30-07-2025
Calls to ban cow fighting instigates France's latest culture war
Pitting cows against each other is a traditional spectator sport in the French and Swiss Alps, but fans are now locking horns with activists who want it banned on animal welfare grounds.
A bill to make cow fighting illegal has been tabled in the National Assembly for the first time. Unlike bullfighting and cockfighting, which are banned in most of France, cow fighting is not a blood sport, according to enthusiasts.
The two cows, with blunted horns, engage in a pushing contest until one backs away. The loser from each round is eliminated and taken out of the competition until only one is left and declared the overall winner.
The contests, which aficionados call combats de reines, or queen fights, exploit cows' natural instinct to fight for dominance in a herd. Hérens cattle, an Alpine breed known for their combative temperament, are said to make the best fighters.
Jean-François Coulomme, the left-wing MP from the Savoie region bordering Switzerland who introduced the bill, said the practice was barbaric. He claimed both cows and spectators risked injury.
'This form of entertainment was only imported into the French Alps less than 30 years ago and cannot claim to be a traditional practice,' Coulomme said.
Fans, however, insist that it is an ancestral tradition dating back hundreds of years.
Coulomme's private members' bill has been signed by 74 MPs from across the hard-left party France Unbowed, the Greens and President Macron's Renaissance party.
Animal rights activists claim pregnant cows are often made to take part in the contests because they are thought to fight more intensely.
'These fights between 800kg animals can be very violent,' said Pauline Di Nicolantonio, the head of the Savoie Association for Animal Justice. 'Videos of the fights are shocking, and it's even more shocking that the cows have to be pregnant to fight better.'
Fans of cow fighting, including farmers, residents of the French Alps and a number of local MPs, describe those opposing the practice as city-dwellers who are out of touch with countryside traditions and values.
'Those who are against queen fights are deepening urban-rural divisions because of a lack of understanding,' said Jérôme Garcin, a farmer from Les Houches, a village near Mont Blanc.
'In the high Chamonix valley, these natural contests have been organised for many generations,' Garcin added. 'I can understand that it is shocking for people from places where it hasn't been practised for centuries, but I encourage anyone to come and see how we pamper our cows and treat them like high-level sports contestants.'
Xavier Roseren, a centre-right MP for the Mont Blanc area, also described cow fighting as 'part of our living cultural heritage' and said that participating cows were very rarely injured.
Bullfighting and cockfighting are banned in France except in areas where there is 'an uninterrupted local tradition'.
Cockfighting is therefore allowed in parts of northern France and several overseas territories in the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean. Bullfighting is permitted in parts of southern France where it has been practised for centuries.
