is it true??

[animallover2202]

i was looking online at the law for Indiana and it says if you live in Lafayette any live stock is not aloud but i have a neighbor that has chickens too. and a cop came to my house and said it was ok. so is the Internet lying to me????

 

[aoxa]

Have you read the bylaws for your city?

A cop would not know, or be involved in making those types of decisions.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Different states have different laws. Different cities have different laws. Different counties have different laws. Different HOA's have different rules. Different developments have different rules. I could live in a town down the road from you in the same county and not know what the rules and laws are for you.

Hopefully you are internet-savvy enough to understand that nothing on the internet is reliable. You can't totally absolutely believe anything you read on the internet. You have to check it out and confirm it.

Sometimes laws and rules change. There is nobody going around updating every post that was ever made on the internet when things change.

Different jurisdictions define livestock differently. There may be provisions that allow a few chickens but don't allow you to set up a commercial operation with 10,000 laying hens. Sometimes livestock is grandfathered in if someone had livestock before the laws disallowed it.

There are so many unknowns and possibilities that no one who does not live in your immediate neighborhood can tell you what is absolutely allowed. There is a section on this forum where people list what is allowed in certain places, but even if Lafayette, Indiana is listed there, you'd still need to check to see if anything has changed or if your specific neighborhood has additional requirements.

I don't know the jurisdiction or knowledge of the cop you talked to. I'd suggest you find out who the animal control officer for your area is and talk to them. Who is the person that would respond to an animal complaint? You can call the non-emergency phone number of your local law enforcement office that has jurisdiction over you and talk to them to find out who that would be. You'd expect the law enforcement officer that responds to animal control complaints to know what the rules and laws are.

Good luck. This is not always real easy to sort out.

 

[DaikaijuTorira]

So far municode has been a very reliable source for local ordinances, and for your area it is up to date as of May 7, 2012.
http://library.municode.com/index.aspx?clientId=16436

Chapter 10.01, Article II:
"10.01.020 - Livestock prohibited.
It is unlawful for a person to own, keep, or breed a horse, pig, pony, mule, donkey, jackass, goat, chicken, peacock, turkey, cow, llama or other livestock in the city, however, the provisions of this section shall not apply to zoological parks, or bona fide circuses or carnivals. A person who violates this section shall be punishable as provided in Section 10.01.100 of this code."

If neither you nor your neighbor have had any complaints, you probably have nothing to worry about for now. If you have any future visits from cops who say it is ok, you might want to take note of their name and badge number (if you can) and file it away somewhere, it could be helpful if you have any problems later on. At the very least, you may be able to convince them to speak on your behalf, something to the effect of having seen the chickens and saw no problems, so it would be good to be able to find them if needed.

Another recommendation, take a look at section 10.01.090. There should be a 5 member Animal Control Commission. The Chief of Police, the Director of the Tippecanoe County Humane Society, a veterinarian, and two other residents of the city. They are supposed to meet quarterly and are in charge of adopting rules regarding animals. They would be who you'd be dealing with if you decided to petition the Commission to allow chickens. Also, if you wanted to call someone locally, the director of that humane society looks like the best choice, they certainly should know.

 

[aoxa]

So far municode has been a very reliable source for local ordinances, and for your area it is up to date as of May 7, 2012.
http://library.municode.com/index.aspx?clientId=16436
Chapter 10.01, Article II:
"10.01.020 - Livestock prohibited.
It is unlawful for a person to own, keep, or breed a horse, pig, pony, mule, donkey, jackass, goat, chicken, peacock, turkey, cow, llama or other livestock in the city, however, the provisions of this section shall not apply to zoological parks, or bona fide circuses or carnivals. A person who violates this section shall be punishable as provided in Section 10.01.100 of this code."
If neither you nor your neighbor have had any complaints, you probably have nothing to worry about for now. If you have any future visits from cops who say it is ok, you might want to take note of their name and badge number (if you can) and file it away somewhere, it could be helpful if you have any problems later on. At the very least, you may be able to convince them to speak on your behalf, something to the effect of having seen the chickens and saw no problems, so it would be good to be able to find them if needed.
Another recommendation, take a look at section 10.01.090. There should be a 5 member Animal Control Commission. The Chief of Police, the Director of the Tippecanoe County Humane Society, a veterinarian, and two other residents of the city. They are supposed to meet quarterly and are in charge of adopting rules regarding animals. They would be who you'd be dealing with if you decided to petition the Commission to allow chickens. Also, if you wanted to call someone locally, the director of that humane society looks like the best choice, they certainly should know.

