Rooster Ban May Be Coming To An End In Sacramento County
SACRAMENTO COUNTY (CBS13) — Sacramento County leaders will consider formally lifting a controversial ban on roosters and other crowing fowl that was put into place after noise complaints.
Current bird owners were worried they might be forced to abandon or kill their pets.
Elsie Lodde is fighting to keep the county from permanently banning her backyard pet roosters, including Michael Crowton. This comes after the county outlawed roosters and other crowing fowl on residential properties.
"The initial reasoning was because periodically the county gets calls and complaints from residents in the area about crowing fowl on adjacent properties," said planning director Leighann Moffitt.
In 2014, the county received about 100 calls about the noise and unsanitary conditions created by roaming roosters.
Chicken owners flocked together to protest the ban.
"You're supposed to do what with them, eat them?" Lodde said. "The shelter doesn't have any space for them."
She has 30 chickens, and many were rescued after being abandoned in Fair Oaks where there's currently a flock of several hundred birds. She's concerned a permanent rooster ban would lead to even more birds being abandoned.
"On average, I would say there was probably four to eight chickens dumped every single day in the village," she said. "If it was somebody dumping dogs at the park, people would be up in arms about it."
County leaders started taking steps to rescind the ban last fall and will vote on allowing the legal return of roosters on Tuesday.
If approved, property owners in the unincorporated area would still need to have about a quarter of an acre or more of land to raise roosters.
