Canada: More than just ruffled feathers on Salt Spring Island
When someone buys a piece of land with the dream to farm, raise livestock and contribute to their community in a meaningful way — arguably the most meaningful way, by providing fresh, local, healthy food — they don’t do so lightly.
By Elsie Born
Salt Spring Exchange
Community Contributed, Farm & Garden, Opinions & Reviews
February 21, 2024
Excerpt:
The situation is frustrating all around. Rooster owners are frustrated that they bought property where farming is allowed, and confirmed this by checking with the Islands Trust prior to purchase. They’re frustrated that they’ve done everything in their power to minimize noise by spending thousands of dollars (and hours!) moving coops, soundproofing, switching noisier roosters for quieter ones, and it’s still not enough.
Their neighbours are frustrated because they feel their lives have been turned upside down by early morning rooster noises with no end in sight. They’ve made it their mission in life to get rid of those roosters, dedicating a significant amount of their time to recording rooster noises (at least 52 from one neighbour alone so far) and calling the CRD with noise complaints every chance they get.
And the CRD is frustrated because they’re being called repetitively to the same property over and over again with the same complaint. They want this issue to end, full stop, and no matter the cost. To make this happen they’ve issued ticket after ticket to some families, and have been bringing officers over from Victoria to deal with these complaints.
The frustration has leaked from a neighbourhood spat to the poultry community at large — with legal ramifications beyond Salt Spring that will impact small-scale farming and food security for decades to come.
