‘A good rooster.’ Carl, the charismatic fowl, gets second line funeral in Ocean Springs

Hundreds of Ocean Springs residents gathered downtown Tuesday evening for a jazzy funeral parade to give Carl the rooster, the town’s slain mascot, a proper farewell.

Many attended wearing extravagant costumes and bedecked umbrellas often seen in a traditional New Orleans second line.

And everyone who came had a story about how the charismatic fowl made a big impression on them.

The rooster’s death made national news last month when surveillance footage showed a group of people kidnap the bird from Ocean Springs around 3 a.m. and then dump him in a Biloxi parking lot.

Those in attendance at Tuesday’s parade chose to celebrate Carl rather than remember his shocking death. A two-block parade route was chosen to mimic Carl’s daily routine.

“He slept at the tattoo shop at night, and he always started his day here at breakfast,” said Oren Zweig, owner of the Lil’ Market deli, outside the restaurant.

That’s where a group of bagpipers affiliated with nearby St. John’s Episcopal Church kicked off the ceremonies with renditions of “Goin’ Home” and “Amazing Grace.”

Blackwater Brass, an Ocean Springs band known for its funk and New Orleans jazz repertoire, led the procession to the Twisted Anchor tattoo shop on Government Street with standards including “I’ll Fly Away” and “When the Saints Go Marching In.”

Chris Hansen, who plays tenor sax in Blackwater Brass, first saw Carl after he moved to Ocean Springs from Hattiesburg about a year ago. Hansen and his wife were eating popsicles at Pop Brothers, which adjoins the tattoo shop.

“And then this rooster came up to us, and we’re like, this must be someone’s pet,” Chris Hansen recalled.

It wasn’t long before they learned the bird was no one’s property but rather “the town mascot,” Hansen said.

Sage Biber, 9, attended the funeral with her parents and younger sister, Coral, who was dressed as a rooster. Sage remembered Carl as “super supportive.”

“And he was just there for people,” Sage said. “He was just a good rooster.”

When Sage heard about Carl’s death, she was “devastated” and cried, she told the Sun Herald.

“The first few moments, I was shocked, and then I just decided that this is just how life is, and we’re going to have to live with it and stuff was gonna be like this. So I’m gonna have to accept it even though I’m not ready to.”

Kendra Shaffer, a Jones County juvenile corrections officer, has been arrested and charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty in connection with Carl’s death, and is set to appear in court May 25.

This story was originally published May 10, 2022 at 9:29 PM with the headline "‘A good rooster.’ Carl, the charismatic fowl, gets second line funeral in Ocean Springs."