Santa Barbara Rooster Owners Give Supervisors an Earful

Upon being voted in as this year’s chair of the county board of supervisors, Supervisor Steve Lavagnino quipped — as he took the ceremonial gavel and so-called “Batphone” to be used during special emergencies ​— ​“It is called a smooth transition of power. So, federal government, you may want to check this out.”

Lavagnino, a former stand-up comedian, would not remain so lighthearted for long. An especially heated discussion arose about a proposal, originally brought by 3rd District Supervisor Joan Hartmann, that would limit the number of roosters county residents could keep on their premises to five. More animals may be obtained via a permit and legitimate reason submitted to the animal control office. The ordinance was intended to reduce the number of complaints about the noise resulting from large concentrations of roosters, famously aggressive male birds. But after listening to numerous outraged rooster owners, Lavagnino lamented, “Three hours in this chair and I totally have lost control.” 

By that point, several North County rooster owners had angrily objected that their constitutional rights were being violated. Two owners, one of which had 140 roosters on his property, both testified they’d served in the military to protect their rights and that they both intended to keep fighting for those rights. One warned that he knew the identity of the neighbors who’d been complaining about his birds, and that he intended to get records of the email exchanges with elected officials to prove it. He charged that he was being harassed because of his birds and that various permit applications for his property had been delayed and stonewalled. He and other rooster owners described the birds as their passion and hobby.

The supervisors’ underlying concern was not just the raucous noise made by the roosters ​— ​especially by residents of Cebada Canyon ​— ​but the specter of cockfighting, a notoriously bloody sport in which the rooster combatants typically fight to the death. Cockfighting is illegal in all states, including California, in part because it has associations with gambling, drugs, crime, and large crowds of inebriated men. No arrests or citations have been issued to any of the rooster operations on Cebada Canyon Road, though it’s been acknowledged that cockfighting does take place in North County.

When the supervisors called upon Dr. Lee Heller ​— ​an animal rights champion with strong personal and political ties to many of the supervisors ​— ​for advice in crafting last-minute changes to the proposed ordinance, the rooster owners became inflamed, objecting that the process was not balanced. “It’s like 99.99 percent on their side,” one rooster owner complained. “And not even one percent on ours.”

Lavagnino ​— ​who had taken offense at the suggestion that the proposed ordinance reflected racial bias and cultural insensitivity against Latinos ​— ​shut the discussion down, and critics of the proposed bill stormed out. Lavagnino noted that his wife was Latina. The new ordinance will assign enforcement responsibilities to the Animal Control office of the Public Health Department. It will also exempt the agricultural youth groups, 4H and Future Farmers of America, from its restrictions, as well as commercial egg or poultry meat operations.