Kevin Marshall's America
Chickens, displaced by a misguided resolution in 2001, have resulted to criminal gang activity.
Previously: The Great Albany Cockfight
Tuesday night the Albany Common Council’s Public Safety Committee had a public hearing on the subject of repealing a 2001 law that prevents city residents from housing chickens in their back yards. Supporters of the repeat instead propose the law be changed to specifically prohibit roosters, whose noisy morning wake-up calls were the impetus for the original law, and limit coops in urban areas to five hens and at least 15 feet from neighboring residences.
A letter from the President Pro Tempore of the Buffalo Common Council urged Albany’s council to modify the law. Buffalo adopted a similar measure in 2009 and has not seen any decrease in quality of life associated with chickens.
The Committee took no action, however, and opponents still cite the smell (which isn’t as great as the smell produced by dog s***), unfounded concerns over diseases, and the presence of chickens driving down property values and/or making it less attractive to prospective buyers and residents.
Jim Lyons, a past-president of the Melrose Neighborhood Association who grew up on a farm in Illinois, said he polled his neighbors, many of whom have lived in their homes for decades and aren’t keen on change.
“Quite frankly, they don’t want chickens,” Lyons said. “They’ve lived there a long time. … They like it the way it is.”
I’m pretty sure that last line is what Mr. Lindner told the Youngers in A Raisin in the Sun.
In all seriousness, it goes back to my original point: this is not a matter of legitimate public health concerns, but rather a desire to control and dictate the behavior and appearance of neighbors. It overrides logic and reason, and is detrimental to environmental sustainability.
Unfortunately, like so many other debates pertaining to Albany and the State as a whole, facts won’t be allowed to get in the way. It doesn’t help matters that there is no shortage of politicians who would rather take the easy route of repeating disproven points than trying to assuage their constituents’ concerns with facts and reality checks.
Let them have their chickens, damnit. They’re not nearly as smelly and disease-ridden as most of y’all.
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One Response to Great Albany Cockfight Update
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STALK ME
Not an Albany resident, but I would prefer a neighbor that has hens or chickens to barking dogs. Many owners are responsible dog owners, but when they are not home they can not control the barking. Hens are nice and quiet. There are dog owners who have breeds that have a tendency to be vicious and unfortunately have bitten. I have never know a hen to maul another animal or a person. I am, however, all for a ban on the roosters to keep the noise and cock fights out. I would not want that in Troy where I am. I certainly would not oppose hens or chickens housed by a neighbor if they wished them. I would hope they would offer me eggs every so often.