Roving rooster behind bars in Saugus

SAUGUS – A rooster received a less than pleasant reception from the residents of Pleasant Avenue after wandering into the neighborhood and doing what roosters do: crowing at sunrise.K-9 Control Officer Harold Young said he was still on vacation when calls from residents started coming in over the weekend for the wayward rooster.”He was there all weekend,” he said. “I finally got the call Tuesday morning.”The problem, Young said, was the rooster could be heard crowing at sunrise, right on cue, but then would disappear until about 4 p.m. In fact, around 4 p.m. Tuesday Young got the call the rooster was back.Young and an officer from the Animal Rescue League headed over to Pleasant Avenue, located off Essex Street, where they expected to spend an hour or more chasing down the bird. Four minutes and one lucky catch later the bird was in hand.”He’s a beautiful looking rooster,” Young said, adding he could only speculate on how it ended up on Pleasant Avenue. “Someone must have dumped it because you need a permit in town to have one.”Because roosters are known for their crowing, Young said residents wishing to keep one must apply to the Board of Health for a permit and no one has.For now. Young is keeping the fowl in the kennel outside his office but he is hoping to find him a better home. He said the Animal Rescue League in Dedham can only take up to two roosters and it already has two, so he is waiting to hear from another organization.It has been a busy week for Young who also helped rescue a cat who had been stuck in a tree about 45 feet off the ground for three days. Typically cat rescues are not encouraged but after three days Young said they had to step in.”It was so high they had to use ropes like rock climbers,” he said. “They delivered right into the hands of the owner.”Fox and coyote sightings have also been up along with reports of missing cats.”And we’ve been getting calls about gardens ravaged by woodchucks,” he added. “It’s been crazy. We are busy, busy, busy.”