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Chicken! (Not....)
Feb. 21st, 2006 10:01 amDear, dear.
For decades, French rugby fans have known for smuggling a cockerel, their emblem, into stadiums and releasing it onto the pitch at the final whistle.
With the confirmation of the H5N1 strain of bird flu in a dead duck in France, the British Veterinary Association is asking that that not happen this tour.
Although it would not necessarily be illegal to import a bird, the association says the public might think the authorities are not taking the threat of bird flu seriously if rugby fans were allowed to bring cockerels into the country.
Maybe they could bring a stuffed-animal cockerel? Or a dressed-up human mascot?
Or a big pot of coq au vin...
The fear of the spread of bird fluhas resulted in French rugby fans being urged not to perform one of their most famous traditions when they arrive in Britain next month.
For decades, French rugby fans have known for smuggling a cockerel, their emblem, into stadiums and releasing it onto the pitch at the final whistle.
With the confirmation of the H5N1 strain of bird flu in a dead duck in France, the British Veterinary Association is asking that that not happen this tour.
Although it would not necessarily be illegal to import a bird, the association says the public might think the authorities are not taking the threat of bird flu seriously if rugby fans were allowed to bring cockerels into the country.
Maybe they could bring a stuffed-animal cockerel? Or a dressed-up human mascot?
Or a big pot of coq au vin...
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