Man Has 30 Days to Catch Rooster, or Else

It's been driving neighbors in Pittsburgh crazy
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 30, 2016 3:55 AM CDT
Updated Sep 30, 2016 6:30 AM CDT

A Pittsburgh man has been given one final chance to catch a noisy rooster that has plagued his neighborhood for years. At a court hearing Wednesday, District Judge Oscar Petite ordered Henry Gaston to find a way to trap the rooster that lives on or near his property and is notorious for crowing at all hours, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. The judge seemed horrified to learn that Gaston—who claims he doesn't own the bird—had tried leaving out corn laced with rat poison. "What's wrong with throwing a net over him?" Petite said. "Get some buddies and corner him." Hens are permitted in the city of Pittsburgh, but roosters are not allowed, CBS notes.

Gaston, who has faced several rooster-related hearings this year, told the court that animal control had also failed to catch the wily bird, and the zoo "said they didn’t have the capabilities to catch a rooster." Petite said he would give Gaston another 30 days, after which he would face penalties including a possible fine if the bird was still free. The judge said he hoped the rooster would be transferred to a farm. "We don't want the bird euthanized," he said. "That's a nice-looking bird." After a hearing in July, a neighbor who sometimes gives the bird peanuts told the Post-Gazette that "Chicky" would never be captured. "You won't catch him," she said. "This rooster is smarter than all of us." (Chickens can be odd form of protest, too.)

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