Coalition of Animal Sanctuaries Urges Ban on Backyard Chickens

[Reinbeau]

This thread does not exist for the purpose of arguing about being vegetarian or not, and that discussion has the real potential of getting this thread shut down. If you want to learn and work towards keeping our backyard chickens in our backyards, then participate here. Take any vegetarian evangelism elsewhere.

 

[Galaxiedriver]

I used the term moron without hesitation or regret. I have been a nice guy for 66 years (and for the most part, still am.) and because we are nice, PC etc., we are losing our freedoms daily, and "they" are taking away our religion. Well, no more Mr. Nice Guy here, I'm fighting back. I will no longer quietly tolerate the banning of things that I enjoy.

Here is what I read to a meeting recently regarding the city annexing property in my area.


November 17, 2009

Public input for East Columbia Area Plan

Jan and I moved to our place in the country to be free of city control and taxation. On our agricultural zoned acreage we can grow our garden and raise livestock if we wish and not be concerned that we are violating some restriction or ordinance.
While enjoying our acreage, we are careful to be good stewards of our land, our stream and wildlife.
Today I turned 66 years old. Yesterday Jan was also a year older. Our goals and objectives, and our plan was to create for ourselves a place for our retirement where we could enjoy our life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. We have paid our dues, we have carried our own weight throughout our lives and we have succeeded in meeting our goals and reaching our objectives.
“We the people” are in a time when government is taxing and controlling nearly every aspect of our lives and we have reached our limit of tolerance for this juggernaut of takeover, control and taxation.
As voters, we will vigorously oppose any politician or plan that favors rezoning or annexation of our property or that favors any additional government control over our lives.
Paul and Jan Hobbs
Columbia, MO

 

[Reinbeau]

Galaxiedriver, I understand your passion, but namecalling will also get this thread shut down. Please, everyone, let's have a respectful discussion and keep to the topic.

 

[Ladyhawke1]

Quote:
Taxes, now we are getting into uncharted territory. My rant!

TAXES are how we as a collective people take care of our land/country. People do not understand what their taxes are supposed to do. What I feel and what I think people mean to say about paying taxes are……

We need to take control of how our taxes are being spent. Having said that ….that means my taxes need to be spent on the care of me and my family and the other peoples in this land. That means education, schools, roads, police and fire department and the care of all of us in our old age. Most of us have already put into this system and now it is payback.

The rich corporations need to start paying their fair share because when they get tax breaks it is the middle class that takes up the slack. Middle class used to mean you and me.

OMG! People …say oh NO do not tax the poor corporations, they will not be able to generate jobs and such. Horse pucky! They will just send our jobs overseas to cheat the people out of fair wages over there. That is what my company did.

Don’t you get it? As a responsible people, we MUST pay taxes to maintain a civilized society. As a responsible people, we MAKE sure that those in charge use our money as we demand. Remember, it is our government and it does not belong to the bankers or Wall Street.

Now you can throw me off this site.

 

[mistyfeather]

i dont hoestly think that theses groups will ever sucseed there goals of having backyard chickens baned, granted they can cause a lot of trubble and can be dangerous to uninformed people but i think today most city council members are smart enough to see thru these people. i think if a simple informational pamplet was created that could be given to city counsil members in cities where these people are trying to cause trubble would be enough to stop there crap. let people in these areas know that ther are are many informational sites like BYC that gan give them real true information about keeping chickens. i have MANY vegan and vegitarian friends and NONE of them advocate these extream groups, you guys need to know that these poeple are so far out there they can NOT be reasoned with. i have met several in person and many of them KNOW that they give false information. they dont care as long as it ferthers their goals. my husband works for a dairy and we hear alot from those people, and the dairy he works for is a very humane dairy with organic milk and they even still use the old fasioned glass bottles because its better for the milk and the environment. their goals is that NO animal be used for ANY part that inclueds meat, eggs and even milk. (try and tell a milking cow that it will no longer get milked.... it will probably eat you!) dairy cows get VERY grumpy when they dont get milked aparently

 

[RachelFromTheBlackLagoon]