That is a great site for these kinds of questions. Wish they had one like it for Canada.

 

[DaikaijuTorira]

That is a great site for these kinds of questions. Wish they had one like it for Canada.

It looks like there's one group working on an online source similar to municode for Canada:
http://www.municipalworld.com/index.php/CanadianMunicipalCode/Index
Not much there right now, but maybe as time goes on... if there's enough of a public interest in having easy access to the information?

As an alternative that should be trustworthy, if your local area has an official government website there may be a link for the ordinance codes on their site. If not, it may be worthwhile to contact them to ask if the codes are available online and where, or if not, where one might obtain a copy. Depending on the situation, might just be easier to call and ask specifically if chickens, fowl, or whatever are allowed.

Although, when I tried to call and ask for the exact wording of the code that applied to chickens here the response was, "Gee, I don't know, hang on a minute..." (sound of keyboard typing) (sound of crickets) "Umm, hon, we're not pulling anything up here... now if you go online... mmm-maybe you'll be able to find what you're looking for.'

 

[aoxa]

It looks like there's one group working on an online source similar to municode for Canada:
http://www.municipalworld.com/index.php/CanadianMunicipalCode/Index
Not much there right now, but maybe as time goes on... if there's enough of a public interest in having easy access to the information?
As an alternative that should be trustworthy, if your local area has an official government website there may be a link for the ordinance codes on their site. If not, it may be worthwhile to contact them to ask if the codes are available online and where, or if not, where one might obtain a copy. Depending on the situation, might just be easier to call and ask specifically if chickens, fowl, or whatever are allowed.
Although, when I tried to call and ask for the exact wording of the code that applied to chickens here the response was, "Gee, I don't know, hang on a minute..." (sound of keyboard typing) (sound of crickets) "Umm, hon, we're not pulling anything up here... now if you go online... mmm-maybe you'll be able to find what you're looking for.'

I did find a bylaw online for the village I used to live in, but it was not specific like the link you gave to the OP. There was nothing in there about livestock within city limits, and so I took that as - if it's not in there, it's not against the rules. However, it left room for interpretation, and once someone complained, they asked me to get rid of the chickens. From a tiny little village with a population of 1,000 people max. Just seems ludicrous to me.

So I moved WITH my poultry - to a rural setting where there are many farms on my road. Now I'm safe

 

[MaryLang]

I still can not wrap my head around why there are restrictions to a few hens, in any town! I wish we could create a HUGE nationwide movement, I mean, I know we are nationwide, but ykwim??

Also it's a shame that these towns push us out with our chickens, because all the chicken owners I know are well educated, environmentally minded, and make great neighbors. What a silly thing to pick on someone with, and what a shame these communities are pushing these great people out.

 

[aoxa]

I still can not wrap my head around why there are restrictions to a few hens, in any town! I wish we could create a HUGE nationwide movement, I mean, I know we are nationwide, but ykwim??
Also it's a shame that these towns push us out with our chickens, because all the chicken owners I know are well educated, environmentally minded, and make great neighbors. What a silly thing to pick on someone with, and what a shame these communities are pushing these great people out.

I agree with you Mary. 100 years ago the government encouraged people to keep backyard chickens, now they make it a crime. It's really sad.

Kids think eggs come from the store and that's the end of their knowledge. We need to bring back hobby farms so our kids learn where food REALLY comes from.