A cock named Maurice can continue crowing to his heart’s content after a judge rejected a lawsuit filed by some unhappy neighbours’ lawyer, Vincent Huberdeau, in France.
Maurice’s owner, Corinne Fesseau, told a court in Rochefort, western France, in July, that nobody else had complained about the noise at her home, except a couple of retired summer vacationers.
She faced having to either move or silence her rooster, but the judge, on Thursday, rejected her neighbours’ complaint about the bird’s early morning crowing and ordered them to pay €1,000 (£897) in damages to Maurice’s owner, Corinne Fesseau.
During the time the the case lasted, it quickly ballooned into a national cause celebre, with 140,000 people signing a “Save Maurice” petition or proudly displaying his picture on “Let Me Sing” T-shirts.
Maurice also drew support from across the world and even made an appearance in the New York Times.
