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Posted on 07/17/2010 5:05:34 PM PDT by JoeProBono
PETOSKEY, Mich.- A northern Michigan woman has lost a long legal battle to keep her disabled pet rooster in a suburban neighborhood.
Beaker, who suffered permanent injury when he was dropped at the age of 3 days by students at a Montessori kindergarten, will have to move to the Second Chance Animal Ranch in Petoskey, Mich., The Detroit News reported Saturday. But Sharon Peters worries about her pet's future, since he can barely see, has a club foot, and is frightened of other chickens but is comfortable with her and her husband.
"We're his flock, basically," she told the News.
Peters, who teaches at the Montessori school, brought Beaker home in 2007.
"I have sucker written across my forehead," she said.
A neighbor complained a year later about Beaker's crowing. Peters fought to keep him before the zoning board, the county commission and two courts, until a circuit judge ruled the rooster had to go.
Emmet County, at the tip of Michigan's lower peninsula, has an ordinance barring farm animals on residential property.
The Peters picked up both allies and enemies during the fight. Some neighbors bought T-shiris saying "I'm a Beaker Backer" and others sent them anonymous threats.
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Damn, what did you do to Canada?
Ain’t found a way to kill me yet
Eyes burn with stinging sweat
Seems every path leads me to nowhere
Wife and kids household pet
Army green was no safe bet
The bullets scream to me from somewhere
Here they come to snuff the rooster, aww yeah, hey yeah
Yeah here come the rooster, yeah
You know he ain’t gonna die
No, no, no, ya know he ain’t gonna die (x2)
One wonders how people survived in Victorian era cities when people had backyard chicken coops and and horses.
Just convert to Islam. It’s the last you’ll hear from authorities or neighbours.
I bet this person voted Obama,,,, kill the chicken and eat it!!!!problem solved!
I live in town and I see horses in their corral from where I sit.
Oh dear lady, it’s a chicken, it will be fine. It doesn’t even know it’s alive. Those animals are as dumb as grass.
I dislike nanny state in most of its forms but it is not reasonable to expect to keep a crowing rooster in a city.
That used to be the norm all over. The small towns around me still have carriage houses behind homes and a few still have chicken coops. I’d rather hear a horse or rooster than a garbage truck at 5am.
Some people have no tolerance for odd pets...the only reason I can see that might make the neighbors angry is that its a rooster and crows before the sun even comes up...Use to have too many roosters on the farm, had to get rid of all except 2....they are noisy and crow their territory until the sun comes up....If it doesn’t crow, people should mind their own households....Roosters don’t live long...geeze some people are snooty in the towns and cities...
Yep. I have to laugh because cities are NOISY. And these people were complaining about a rooster? LOL
A couple of horses aren’t bad. I hear them more often than I smell them. I’ve considered getting some rabbits but could probably get away with some chickens if I kept them on the south side of the garage facing toward the lake.
I have cows for neighbors. We go outside and say “Ahhhhhhh! Fresh country air!”. LOL
Some years ago I rented a house from a farmer and had a feedlot less than 8 feet from my back door.
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