City Council votes to limit Angelenos to one rooster per household
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In a bid to combat noise pollution, unsanitary conditions and, most important, the continuing scourge of cockfighting, the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously today to limit the number of roosters that can be owned by a single household to one. Our colleagues at the L.A. Now blog report:
Roosters can be heard in a number of neighborhoods around the city, from Wilmington near the harbor to the northern edge of the San Fernando Valley. Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who crafted the measure, said it would provide peace and quiet to her constituents while helping animal control officers crack down on cockfighting. ‘Roosters have their place in this city, but we think having more than one per property causes problems,’ she said.
The language of the legislation makes exceptions for roosters that are part of a ‘permitted and licensed commercial, agricultural or industrial business’ with the proper zoning to allow for multiple roosters. (Examples of such businesses include petting zoos and, this being Los Angeles, companies that provide animals for film and television.)
Residents who already own more than one rooster will be able to apply for a permit to keep an additional two beyond the new limit, for a total of three. In such cases, the extra two roosters can be kept within city limits for the remainder of their lives -- provided they are properly identified with either a microchip or a leg band -- but cannot be replaced after their deaths. A one-time permit to house additional roosters will cost $50, officials with the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services told The Times.
Violations will carry a penalty of $50 for a first offense, $100 for a second and $250 for a third, and repeated noncompliance could -- in theory -- be prosecuted as a misdemeanor, according to NBC Los Angeles. But Linda Barth, the Animal Services Department’s assistant general manager, acknowledged during a recent committee hearing that enforcement would be a tricky proposition. ‘Although we will enforce the [rooster] ordinance to the best that our resources allow, you are correct that as a priority outside of animal cruelty, huge stray animals running about endangering people and hurt animals, enforcing the roosters [ordinance] ... will be a lower priority,’ Barth said.
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-- Lindsay Barnett