A 'Hen-Pecked' Nation

A little item in today's Sunday Telegraph, by Laura Donnelly - which I reproduce as there appears to be no on-line link available - caught my eye.

Rocky the rooster cried its last cock-a-doodle-doo after a council issued its owner with a noise abatement order.

Officials at New Forest Council threatened a £5,000 fine unless Paul Wilton found a way to keep the one-year-old bird quiet. Mr. Wilton, from Marchwood, tried locking Rocky up at night and covering barn windows. It failed, leaving him no choice but to kill the bird. "I'm stunned people have taken to complaining about normal country noises," he said. "What next? Moaning about mooing cows?"

Assuming the facts of the story are true - initial observations.

What the feck do people who choose to 'live in the country' expect to hear and if that is a problem why go and 'live in the country'? And how about a council, supposedly one that knows about 'living in the country', told any complainant some basic truths.

Have we, as a nation, become so 'hen-pecked' that we accept 'officialdom' without question, instead of raising the appropriate finger and saying 'go whistle'?


Update: This story also covered here.