Hello!
Anyone else in Weirton WV who own chickens, please attend tonight's (Oct 12) city council meeting at the city building at 7. Because of ferral chickens in King's Creek, the city is planning a new ordinance. I do not know if they plan to ban all ownership although the way this is written it seems as if that is the case, so we need to be there to voice our own concerns and our rights to keep our birds. The first reading of that ordinace is tonight:
http://www.wtov9.com/news/25366183/detail.html
http://www.weirtondailytimes.com/pa...eirton-s--fowl--problem-spreads.html?nav=5006
[snip]
"According to an ordinance going before Weirton City Council tonight, the "unlawful harboring of roosters, chickens, or exotic birds" would be punishable by a fine of $200-$500 and up to 30 days in jail. Council will hear the first reading of that measure when it meets at 7 p.m. today on the second floor of the City Building, 200 Municipal Plaza.
The term "exotic birds" excludes parakeets, parrots, cockatoos and other small birds kept as indoor house pets, the document states.
According to Harris, who also serves as the city's animal control officer, a law now on the books permits residents to keep chickens and roosters, provided they are housed in a regularly-cleaned pen 60 feet or more away from any other house.
However, Weirton has been working to rid the city of dozens of feral chickens roaming the Kings Creek Bowl area for about two years, with limited success. Harris said the U.S. Department of Agriculture has been working to remove the chickens for about nine months now, but the process is moving slower than some residents would like.
It's an issue Harris finds embarrassing for the city, at a time when he'd rather focus on larger issues like economic development."
Across the river, Steubenville OH has already banned ownership of chickens in that city, so it is not unreasonable to believe that will be the case here.
Anyone else in Weirton WV who own chickens, please attend tonight's (Oct 12) city council meeting at the city building at 7. Because of ferral chickens in King's Creek, the city is planning a new ordinance. I do not know if they plan to ban all ownership although the way this is written it seems as if that is the case, so we need to be there to voice our own concerns and our rights to keep our birds. The first reading of that ordinace is tonight:
http://www.wtov9.com/news/25366183/detail.html
http://www.weirtondailytimes.com/pa...eirton-s--fowl--problem-spreads.html?nav=5006
[snip]
"According to an ordinance going before Weirton City Council tonight, the "unlawful harboring of roosters, chickens, or exotic birds" would be punishable by a fine of $200-$500 and up to 30 days in jail. Council will hear the first reading of that measure when it meets at 7 p.m. today on the second floor of the City Building, 200 Municipal Plaza.
The term "exotic birds" excludes parakeets, parrots, cockatoos and other small birds kept as indoor house pets, the document states.
According to Harris, who also serves as the city's animal control officer, a law now on the books permits residents to keep chickens and roosters, provided they are housed in a regularly-cleaned pen 60 feet or more away from any other house.
However, Weirton has been working to rid the city of dozens of feral chickens roaming the Kings Creek Bowl area for about two years, with limited success. Harris said the U.S. Department of Agriculture has been working to remove the chickens for about nine months now, but the process is moving slower than some residents would like.
It's an issue Harris finds embarrassing for the city, at a time when he'd rather focus on larger issues like economic development."
Across the river, Steubenville OH has already banned ownership of chickens in that city, so it is not unreasonable to believe that will be the case here.
