Cock-a-doodle don’t: Owner forced to give bird away after one complaintTelegraph reportersSat, October 31, 2026 at 3:37 PM UTC
Bruce the cockerel has now been returned to the animal rescue where Laura Wain found it
A cockerel owner has been forced to give her bird away after an anonymous neighbour complained about noise.
Laura Jane Wain, from Upper Halling, Kent, rescued the bird, called Bruce Almighty, last autumn.
But in late July, Labour-led Medway council sent Ms Wain a letter saying she needed to reduce Bruce’s noise following a single complaint about the bird’s crowing.
None of her neighbours has admitted to making the complaint, she claims.
She said: “I have had supportive messages from people saying they liked hearing the cockerel, that it feels like the country, and they were willing to write in support of us to the council.
“It’s a semi-rural area, and the houses are quite far apart with a decent amount of land between them, but when the light mornings started that’s when we first got the complaint.”
The council suggested several ways to silence the noisy bird, including putting Bruce in a box or coop with a lowered ceiling to stop it throwing its head back to crow.
But Ms Wain feared this could amount to animal cruelty, and resorted to taking the cockerel into the cellar overnight and bringing it out at around 7.30am or 8am.
‘I loved the sound of crowing’
Despite that, she received a second letter in September issuing an anti-social behaviour notice and threatening a £1,500 fine if the alleged nuisance continued.
She said: “It’s not a constant sound, it was only every so often and I loved it – I thought it was a gentle crowing.
“The chickens loved it and they laid more eggs, he was better for their mental health. But now one person, who wouldn’t even talk to me, has made it all go away.”
Ms Wain said she might have fought back, but with family members suffering serious health problems, she decided she could not face a battle and returned the cockerel to the rescue where she adopted it.
A Medway council spokesman said: “We have a statutory responsibility to investigate complaints that may be considered excessive, regular or constant – and that unreasonably interfere with the wellbeing, comfort or enjoyment of a resident’s property.
“Most cases are dealt with informally. However, if this is not possible, we will take formal action.”
The authority added that whether a reported disturbance occurred in a rural or urban area was taken into account when assessing noise complaints.
However, it said officers also considered the frequency of the noise and how much it affected the wellbeing of neighbours.
Evidence gathered included diary sheets from residents logging the dates and times of disturbances and how they were affected, followed by an investigation by officers.
Source: Nature
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