Preparing a Testimonial for City Council.

[Sarahnl]

Hello everyone!

My city currently has very loose regulations on pets of any kind within city limits, and any ordinance about "farm animals" is kind of a free-for-all ( as long as they aren't a "nuisance" and aren't for commercial use it's okay ). Recently, likely with the surge in popularity of "urban ag" movements and backyard chickens especially, the city has decided to possibly rewrite the ordinance (that hasn't been updated since the 1950's, mind you). There are a few (clearly painfully uninformed, if not downright misinformed) individuals that have made it known that they are lobbying for an immediate ban on all poultry within city limits! I was outraged when I read this, the person who was quoted in the newspaper recently about the topic cited backyard poultry as being connected to "slums" and that by allowing chickens the city's problems with "slums" and health concerns will only rise exponentially. Like I said, clearly this person is very misinformed about the cause.

Anyways, that's just to give some backround on the issue. I'm sure many of you dealing with city ordinances and changing them have dealt with mentalities similar to this. I was asked today to be one of three to prepare a testimonial to present to the City Council this coming Monday. Have any of you done this before? What do you think are key points that the Council needs to hear firsthand? I'm not too worried about the actual act of getting up and speaking about the experience of raising hens, it's something I can go on and on about for far too long; I'm sure this is the same case with many other memebers on here

For anyone that's dealt with this/given a personal testimonial like this before, how did you narrow it down to crucial, persuading facts? And how did it go?

It feels like I'm in school again, writing a speech for a class or something!

 

[wyoDreamer]

I would get a number of pictures that show some of the really cute BYC coops that people have made, show that they don't have to be ugly sheds. Make a one-page handout taht can be passed to the council members.

Chickens that are taken care of, like any pet, will be happy healthy chickens that produce healthy food for their owners - food without unwanted chemicals and medications.

Chickens are not smelly, dirty creatures that attract pests. With proper coop maintenance and attention to cleanliness, chickens will not be a nusiance to neighbors.

Chickens eat bugs.

 

[Omah09]

I'm starting work on this in my area, chickens are currently illegal. It would be nice to find some existing information that people have used so I don't have to start from scratch.

 

[mrsbrcant]

I would get letters from veterinarians, state poultry specialists, leaders of the american poultry association and anyone with a PHd, Md or DVM attached to their name. I think this is how the pigeon lobby managed to get 100 pigeons allowed in nearly every zoning code in the country.

 

[OldGuy43]

The Chinese say that one picture is worth a thousand words. I suggest a lot of pictures showing that the homes of backyard chicken folk are not necessarily slums.