Ways to get around the law

[polishchickens111]

I heard that a young girl got to keep her hens while in violation of a zoning board by insisting that they were pets, not livestock.

Might work if you have a small flock, anyone ever try/know someone who tried this?

 

[italianchicksrule]

I will try if I get caught. I only have 6 little serama hens. It would be worth a try !!!!
TERRI

 

[mountanaman]

depends on how the ordinance in your municipality is worded. if ti only mentions "livestock" and/or "pets" and doesn't define those terms, then maybe. our town has explicit rules for "poultry" and "chickens", so no amount of arguing would help.

 

[Netherworldtaken]

Also if you are trying to get an ordinance changed, being in violation of the ordinance will not endear you to the people making the decisions.

 

[ohiogardener2011]

I am currently challenging the wording of a city ordinance. I claim my chickens are pets. The zoning board says they are not. The law is fuzzy, defining a domestic animal as: "a cat, dog or other small animal commonly kept as household pets...". I don't know about you, but I think that includes chickens.

 

[Denninmi]

Quote:
I have noticed that there is a lot of ambiguity about "pets" in zoning. I think we ALL should start referring to "pet chickens" constantly. Many zoning laws allow things "commonly kept as household pets." Courts tend to look to outside experts, trends, and what is "usual and customary" when deciding these issues. If enough people define chickens as "household pets" then sooner or later courts will start ruling that they are household pets in the eyes of the law.

If I were you, I'd start gathering as many sources of information that refer to chickens as pets as possible. Print out the website homepage from mypetchicken.com. Find articles about pet chickens. Print out catalogs of pet chicken products like treats, leashes, diapers, etc. Anything that will show that people consider chickens to be pets and treat them the same way they would treat any other pet, say a yorkie or a poodle.

 

[calista]

Denninmi's advice is excellent! Establishing a precedent in your area by getting PET chickens defined as such will go a long way towards your goal.

And publicity is your friend, whether it be on Facebook, an interview with a local TV station, or a heartfelt plea to The Powers That Be about the trauma your kids would endure if their PET chickens were taken away. After all, no one thinks a kid should lose his/her dog or cat!

And, of course, being a responsible backyard flock owner with no roosters leaves opponents nothing to complain about, in many cases.

 

[Das_Kluck]

Texas was trying to change the definition of livestock at one point to exclude horses as livestock and to catagorize them as companion animals. If this passes, many horse farms would have lost their agricultural exemption for their property taxes.