To the editor:

I guess I have become a hater! I was unfortunate enough to purchase a property next to someone that owns a rooster.

If you have not experienced a rooster up close and personal here are a few facts. They do not just crow in the morning for a few times. They can crow all day; hundreds of times and it can start at 2 a.m. or perhaps 9 p.m. What this means to those of us that do not enjoy hearing a rooster crow that we can’t open our windows, have to sleep with ear plugs in, have music blasting in our ear phones and pretty much can only sit outside until our feathered friend decides to start up!

I applaud the sentiment of returning to nature and encourage residents planting a garden and even having chickens. What I detest is that someone has the right to own a rooster and is not responsible at all for the noise it creates. I question why a decision to own a rooster becomes more important than my desire to have “quiet enjoyment” of my home.

Like many of you, I commute to Seattle five days a week and look forward to returning to my Bainbridge escape. I am asking if you have had an experience with roosters please contact the city council ASAP as they stated at their meeting on

June 12 that they have had multiple complaints and will be re-evaluating the zoning and perhaps noise ordinances.

I encourage you to support your rights as a homeowner to have quiet enjoyment of your property. The city council needs to know this is important to you!

SARAH LISINSKI

Bainbridge Island