Ogunquit rooster fines spark support for family of autistic girl

The Ogunquit rooster fines began as a local zoning fight and have turned into a broader show of support for a 6-year-old autistic girl in southern Maine. According to The Associated Press, David and Sara LeBlanc were fined after town officials said the large metal roosters on their lawn amounted to unpermitted advertising for their attached restaurant, The Omelette Factory.

The LeBlancs told the AP the statues were not meant to promote the business. They said the roughly 6-foot-tall roosters were there for their daughter, Pyper, who loves them and uses them as a comfort object.

Why did Ogunquit fine the rooster statues?

Ogunquit officials treated the rooster display as signage because the family also added a rooster to the restaurant’s logo, according to the AP. Code enforcement officer Tyler McOsker issued $450 in fines and ordered the family in April to remove “all unpermitted signage,” including the rooster statues, the AP reported.

McOsker told the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals in June that he did not know the roosters were tied to Pyper’s autism diagnosis until the family challenged the fines, according to the AP. He also cited a May 2025 local weekly newspaper story that described the roosters as a way to signal that The Omelette Factory had opened for business.

David LeBlanc disputed that account. He told the AP a reporter had misunderstood a customer’s joke about the roosters working like an open sign, and said the family never described them that way.

The rooster collection started with Pyper’s stuffed rooster, her parents told the AP. Pyper came to the LeBlancs as a foster child and was later adopted, and roosters became her favorite animal.

David LeBlanc told the AP that during a visit to a Tractor Supply store last year, Pyper saw a large rooster sculpture and asked what it was saying. He said he answered, “I think he wants to come home.”

The family’s collection eventually grew to more than two dozen roosters, which they arranged in rotating seasonal displays, according to the AP. Pyper often hid behind one while waiting for the school bus, her parents said, because it helped her regulate her emotions and handle the shift from home to school.

What did the town decide?

The Zoning Board of Appeals said it could not cancel the fines, according to the AP. It granted a disability variance allowing two roosters in front of the home, treating them as necessary for Pyper’s access to the house.

The compromise did not end the issue. The AP reported that the variance requires the roosters to be incorporated into a railing, while the family currently has them bolted to the steps. The LeBlancs have since received another $500 fine for noncompliance.

At the board meeting, member Jay Smith questioned how many roosters were needed, the AP reported. Another board member emphasized that the variance covered two roosters only.

Beverley Cush Evans, a special education professor at Lesley University, told the AP that comfort objects are often used in therapy for autistic children. Such objects can help with transitions, emotional regulation and familiarity, she said.

How did supporters respond?

David LeBlanc told the AP he is trying to focus on the support the family has received. The LeBlancs have given some roosters to friends, neighbors and others to “foster” as a sign of autism acceptance.

Photos of rooster statues have appeared in the Ogunquit area and beyond, according to the AP, helped by news coverage and a Roosters of Ogunquit Facebook page. One supporter sent pictures from New Zealand showing children with a rooster statue in their yard.

Hetal Patel, a motel owner in nearby Wells who has a relative with autism, told the AP she drove to New Hampshire with her son after local stores sold out. She said people honked in support after they put the rooster outside.

This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.