FErme de Buglose, in Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, in the Landes. In the heart of a meadow and a forest of sixty hectares, a hundred cows graze on grass. “In winter, we leave them alone. We give them food and we make sure that they are well, that they do not need the intervention of a veterinarian. » Teddy Labat, 43, is at the head of a family breeding business started in 1941 by his grandfather. A breeding which, for fifty years, provided its “cowlets” for the cult game launched by Guy Lux in 1962 on RTF: Intervilles.
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So, when Teddy learned of France Télévisions' decision to relaunch the program without the bovines, he was disappointed: “They are going to deprive themselves of the best. Cows are the only thing that cannot be calculated by man. It's unpredictable and spectacular. Too bad for them,” he believes.
Bayonne, Dax and Mont-de-Marsan will not be on showIntervilles
Next summer, France 2 viewers will indeed witness the return of the famous show in a new version. If two cities will always face each other during physical challenges and skill, exit the bovids who lent their horns and their heads to the logo of the program and also made candidates race, not always proud to find themselves facing them. The decision was made by Nagui, host and producer of this Intervilles 2025great defender of the animal cause. “There are no more animals on TV shows today. We know their sensitivity to noise and crowds, their discomfort. Not to mention the risk of injury to humans,” he told our colleagues at West France.
An announcement that quickly caused several historic cities in the program to roar. Dax, Mont-de-Marsan and Bayonne have declared that they do not want to participate. Yves Ugalde, the deputy mayor for culture of the Basque city, notably indicated that “television wants to revive a cult program without taking responsibility for its substance at all. The cow is the constituent element, the salt of this entertainment. »
Charles Dayot, the mayor of Dax – a city which, incidentally, is the first winner of the game – joins him: “ Intervilles without cows, it is not Intervilles. It's something else, it's a fair, or a game show of some sort, but it's not called Intervilles. »
Racing, a national sport in the South-West
It must be said that, in this corner of the southwest, cows are sacred. “During the Bayonne festivals, we release them in a square and everyone has fun. It’s part of the DNA and the initiation rites of our regions,” recalls André Viard, project manager for the Union of Bullfighting Cities. A little further north, in the Landes, we also like to challenge the animal, by jumping over it or making it deviate from its trajectory by brushing against its horns.
This sport, recognized by the Ministry of Youth and Sports and listed as France's intangible cultural heritage since 2020, also has a name, the Landes race, and its own French championship. “These races have existed since the Middle Ages,” recalls Patrice Larrosa, president of the Landes Race Federation. At the time, young people ran behind the cows and oxen that the butchers brought to the slaughterhouse. And then, in the 19the century, arenas were built. » For him, as for bullfighters, in this activity, animal abuse does not exist: “Cows are as well-known and famous as athletes. They all have a first name and when one of them dies, she makes the front page of the Federation newspaper. They are beings in their own right for us. »
Teddy Labat confirms. Every summer, the breeder's ruminants are the stars of shows – Top à la vachette – given in the southwest and southeast. “There is no training, no dressage,” he explains. Cows have the ability to play and have fun in an enclosed space. When you put them in the truck before a trip, you don't have to force them. They go alone, we don't force them. If they refused to participate, they would stay in the corner, they would not even come out of their box,” he relates, before continuing: “Our cows spend their entire lives with us until they die. We do not raise them to eat them and they are not disposable products. We love them. We wouldn't allow ourselves to run them in an arena if we thought it would harm them. »
Intervilles a danger?
Would animals take pleasure in playing with man? The return ofIntervilles without cows in any case revives the debate around the question of animal welfare. And if animal defenders welcome the decision of France Télévisions, another question still arises: while France has 55 bullfighting towns, could other municipalities oppose this 2025 version, like Bayonne, Dax and Mont-de-Marsan? André Viard imagines “that if Nagui goes to Nîmes, Béziers or Arles, he will have the same response”. The project manager for the Union of Bullfighting Cities goes even further: “He has the right to think what he wants, but the most serious thing is that France Télé lets him unfold his ideology. What are they going to do to us after: the trifecta without horses? »
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At the moment, this outcry from pro-cow cows does not seem to influence the France 2 presenter, who is sticking to his positions. “I hear the traditional speeches. But there are nearly 35,000 towns in France. I only need six of them to start and we already have a lot of applications, including some from cities that have already participated. So I’m not worried,” he said in West-France.
Will the public be seduced by the new “cow” of the program, a foam mascot? The audiences should speak for themselves. But for that, you'll have to be a little patient.
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