Last week, I crowed about the death of various bills in play to control obnoxious and intrusive rooster ranting in suburban and urban areas throughout the state. After some annual optimism, the pending bills were stifled in an apparent display of chicken shift. But no more tongue-in-chick jokes this week, just some stark reality…
Children in Kalihi stage cockfights and chase down crowing critters in plain view, but we can’t seem to find the legislative fortitude to come up with any partial solution, other than to suggest calling one guy- one guy!- to help residents remove pesky, parading poultry.
We’re not talking about farming communities or romantic, historic, rural settings where a rooster cackling might signify “good morning”. As proffered last week, some rooster morning moans occur at 3am. Or whenever. No thanks. The days of Arakawas’ crowing rooster ads signifying Waipahu’s historic Depot Road are long gone, but regularly rambunctious roosters remain, multiply, and cause more havoc in more places more often. In the meantime, the legislature, as it does annually, indicates that it may get back to this later… yet another project/problem kicked down the pot-holed road.
Chicken poop, rotting, gaffed chickens, kids corralling cocks for fighting, betting in non-rural, open areas, metal gaffs affixed to chicken’s legs for entertainment (and profit)- it’s now the norm, while unhappy neighbors try to make sense of this nonsense. We deal with feral cats, pigs, mongooses, and other local creatures of annoyance, but we chicken out on a fowl solution year after year.
Some talk about the cultural tradition of free-range chickens. Different place, different time. We’ve also heard for years about the accepted cultural relevance/tradition of neighborhood fireworks on New Year’s Eve. Not so much now, perhaps, after the deadly tragedy of Dec. 31, 2024.
Bills are often introduced to appease a constituent base. You know, say you’ll work on it to ensure that your home boys know you’re fighting for them, and then watch/let it die in committee. “Hey… I tried”. Don’t rattle the chicken coop; after all, many elections are decided by a few hundred votes. Avoid controversy whenever possible and don’t make “risky” decisions that might alienate 5% of the neighborhood vote. Law low; punt.
Nobody likes dogs barking at 3am, but calls to the police often force dog owners to deal with their pets. But free-roaming fowl? We can’t figure it out; repeatedly.
Think about it…