Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Grace Loses Her Hens

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20090430/NEWS0108/905010331/

I haven't any photos for this one -- only that link to our local paper -- The Cincinnati Enquirer -- which ran a story regarding Grace Harpen being forced by her township to get rid of her three backyard hens.

Please check it out -- this is so unfair, and frankly just plain crazy. People can keep potbelly pigs, pythons and dangerous dogs... but a hen is a nusance! I am outraged. It isn't that Grace lives in the center of Manhattan -- she lives in an ordinary neighborhood of ordinary houses. There are no sidewalks. The neighborhood is neither grand nor pitiful. And yet the township considers hens to be "livestock" (though not pot belly pigs) and there is an ordinace against livestock.

I am not sure how, but I'd oh-so-much like to help change this ordinace -- whether at the township level or at the state level. If anyone has any ideas, please share. I'm not yet ready to organize a letter-writing campaigne, but at some point I may beg for letter-writers.

Please read Grace's story. I've known her since we were 12 -- she's my oldest friend in the whole world and the the most inoffensive person I've ever met.

Thank you so much Blog Neighbors -- if you have any ideas, spill them.

2 comments:

Gretel said...

Argh, almost exactly the same thing happened over here in the UK, but I don't know what the outcome was (the link takes you to the newspaper page)

http://tinyurl.com/cuge3k

Short of gathering hen enthusiasts and holding a demo, the only other thing I can think of is to find a celebrity or two who keep chickens and asking for their support - if the Obamas can grow veg in the White House, it seems a bit bonkers that normal citizens can't keep a few innocent birds.

LittleElf said...

sad. We had a similar thing happen in our town. A couple who lived on a farm by where a subdivision was built was forced to get rid of their doves. I thought it was very sad and quite silly too. I would rather hear a doves call than a bunch of noisy cars myself.