Chicken man cooped up in Roswell while mourning Piggly Wiggly
Roswell's chicken man spent a night in the coop after a contentious meeting at City Hall this week, and he claims the police chief was trying to tar and feather him.
Andrew Wordes, who assailed Roswell over its backyard chicken law, said he was arrested on a suspended license charge as he exited a city council meeting Monday. At that meeting, the council revised an ordinance on keeping chickens that Wordes had defeated in court.
Wordes had around 150 chickens, but the number people can keep was restricted Monday to 12 birds per acre with a maximum of 36.
He said the city exacted revenge on his crusade by checking his driving record and then lying in wait for him after the meeting, when he said he was arrested and thrown in jail.
"It was totally selective enforcement," he said. "This was their way of getting back at me."
Roswell Police Chief Ed Williams was not immediately available for comment. But his assistant, Vicky Skinner, said the chief denied targeting Wordes. "It's not that we followed him," Skinner said. "He got into his car and happened to get pulled over."
Wordes, 51, was cited for a broken tail light, no proof of insurance and the suspended license. He complained that his $6,500 bail was too high, and said he had to spend the night in jail until Roswell's mayor bailed him out.
Mayor Jere Wood acknowledged posting bail for Wordes, whom he described as a friend. But the mayor said he had no knowledge of a setup. "I have no reason to believe that the city was out to get him," Wood said.
Wood is a bird of a feather when it comes to chickens. He keeps two in a coop outside his Roswell law office. He said Houdini and Buffy will have to relocate because of Roswell's hen house hostility.
"I don't understand why people get upset," he said. He described Houdini as a "very attractive, long-feathered" rooster who will be sorely missed. "Everybody in the office is upset that we're going to lose them."
Wood said he's confident that his buddy won't fly off and leave him with a $6,500 bill.
Wordes said he has no idea when his court date is. He said his life has been hectic since his house was rendered uninhabitable by recent flooding, but said he did manage to pay $70 Wednesday to have his license reactivated.
The Roswell police report of his arrest said his license was suspended over a speeding ticket he got on Nov. 28 in Barrow County. Wordes was clocked at 91 m.p.h. while traveling to see his pig, the report said.
Wordes said he was racing to Athens because his pig, Piggly Wiggly, was at a veterinary hospital there with a broken leg. "I was on my way to see her before she died," he said. He added that the cop in Barrow was "very nice" and let him go on his way, telling him to return and collect his ticket after he saw his pig.
Roswell, on the other hand, was responsible for her death, he said. She broke her leg in the muck outside his house after the flood. He said city officials, embittered by his crusade, wouldn't allow him to move her pen to dry land.
"My chicken fight has cost me everything," he said.
About the Author
Ty Tagami is a staff writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Since joining the newspaper in 2002, he has written about everything from hurricanes to homelessness. He has deep experience covering local government and education, and can often be found under the Gold Dome when lawmakers meet or in a school somewhere in the state.
