A British man has been fined after his noisy pet rooster subjected neighbors on a quiet street to “torture” by repeatedly crowing as early as 3 a.m. Harold Brown was hauled into court over the nuisance bird, which was recorded crowing every minute for an hour and a half by environmental officials after residents complained of the continual “cock-a-doodle-do” sound. The 80-year-old claimed in court that the noise was more of a “croak” than a traditional rooster’s crow, but 6 of his neighbors in the residential cul-de-sac on the edge of Hampshire’s New Forest disputed that. They told the magistrates that they had to avoid parts of their houses in order to get away from the significant squawking that occurred nearly every morning. Brown, who represented himself during the proceedings, disputed the evidence and said there was a conspiracy by the residents and the New Forest district council against him. In the end, he was fined ￡200 ($253) for failing to comply with an abatement notice to keep the noise down. In addition to the fine, Brown was ordered to pay ￡300 ($380) in legal fees and an ￡80 ($100) surcharge.
