Two men from the French Island of Reunion, where cockfighting is allowed, challenged France’s top court, complaining that the current laws were unfair after they were prosecuted for opening a new cockpit.
Any form of animal cruelty is a crime in France but the laws make an exception for sports deeply rooted in tradition such as bullfighting and cockfighting. The law also allows cockfighting to be practiced in northern France and in the French territories of French Guyana, French Antilles, and Reunion.
The law allows new bullfighting arenas to be constructed. On the other hand, the creation of new cockfighting rings is prohibited.

The two men, represented by their lawyer Fabienne Lefevre, said that the different treatments of the two traditions were an “attack on the principle of equality before the law.” They want the Constitutional Council to overturn the law banning the construction of new cockpits.
By banning the creation of new cockpits, the government hopes to stamp out cockfighting eventually.