Chicken Trials: Afowl of the Law?
Author and city chicken advocate Pat Foreman alerted us to a story breaking in our northern neighboring Montgomery County, which we’ve dubbed MoCo vs Chick Coop.
It seems that Montgomery County is taking Margy Stancill to court for owning about a dozen birds. Ironically, Maryland is home to some of the largest poultry farms in the country – and yet this small flock got Margy into trouble. The Stancills are pictured here in court, joined by Foreman and her “therapy hen” Ms. Oprah Henfrey.
At issue in the court case of Stancills vs Montgomery County is the definition of chickens as pets or livestock. The keeping of livestock is, understandably, heavily regulated – the law demands that livestock be setback 100 feet from other residences. (There are no such setbacks for pets.) And sure, that makes sense to keep cows from the yard outside your window. But should hens — when kept with care — be lumped in the same category?
We have a similar situation here in DC. Like in Maryland, there are no requirements for setbacks or written consent from neighbors for pets. But chicken advocate Caryn Ernst shared on this blog that “when the Animal Control Officer came to our door to remove our birds, he insisted they are considered “wild” birds and not domesticated, but I can’t think of a bird more commonly domesticated than chickens.”
So are chickens domestic animals? When taken care of, aren’t they just as quiet, clean, and safe as cats and dogs?
Posted in Access
