Cocka-Doodle, the family pet threatened with banishment from the backyard chicken coop because his early-morning crowing disturbed a nearby condominium resident, is now a reprieved rooster.
Gary and Joy Robbins were notified by telephone Friday morning that the Salt Lake City-County Health Department has decided they can keep Cocka-Doodle.The offended neighbor will apparently have to buy some earplugs.
Earlier this week Joy Robbins and two of her three daughters pleaded Cocka-Doodle's case before a health department administrative hearing. The department, in response to a complaint from a resident of a condominium development behind the Robbins home at 1050 E. Vine, had issued a notice of violation.
Cocka-Doodle had been charged with breaking health department regulation 21.7.0, "making a noisy disturbance within the limits of Salt Lake County."
But after hearing the Robbins' side of the story, and undoubtedly seeing the public support for the family and their banty rooster, Patti Fricks, director of sanitation and safety for the department, decided to let Cocka-Doodle stay.
"We're thrilled," Joy Robbins said Friday. "We want to thank everyone for the support they have given us. Patti Fricks and her people at the health department have been nice throughout this whole thing, and I felt they handled the situation really well. I hope this is the end of the matter."
The experience has been educational for her children, she said. Not only have they learned about how local government works, but Summer Robbins' sixth-grade class at Woodstock Elementary focused on the issue during a current-events study period.