Wetin Musa no go see for gate?! In what appeared to be a funny twist of event, France has passed a law which protects the “sensory heritage" of its rural areas. In simple terms, it is protecting the sounds and smells of its country side.
This law became needful after complaints were laid regarding noises and smells that were typical of a country side. The complaint in question was that of a rooster called Maurice, who was being put on trial in July of 2019 as neighbours complained of his early morning crowing.
The complaint of noise pollution was outrightly rejected by a court in Rochefort, western France and the neighbour was ordered to pay €1000 in damages. Shey monkey dey sleep, yanga come wake am?
This court injunction only brought a growing division between rural and urban France as Maurice’s owners were city dwellers who only visited a few times in a year.
A Rooster Wins Case In Court
Maurice’s owner didn’t even help matters when he said, “He is a rooster. Roosters have the desire to sing". While the Mayor of Saint-Pierre O’léron, Christopher Seuer, added, “I am all for preserving French traditions. The rooster cry is a French tradition that needs to be preserved."
In his statement on the new law, the French Minister of Rural Affairs, Joël Giraud, said the law had already passed through the lower house of the parliament last year and was only being voted into law by senators this year.
He added that a “better understanding of the typical sounds and smells of rural areas will be useful in preventing disagreements between neighbors". I’m still trying to figure out what that means exactly.
He concluded his statement by saying that the approval of the law is a “posthumous victory for Maurice the rooster, a symbol of rural life". Maurice, sadly, is now deceased.
