Welcome New Section: Local Chicken Laws & Ordinances!

[islandchick]

Hi,
We just got verbal notice that we will be getting an official letter to remove our chickens or incur fines. We have six hens in our backyard which we consider our pets, but apparently the town considers them livestock. We are moving them to my husbands shop but I am prepared to try and get the law changed. I do have the backing of the mayor (non voting unless a tie) and the town enforcer (would "love to have chickens but it's illegal") but I am sure this will end up being a time consuming battle. How is it that Atlanta can have no chicken restrictions yet my rural town of 9000 residents considers this a problem..please someone help arm me with more information or documents that I could use to present my case. thank you.

 

[SewingDiva]

Well, as a first step, when you get that letter, the body of the letter include ta echnical citation to the code that the town is using against you. You should look up that code and read it for yourself to see if you can craft an argument against it. For example (I’m just making this up), if the definition of livestock in the code is stated as "animals living on a farm" - and you don’t live on a farm - your defense is that you argue the law does not apply to you and thus the town has no right to enforce the law against you because it is not applicable.

Another tool you can use is due process, that is, making sure you have investigated your right to appeal their decision. Usually in administrative law issues such as this the defendant (you) has a right of appeal prior to the fine actually being levied against you.

Make sure you understand your due process rights and don't assume you have no recourse once you get that letter.

~Phyllis

 

[SpottedCrow]