Am I not looking at the same statement all of you are looking at or what? This is what I found on UPC's site:


"Chicken Care
25 November 2009
Coalition of Animal Sanctuaries Craft Policy Statement on Urban Chicken-Keeping
Animal Activists Urged to Present This Policy Statement to Their Municipalities
A coalition of animal sanctuaries involved in the direct care of unwanted chickens in the United States has formulated recommendations regarding the recent trend in backyard chicken-keeping. As the popularity of raising backyard flocks has grown, our shelters have become inundated with calls to take in unwanted chickens. In addition, we understand many communities are now besieged with requests to legally regulate the keeping of backyard flocks.

Recognizing the importance of this issue, we developed the following Position Statement. If you live in a municipality that allows urban “backyard” chicken-keeping already or is considering an Ordinance to allow the keeping of chickens, please provide this Position Statement to your local Animal Control, City Council, and Mayor. Please use the information in it to write letters to the editor of your local newspapers and respond to media coverage about the trend in urban/suburban backyard chicken-keeping.

But first, please read and consider the issues raised in our Position Statement and consider the reasons we give for encouraging your municipality to resist becoming zoned for chicken-keeping. If zoning is already in place, we urge your municipality to establish and enforce strict requirements designed to protect both the birds, and your community, from serious problems that will, quite predictably, otherwise result. Thank you.

Click here for PDF
Collective Position Statement on Backyard Poultry
Background

In the past year, shelters and sanctuaries in urban and suburban areas have witnessed a dramatic increase in the intake of chickens, particularly roosters. Hatcheries producing day-old chicks for shipment to feed stores and individuals are backlogged with orders. The desire to raise poultry can be linked to organic backyard farming as well as a desire to have direct access to food (eggs and, in some cases, meat).

As a coalition of animal sanctuaries interested in the welfare of hens and roosters, we have created this position statement on the keeping and raising of chickens. All of us have been inundated with calls to take in hens and roosters who are a) no longer wanted; b) not the correct sex; c) not legally permissible. As organizations with limited resources and space, it is no longer feasible to take in even a small percentage of these unwanted animals. Even with placement assistance, most of these chickens, particularly roosters, do not find permanent placement. This leaves municipal dog and cat shelters the task of taking in, housing, feeding, caring for, and inevitably killing healthy, adoptable chickens."

Now where exactly does it say that these organizations are trying to BAN backyard chicken keeping? It sounds to me like they absolutely do have the animals' best interest in mind. Nobody is trying to take your chickens away, nobody is trying to control what you eat... This witch hunt mentality and all of the personal attacks are absurd. Perhaps it would be more beneficial to try and work with these groups to promote and create guidelines for humane, responsible chicken keeping instead of flinging irrelevant insults.

 

[RachelFromTheBlackLagoon]

Furthermore, I know from speaking with people from these organizations that these are the guidelines and standards of care they hope to have municipalities who allow urban chicken keeping to enforce:

http://www.brittonclouse.com/chickenrunrescue/STANDARDS OF CARE 8309.pdf

If you take the time to read them you will see that they're not so different from what BYC members recommend. I don't see anything wrong with these groups pushing for chickens to be kept and treated properly. If some of you would open your minds and see past the fact that they promote a different lifestyle or have a different type of love and respect for nonhuman life, I think both sides could work together toward a bigger picture.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
The words that are in bold type answer your question, also in bold.

 

[RachelFromTheBlackLagoon]

No, that says "encourage to resist becoming zoned" and "establish and enforce guidelines if already zoned", which I linked in my next post.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

And how is "encourage to resist becoming zoned" not banning? And how far is it from "establish and enforce guidelines if already zoned" (which actually reads "we urge your municipality to establish and enforce strict requirements") to banning? Do we tell the owners of dogs or cats or parakeets or gerbild or fish exactly how they must maintain their creatures, and that if they don't the local police will come and take them away? THere are already sufficient laws and ordinances about cruelty to animals to protect chickens. If for some reason they are excluded from those already existing laws, then push to have them included, but don't start over-regulating private property rights.