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Judge Gives Hill District Man 30 Days To Catch Loud Rooster

HILL DISTRICT (KDKA) – Roosters can be loud and aggressive, but for some in a Hill District neighborhood, they can also be elusive. And one man in particular has really had his feathers' ruffled.

Several roosters and chickens, over a half dozen years, have appeared on property owned by Henry Gaston on Wylie Avenue. Nowadays, only one rooster seems to have taken up homestead there.

Neighbors have complained, and Gaston has been hauled into court.

"I own no roosters; I have no pets," he says.

Neighbor Sharon Hughes is among the many voicing complaints about the rooster.

"It doesn't know when to "coo coo." Most roosters "coo coo" in the morning for five or 10 minutes, he's all day and maybe through the night if he feels like it. You can't get any peace; I want the rooster gone," said Hughes.

You don't expect to hear a rooster crowing in the inner city. In fact, the bird isn't even allowed in the city of Pittsburgh.

But neighbors have taken his picture and a KDKA photographer captured him on video earlier on Thursday. But, so far, no one has been able to trap the animal.

KDKA's Brenda Waters: "Have you heard the rooster?"

Gaston: "I've heard him."

Waters: "Does it bother you?"

Gaston: "I like the rooster."

Waters: "So, you haven't been bringing him here?"

Gaston: "I don't know how they get here. I don't bring them to the property."

Gaston says he has called animal control, and even the zoo, but no one can seem to help him. Meanwhile, his neighbors remain frustrated.

"He makes such loud noises, every day, all day. Whenever he decides he wants to get up everyone else has to get up," Hughes said.

A judge has given Gaston 30 days to capture the rooster or face a fine.

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