AXE LOOMS FOR LOUIE
MAN’S BACKYARD BIRD FALLS FOWL OF THE LAW
Louie is a good rooster and a protective father and deserves a reprieve
TREVOR MONOHAN (PICTURED)
LOUIE the Rooster is on death row and there will be no reprieve unless a local law is changed, says his owner Trevor Monohan.
This week the Townsville City Council delivered Louie’s owner a notice to get rid of the prohibited fowl from his Heatley backyard or the council will “dispose of the seized animal by sale or destruction”.
Mr Monohan acknowledges Louie is prohibited under Townsville City Council Local Law No. 2 (Animal Management) 2011, but says the law needs a complete revision in order to save Louie and other suburban roosters from death.
Louie is fitted with a “no crow” collar. The collar sits under his hackles and prevents him from crowing loudly. He can still crow, but Mr Monohan says the noise is reduced to a muffled “urgh, oh” sound.
“The lady next door jumped on the internet and she found for me this band. It’s velcro and goes around their neck and it stops the crowing,” Mr Monohan said.
“I got that and he hardly makes any noise now. It’s less than a barking dog.
“He’s got four girls he looks after and they make twice the amount of noise as him when they’re doing their egg laying thing.”
Mr Monohan said he never set out to own a rooster, but his kids brought some chicks home from the Mundingburra markets at Christmas and before he knew it Louie was among the brood.
“The lady they got them from said if one turns out to be a rooster bring it back,” Mr Monohan said.
“But the markets haven’t been on again because of the coronavirus, so we couldn’t.
“I rang the council a month or so ago and told them that I’ve got a rooster and he’s got the no-crow band and they told me if they didn’t get a complaint then it was OK.
“It’s not like I tried to hide Louie.” But the notice from the council has ruffled Mr Monohan’s feathers, as he says council officers should come see for themselves it’s not Louie making the noise.
He said if he owned a barking dog he’d be given an order by the council to get a barking collar, so why not the same for the rooster.
“I tried to reason with them to see if they could listen to me, but no one will,” Mr Monohan said.
“A bloke dropped off a compliance notice and they’ve given me seven days, until 8am on August 7 to get rid of the rooster and if I’m not compliant I could be fined $6672.”
Mr Monohan said Louie had a responsibility to look after his wife Dewie and the other girls.
He said Louie was a good rooster and a protective father and deserved a reprieve.
“If I want to appeal I’ve got to do that within 16 days, but he still has to go within seven days,” he said.
“If Louie goes, Dewie’s going to be lonely.
“I know I’m going to have to get rid of my rooster, I’m not going to be able to beat this.
“But if they just listened to me, they could take a recording and see that he’s not a normal rooster. He’s nowhere near louder than a dog.”
A Townsville City Council spokesman said the council’s animal management local laws existed to protect the amenity of the community and environment.
“Under the laws, a rooster cannot be kept on an allotment with an area less than 4000sq m,” he said.
“Council has received complaints about a rooster being kept at a property in Heatley.
“A council officer contacted the animal’s owner this week and appropriate enforcement actions have been taken. There is currently no plan to review the local laws relating to the keeping of animals.”