The residents of the Heidestede residential care center in Sint Willebrord can sleep peacefully again. The roosters that kept the old people awake for months are being caught this week. Arie den Hertog from Lelystad started the job with his son on Tuesday. There are a total of about 140 roosters that roam around in the adjacent procession park.
The cock catchers gently drive the poultry towards portable cages. “Roosters have a pecking order in which they argue among themselves. We therefore cannot catch them all at once, but in small groups. That’s why we have to move the cage a few times before we get them all,” Arie explains.
A number of residents near the park in Sint Willebrord raised the alarm with Omroep Brabant at the end of last year. They said that they suffered from health problems because they were kept awake by the crowing of dozens of roosters at night.
“We’ve been looking forward to this so much.”
After a signature campaign and repeated campaigns, the municipality finally changed tack and decided to have the roosters captured. “After months we have been freed from the crowing,” one of the residents of the residential care center responds emotionally. “We have been looking forward to this so much. I can hardly believe it yet.”
Arie den Hertog understands the emotions of the residents well. “Because of the lighting in the park, the animals start crowing at four in the morning. When one starts, the others shout back and then the whole party starts. That is not possible for these people.”
“You don’t just leave goats or donkeys to their fate, do you?”
The roosters are collected in a large trailer that is equipped as a chicken coop. Arie: “Most animals are killed and eaten afterwards. People may think that’s sad, but these animals don’t belong here. Roosters and chickens are pets that should be kept in a cage or run. You wouldn’t just leave goats or donkeys to fend for themselves by letting them run wild in a park, would you?”
On Tuesday, the rooster catchers removed about eighty percent of the animals from the park. They expect to catch the rest of the roosters on Wednesday. Arie: “Luckily we have good weather and so far we have only received positive reactions. When we explain why we do this, people understand.”
A resident of Heidestede cannot believe her luck. “I’ll have to get used to the silence tonight, finally!”
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE TO READ THIS:
Crowing roosters drive the elderly to despair: ‘People die faster here’