Here's what I have for Weymouth:
SECTION 6-701 Animals at Large
No person shall suffer any horse, cattle, other grazing animals or fowl kept or controlled by
him to run at large upon any of the streets or other places in the Town, either with or without a
keeper.
SECTION 6-702 Displaying Non-domesticated Animals for Entertainment
(a) No Living non-domesticated animals shall be displayed for public entertainment or
amusement in circuses, carnivals or other similar entities on property owned by the Town of
Weymouth, on Town-owned property under lease, or on private property. As used in this paragraph,
“displayed” shall include, but is not limited to, animal acts or performances, animal rides and
competitive animal races.
(b) This Ordinance shall not apply to domestic animals including, but not limited to, dogs, cats,
horses and farm animals.
(c) This Ordinance shall not apply to exhibits deemed educational by the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
(d) Definitions:
Animals - Any mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian, or fish with the exception of human beings.
Domesticated Animal - Any animal occurring naturally or historically in the United States, that through
long association with humans, has been bred to a degree which has resulted in genetic changes
affecting the temperament, color, conformation or other attributes of the species to the extent that
makes it unique and different from wild animals of its kind. (aka not domesticated)
Wild Animal - Any animal occurring naturally and traditionally within the United States that is not
domesticated.
Exotic Animal - Any animal not occurring naturally or historically in the United States. The phrase
includes, but is not limited to, all manner of lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars, cheetahs, elephants,
zebras, camels, giraffes, reptiles and any crossbreed of these animals other than fish or insects.
Education - Non-profit groups, institutions or individuals who engage in teaching and instructing with
intent and the effect of imparting knowledge to others through oral presentations and/or written
hand-outs (whose sole purpose is to teach without entertainment), or entity deemed educational by
the MSPCA, the New England Wildlife Center, other reputable animal humane/welfare
organizations or accredited by AZA.
Entertainment - Any organization which replicates the traditional wild animal circus in which wild
animals are required to perform tricks or participate as accompaniments in performances for the
amusement of an audience.
SECTION 6-801 Dogs and Cats
(a) Leashing required; length of leash
No person shall permit a dog owned or kept by him beyond the confines of the property of
the owner or keeper unless the dog is held firmly on a leash. The length of a leash shall not exceed
six (6) feet when off the property of the owner or keeper. An owner or keeper may use a leash of a
greater length to restrain a dog on the property of an owner or keeper, provided that the dog is
securely confined to the premises of the owner or keeper.
(b) Disturbing the peace
No person shall own or keep within the Town any dog which by biting, barking, howling or
in any other manner disturbs the peace and quiet of any neighborhood or endangers the safety of any
person or domesticated or farm animal.
(c) Restrictions – Defecation
An owner or keeper of a dog shall remove, and dispose of any feces left by such dog on any
sidewalk, street, park or other public area or on any private property which is not owned or occupied
by such owner. If a dog defecates on property other than that of the owner or keeper, the owner or
keeper of the dog is responsible for the immediate removal of the feces.
Feces shall only be disposed of at a place suitable and regularly reserved for the disposal of human
feces or otherwise designated by the Board of Health, to include an amount of feces that can be
disposed of in the regular trash located upon the property owned or possessed by the person in
control of the dog, provided it is contained in a plastic or paper bag. It shall be unlawful for any
person to allow dog feces to accumulate in any yard, pen, building, structure or premises so as to
cause an annoyance or discomfort to the public.
Section 6-801 (c) of this Chapter shall not apply to a person who, by reason of a physical disability, is
unable to comply with requirements of such a section.
(d) Penalties
The Animal Control Officer is hereby authorized to seek a complaint against the owner or
keeper of a dog who is found to have violated the provisions of this Ordinance. This section shall be
subject to enforcement under the provisions of C. 40, s. 21D.
1. The penalty for the first violation shall be twenty dollars ($20).
2. The penalty for the second violation shall be twenty-five dollars ($25).
3. The penalty for the third and each subsequent violation shall be fifty dollars ($50).
(e) Order to restrain or muzzle; review of order by court
In addition to the foregoing penalties, the Animal Control Officer is also authorized and
empowered to muzzle, restrain or order the owner or keeper of a dog to muzzle or restrain a dog
pending a hearing before the Chief of Police as hereinafter provided, when the Animal Control
Officer finds that a dog has bitten or threatened any person or domesticated farm animal; chased any
vehicle upon any way open to public travel in the Town; or the owner had violated the provision of
this Ordinance more than three (3) times in any calendar year. The owner or keeper of any dog that
has been ordered to be restrained or muzzled under the provisions of this section may request the
Animal Control Officer in writing to vacate such order. If such order is not vacated, the owner or
keeper of such dog may bring a petition in District Court praying that the order of restraint may bereviewed by the court as provided in C. 140, s. 157.
(f) Additional remedies
In addition to any other statutory authority as may be, including but not limited to C. 140 the
Animal Control Officer may, with the approval of the Chief of Police, enter a complaint before the
said Chief for the purpose of obtaining an order with respect to the control of disposition of a dog
found to be uncontrollable or whose owner or keeper is unresponsive to any other penalties
contained in this Ordinance.
(h)Duty of Animal Control Officer; registry required
It shall be the duty of the Animal Control Officer and every police officer to apprehend any
dog found running around at large and to impound such dog in the Town pound. The Animal
Control Officer upon receiving any dog shall make a complete registry, entering the breed, color and
sex of such dog and whether licensed. If licensed, the name and address of the owner and the
number of the license tag shall be recorded.
(i) Notice of impoundment; reclamation; charges
Not later than three (3) days after the impounding of any dog, the owner shall be notified,
or, if the owner of the dog is unknown, written notice shall be posted for three (3) days at one (1) or
more conspicuous places in the Town describing the dog and the place and time of taking. The
owner of any dog so impounded may reclaim such dog upon payment of the license fee, if unpaid, and of all costs and charges incurred by the Town for impounding and maintenance of such dog.
Charges shall be paid to the Town for keeping any dog. The daily rate for keeping of a dog shall be set from time to time as provided in Section 5-305 of these Ordinances.

Section 6-801B regulates noise pollution also...which is what they consider Roosters...

