Monday, December 8, 2008
The Lawrence City Commission has dealt with a lot of tough issues — from infrastructure improvements during a tough economic downturn to a growing homeless population.
But nothing could prepare them for the chickens.
Or the hedgehogs.
During Tuesday’s commission meeting, commissioners were asked to address concerns about the vagueness of Lawrence’s laws regarding live fowl and domesticated hedgehogs kept within city limits. Midge Grinstead, executive director of the Lawrence Humane Society, initiated the discussion with a list of concerns about the laws.
Grinstead said she was not trying to get the city to outlaw live chickens within the city limits, but rather she wanted the city to clarify its stance.
“If there’s a chicken at large, what is animal control going to do with it? They can’t bring them here,” Grinstead said.
Grinstead said she was also concerned that a dog or cat owner might lose their pet if the animal attacked someone else’s chicken.
Anna Kern, a Memphis second-year graduate student who spoke at the commission meeting, said that residents should keep any disruptions a chicken coup might cause in perspective.
“People are allowed to have dogs. My neighbor has a dog and it can poop on my front yard, where my 3-year-old does somersaults,” Kern said. “But with the chickens, you know where they are, you know where the waste is, you can regulate your exposure to it — as long as you don’t have roosters, there’s really no noise ... It’s nothing like having a German Sheppard next to you that barks every time you come out your back door.”
Kern, who raised two flocks of 20 chickens within city limits earlier this year, also said concerns about health issues related to fowl were overinflated.
“I think any sort of negative health impact for people is really, really low,” Kern said. “People talk about avian flu, but for that sort of disease to mutate into a strain that people can get, you have to have thousands of chickens in one small area. You don’t get that sort of mutation in a backyard flock.”
Several Lawrence citizens in attendance addressed the commission during the public comment portion of the discussion. Andrea Rapinsky, a member of the Coalition of Lawrence Urban Chicken Keepers, or CLUCK, asked commission members to remember that many local citizens become involved in chicken raising because of concern for the humane treatment of animals.
“We knew all along that the city ordinances controlling chickens were unclear,” Rapinsky said. “That’s why we got together, to address that lack of chicken security. We’re happy to work with the city address the concerns of its citizens, and also look out for chicken welfare.”
Brian Azcona, Louisiana second-year graduate student, quoted Thomas Jefferson at the commission meeting, citing use of the Homestead Act and the U.S. Government’s offer of 160 acres of land on the condition that owners farm it.
“There is a rights issue here,” Azcona said. “Within reasonable bounds, I believe every person possesses a right to grow their own food.”
“Americans are now shamefully ignorant of the process of food production,” Azcona said. “I think if there were any serious disruption to our food system, this ignorance would make our population significantly more vulnerable.”
Additionally, there were some concerns that domesticated hedgehogs, which are not native to Kansas, could become a threat to native rodent species like squirrels if released into the wild.
Judson King, 11, presented his case in defense of domesticated hedgehogs.
He presented each of the commission members with a bound, 10-page booklet of information on the animal, and included photos of himself with his own pet hedgehogs.
Although it is illegal to sell the animals within city limits, no one threatened to interrogate the 11-year-old about where he purchased the hedgehogs.
After nearly an hour of debate, city commission members voted to direct city staff to redraft and clarify the city ordinances in favor of letting people keep chickens and hedgehogs within the city, while addressing relevant concerns such as noise and animal control.
“I don’t see any problems if somebody wants to have a couple of chickens,” commissioner Mike Amyx said.
— — Edited by Ramsey Cox
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Comments
City Commission stops chickens from crossing the roads
CLUCK- that cracks me up.
Anyone want to raise a flock of chickens on campus? We have tons of space out on west campus for a farm. We could raise our own chickens, get our own eggs. Sure is better than getting it from a truck at mrs. e's.
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