Police Seize Chicks Without A Warrant! ****PHOTOS ADDED****

[Sonoran Silkies]

Even ignoring the individual rights that were trampled, their reputation, both as a department and as individuals, and their ability to enforce law in the future is denigrated.

If this were a criminal case, it would likely be thrown out of court due to the exclusionary rule. I'm not sure exactly how it will transpire in civil court, other than the officers opened themselves and their department up to a huge $$$ civil lawsuit for not following legal procedures. They could also be charged and found guilty of criminal trespass and theft.

 

[Sillystunt]

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DISCLAIMER** i do not think all police officers abuse their power! I have much respect for my local sheriff department. I only meant the officers in this article. And i could also add the city/town council as well as abusing their powers~

 

[Guitartists]

I'm just so very baffled how in this country of ours, especially considering it's history, how we can be denied the ability to own and keep livestock or farm in ANY setting. Sure it's a lot harder to do in the city. But it can be done. And if the animals are being properly cared for....... I don't think anyone, including government, should be allowed to infringe on that. Food & shelter are such basic needs. I know it's a big mess of a mess and no clear lines in some cases....... but I think it's gotten way out of hand. I think people in this modern plastic wrapped society of ours have lost all sense when it comes to this topic. And with towns and cities growing every year from population increases....... how many rural farms will even be left? And will we have to squabble and outwit and maybe even kill one another to secure those most holy of holy agricultural spots so that we can make our own way, even if just by a little? Or will we be out of luck because they will all be owned by huge conglomerates anyways

How long before the only beef in the country is raised by McDonalds and no one else has the right or the ability to argue it?

People are so put off by the smells and sights and sounds of agriculture. What has happened? Without it we would all die. (well, most of us, and certainly the plastic wrapped neighbor type would be first to go as their sensitive constitutions would not allow them to raise or gather their own food stuffs once all the store shelves have been cleared)

edited to add..... I'm done ranting and I think I'll go fry up some yummy yummy eggs for lunch

 

[Birch Run Farm]

To start, I was there and took plenty of photos.

The police knew Kathy was in Northfield processing her roosters (and a bunch of mine). They would have been processed earlier but the processor cancelled, not Kathy. There seems to be some pressure being forced upon the processor to not cooperate. Had she not finished processing early and gotten home the assault upon her property would have been conducted while she was away.

There were three policement, one had a vigorously barking canine in the car near the 'action', clearly an intimidation. The sergeant operating the video camera was laughing the whole time. The police chief used his body to bump Kathy out of the doorway to the coop containing her welsummer flock. WHile doing so, he shouted loudly, "Kathy, you aren't going to hit me are you?" and belly bumped her with the other policemen right up behind him.

They took chicks from their mother and one bird that probably is a cockerel but not old enough to crow. Kathy's welsummer was the only rooster in all of her buildings. These people had no warrant and forced their way into her coops. She asked for a warrant (as did I) and told them they did not have permission to enter her property.

The unnnamed chicken expert refused anyone's request for her identification and qualifications. She started grabbing the welsummer hens and inspecting their vents to say if they were hens or roosters when the rooster does not even look like a hen and he was standing right there! Some expert! To clarify further, this was a pen full of mature birds.

When she and the animal control guy were in the larger barn behind closed doors all you could hear was peeping chicks in distress and loud squalling as well.

No biosecurity was followed by these people. No word where her chicks were going or what else they might be subjected to or exposed to. I'll post a close up picture of what they seized shortly.

No warrant, no court order, no judge, jury....nothing. Law enforcement does not go to such lengths to search homes for drug dealers, grow operations, animal abuse, child abuse, nor, have they silenced neighborhood red neck pipes, barking dogs, loud music or anything else. Only Kathy has been the focus. They didn't even investigate when her coop was broken into which lead to chickens getting out. Instead they ticketed her yet the burgler left behind his belongings! I think that town selectboard likes intimidating people.

There are many large farms right next to residential areas and towns in Vermont.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Okay, one more thing, not related to the legality of this whole situation, but the humanity. My mother, God rest her soul, lived in one particular home for most of her life, in a city that does not allow chickens or farm animals of any kind - a residential neighborhood with lots ranging from .15-.25 acres. That neighborhood had CC&Rs, as most neighborhoods do, detailing what is and is not allowed. Anyone moving into that neighborhood was provided a copy of those CC&Rs when purchasing a home. Then, after living there for almost 40 years, someone moved into the house behind my mother's and decided they wanted chickens. My mother was fine with that until they started hopping the fence into her yard.

So here is this 70+ year old woman, disabled from a stroke, in a wheelchair, looking out into her backyard (the yard she worked so hard to maintain for 40 years) and there are chickens pecking and pooping around. That's when i would get a distressed call to come and catch the chickens (this was years ago before i had chickens of my own). So i would drive over there, catch the chickens, and walk them around the corner to the neighbor's house to hand them back. After about 50 times of this, it got pretty old.

My parents chose to live where they did, under certain constraints, because they wanted a certain lifestyle. And it is not fair or right for someone to come into that situation and inconvenience everyone else, just because they want to do what they want to do.

Okay, i'm done now.

Edited to add: i just read the post above mine which posted at the same time. It sounds wrong and horrible and atrocious how this woman was treated. My post is not meant to diminish that in any way.

 

[Sillystunt]

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I agree! I think we should have the right to produce our own food. I mean , we all know you can't have a herd of cows on a 1/2 acre plot,LOL but why can't we have poultry or small animals according to the size of land we have????

Blame trac housing , HOA's and yuppies(ok, just playing about the yuppies)! They have bought old farms, put up identical housing & demanded a "way of life" from those who purchase from them.

When we bought i told the agent, "Don't even show me properties that are HOA's" She was kinda shocked and said,"the nicest neighborhoods are HOA". LOL yeah, with VW buses, holiday decorations & chickens??? My god, christmas is a goal to have a grizwald house! The more lights , the better!! And i will be darned if i can't paint my house what ever color i want & have broken down VW buses in the driveway! LMAO

 

[Sillystunt]

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[Guitartists]

Yes, clearly chickens at large are an issue and I wouldn't deem that proper care if they off their property and destroying other people's property. That's too bad that it happened to her..... and surely a few bad apples do spoil the bunch.

That's why I'm glad so many folks here at BYC promote responsible ownership

 

[ducks4you]

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There are several issues at stake here. One is the notion that our Federal Government has any business in what should be a local, perhaps, state issue.
Another is what local laws were/are in place that would forbid Kathy's chicken operation?
I would ALSO like to know how and why it is that keeping backyard chickens is a novelty. Why were any laws passed forbidding this? Was there a disease outbreak that was linked to chickens? Are there laws that require the owner to remove poultry manure regularly? Did your city or town outlaw chickens because no one kept livestock anymore, and people there didn't like the idea of farm animals in the back yard when they now lived in the suburbs where only a cat or dog could be there? (Modern thinking.)
IF A N Y O N E here on the Forum knows why chickens were outlawed where YOU live, that could be used in court as an example to prove why YOU SHOULDN'T have yours.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

i thought i heard that chickens were outlawed in the city of Sacramento because of some type of disease outbreak at some point, but don't know the particulars.

Very interesting question!