This is from the Board of Health, and I've never seen it before:
Regulation # 3
Governing the keeping and licensing of horses and/or ponies cows, goats, sheep, swine and
poultry
1. The Board of Health of the Town of Weymouth, Massachusetts, acting under the authority of the
General Laws, Chapter III, Section 31, and Chapter III, Section 155, and in accordance therewith and in
the interest of and for the preservation of public health, hereby adopts the following Regulation # 3,
governing the keeping and licensing of horses or ponies, cows, goats, sheep, swine, and poultry.
2. No person, firm, or corporation shall keep within the limits of this town, in any building, or on any
premises on which he may be the owner, lessee, tenant or occupant, any cows, goats, sheep, swine,
poultry, horses and/or ponies, without a permit from the Board of Health. All such permits shall expire
annually on December 31, and shall be the responsibility of said person, firm or corporation to renew such
permits.
3. The owner or person in control of any building or premises in/on which any cows, goats, sheep, swine,
poultry, horses and/or ponies shall keep the buildings and premises free from decaying food, filth, dirt,
stagnant water and all other conditions caused by such animals that may be injurious to the public health.
All such animals shall not be housed less than two hundred (200) feet from the high water mark of any
source of drinking water supply or any tributary thereof, and no less than one hundred (100) feet from the
high water mark of any open waters flowing directly or ultimately into any source of water supply.
4. Land on which horses or ponies are pastured shall be fenced in such a manner so as to prevent any
damage to abutting property, trees or shrubbery.
5. Any owner or keeper of a horse or pony must provide stabling facilities for same. No horse or pony
shall be allowed to remain outdoors at all times, without having access to proper shelter.
6. No stable may be constructed within the Town of Weymouth unless an application for a stable permit is
first obtained from the Board of Health. Such application for a permit to erect, occupy or use any building
for the stabling of horses, horse and/or ponies or pony shall be submitted on a form to be supplied by the
Board of Health. Such application shall be accompanied by a certified plan showing the property to be
used, the location of the stable and appurtenances thereof a floor plan of the stable, the location of any
sources of drinking water, surface water supplies, drains, watercourses, including streams, ponds, marshes,
open subsurface drains, and adjacent dwellings within one hundred (100) feet of the stable. The application
shall also be accompanied by signed statements from all abutters stating that they understand the purpose
for which said application is submitted.
7. The distance from any part of the stabling facilities or the limits of corral to the property lines on which
they are constructed shall not be less than:
a) One hundred (100) feet away from any building or structure used for human habitation
and two hundred (200) feet from any church or meeting house erected and used for the
public worship of God, school, playground, hospital, nursing or rest home.
b) One hundred (100) feet from any adjoining property lot line, the line of any street, court,
passageway swamp, marsh, stream, or pond.
c) Two hundred (200) feet away from the high water mark of any source of drinking water
supply or any tributary thereof, no less than one hundred (100) feet from the high water
mark of any open waters flowing directly or ultimately into any source of water supply.

REGULATION #17 - NUISANCES
In order to protect the public health and in accordance with MGL Chapter 111 Section 31 and
Section 122, the Board of Health hereby adopts the following amended regulation relative to
nuisances.
Under the inspection authority of MGL Chapter 111 section 122, the Board of Health by means of a
Registered Sanitarian or a Chemicals Management & Surveillance officer, duly appointed, acting as
their agent, shall make inspections, by complaint or otherwise, into all nuisances, odors, noise, sources
of filth, causes of sickness, etc. within the Town especially seeking to mitigate overflowing sewers,
cesspools or septic systems, accumulations of rubbish or garbage or animal feces which are not
contained in durable watertight containers or other containers deemed appropriate by the registered
sanitarian.
The Board of Health by means of a Chemicals Management & Surveillance Officer or a Registered
Sanitarian, duly appointed, acting as their agent shall make inspections by complaint or otherwise into
releases of chemical substances whether in solid, liquid, or gaseous states, or any combination thereof,
which are recognized (by placement on the Massachusetts Substances List, as amended) as toxic,
neurotoxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic or teratogenic.
No person, firm, corporation, or other entity owning any parcel land with or without a structure, with or
without plumbing, shall pump, lead, or allow to flow any rain water, clear water, sump water, or flood
water into the municipal sewer.
The following list shall serve to state those conditions which will be considered a nuisance:
1. Overflowingsewage
2. Accumulated manure, dung, or feces from any animal
3. Accumulated rubbish or garbage
4. Release of any harmful chemical substance
5. Noise over 10 dB over ambient background
6. Sickening and/or obnoxious odors
7. Existence of accident/injury hazard
8. Pumping or leading clear water into the municipal sewer
In the event of any finding listed above, the agent shall notify the person, firm, or corporation most
responsible, that such condition is considered a nuisance and shall order abatement on behalf of the
Board within 24 hours or within whatever time the agent considers reasonable.
Whoever causes or fails to abate any such nuisance condition as outlined above shall forfeit not more
than one thousand dollars or as provided by section 122 for a criminal complaint. Every day's failure to
correct said condition shall constitute a separate offense, said condition to be enforced either by criminal
complaint in the district or other court or by noncriminal enforcement under General Laws Chapter 40,
Section 21-D as the case may be.
If for any reason any word, phrase, sentence, paragraph or other part of this regulation is found to be
invalid or in conflict with any superseding statute, law or regulation the balance of this regulation shall
remain in full force and effect and to that end the parts of this regulation are hereby declared separable.
This regulation was adopted by vote of the Board of Health in a regular meeting held April 7, 1999 and
is to take effect seven days after publication.

