heritage and founded the association L'Echo of our campaigns, to "protect our rural world and our traditions".