 

[SeaChick]

islandchick,

We got our town to change the law last year. it was indeed a long and hard battle, involving lots of grassroots organizing, getting public support in the form of 500 letters and emails to the town, and numerous town meetings and soliciting the local media to cover it.

I agree to first check the actual language of your ordinance and the definitions. Sometimes you can use the wording to prove your chickens are pets, not farm animals.

If any of the documents and info on either of our websites would help you, please feel free to use them:
www.sopochickens.org
http://www.sailzora.com/chickens.htm (this is the one we used during our campaign).

Good luck!
Stacey aka Seachick

 

[islandchick]

Thank you guys for all of the ideas...our ordinance is pretty rock solid in that it clearly states no fowl and nowhere are animals defined as pets even in the dog section. I feel like there will be a lot of support and the fact that Wake Forest just got their laws changed may help me. Also, our town is trying to annex some land in the county which is much more rural and I know the law will have to be changed to accomodate these "farms" as well, good timing. Thank you, thank you, any other info is appreciated and I will keep you updated!
In the meantime, it is sad that I have to drive 10 minutes to play with my baby girls...I know they don't mind as much as I do...one of my pleasures now that cold weather is coming was sitting in the hot-tub watching my flock.

 

[saminlove69]

I am a new chick owner but I don't know if I can have chickens where I live. I am in Reno, NV. and would appreciate any information.
Thank you,
Sam

 

[islandchick]

If you want to hear what might happen if you call your city...watch this!!

 

[mksenoj]

Wonderful Idea The Youtube post is very funny. Thank God he followed it to the end.

 

[heritagebirds]

Thank you for starting the thread. I think that the big chicken house farmers underestimate our value as keepers of small flocks. There are so many different sizes, shapes and colors of chickens...they don't ALL need to be white and fat.

 

[MichaelW]

Hello, I am new to the group here and I live in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

I am interested in the idea of a few laying hens for my yard ( I have none at this point) and read the city's animal bylaw, and of course chicken fall under 'exotic' animals and are prohibited within city limits.

"all Galliformes (such as chickens, turkeys, grouse, quails and pheasants)"

great.

I am allowed to have as many parrots, finches, canaries, love birds, or any other exotic parrot, even the huge ones like macaw (WAY bigger and WAY louder than chickens) in my home, or even outside if I wish.. (they are clipped and do not fly) but I cannot have a hen.
There is even allowance for people to have wold Pigeons that fly free and can fly into an roost attached to your home... but they could get a fine if the pigeons lands or rests on a neighboring property, how stupid is that.

I don't understand why you could not license a chicken and be subject to the same regulations as cats and dogs. that is; no pets at large, no accumulation of waste to a point where it creates a nuisance or health hazard, no excessive howling or noise that creates a nuisance ... there are dogs on my street that bark regularly in the middle of the night, not every night, but often. I can live with it and I doubt anyone is calling in and complaining so them folks get fined. I seem to think I would probably get a call in very fast if I decided to go this way, then land myself a nice $2000 fine and lose my hens.