Posted on 02/10/2009 8:35:27 PM PST by buccaneer81
Dogs do in chickens at center of Worthington controversy Tuesday, Dean Narciso 3:21 PM By Dean Narciso THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Lael Weyenberg stands outside the chicken coop in her backyard in Worthington. Chris Russell | Dispatch Lael Weyenberg stands outside the chicken coop in her backyard in Worthington.
Hillary, Veronica and Cindi are dead.
The backyard chickens -- the subjects of a neighborhood pecking match that spilled over into a packed Worthington City Council debate last month -- fell prey to two loose dogs on Sunday, police said.
Lael Weyenberg and her husband, Andrew Rozmiarek, returned from a friend's house to find two dogs, one inside the coop with a chicken swinging from its mouth, the other standing outside. Two chickens were already dead. A third died earlier this week.
Weyenberg said the coop's wire was cut, allowing the dogs to enter.
"This is really sabotage and vandalism and a crime," she said. "They were somehow led into this chicken run and allowed to kill the chickens."
Police and Franklin County animal control officers took 24 pictures of the scene and questioned witnesses. A police lieutenant called Weyenberg's sabotage theory preposterous.
"No one did anything to those chickens except for two roaming dogs," Worthington Police Lt. Mike Dougherty said. "It's not a canine mob hit."
The dogs that killed the chickens came from a home two miles away, police said. Their owner, Jennifer A. Hulgin, has been charged with two counts of allowing her dogs -- a Doberman and a Labrador retriever -- to run free and one count of failing to license a dog. Hulgin did not return calls seeking comment.
The chickens, a golden comet, a black giant and a brahma, were valued at $10 on the police report.
Weyenberg's foul play suspicions persist from a long-running feud with neighbors, whose dog, a labradoodle named Wilson, had scuffled with the chickens twice before.
The neighbors were upset because their dog became aggressive whenever he saw the chickens. In May and July, Wilson attacked and injured the chickens, but they survived.
City laws prohibit farm animals from being closer than 150 feet from another residence. City officials measured and found one neighbor closer than that, but that neighbor didn't mind the chickens.
The labradoodle's owners pressed the issue, and Worthington cited Weyenberg last week for violating the city code.
"How much police time, council time, law director time - All over three chickens?" Dougherty lamented. "It's not a child that was murdered. It's food."
Weyenberg and Rozmiarek's two-year-old son, Kai, watched his pets grow from chicks, played with them and collected their eggs daily, Weyenberg said.
Chickens are very social, with distinct personalities, and were a great conversation starter, Rozmiarek told the Worthington City Council last month. The council meeting was attended by dozens of residents, most of whom were there to discuss one thing: chickens.
Kai knows that his pets are gone. His parents want to spare him the details.
"I want his world to be bunnies and flowers," Weyenberg said.
And she hasn't decided about new occupants for the coop, or even staying in her neighborhood.
"We feel like we're a target now," she said. "It's shocking, it's disgusting. It's vile. And it makes us not want to live here anymore."
BWAHAHAHA! This poor kid is going to be so screwed up by his parents.
All of the people involved there are nuts. They should disable their television feeds (antennae, cables, whatever). If any dogs bother my chickens or other livestock (food), they’ll be dead dogs.
LOLOL!
This situation is a bit different. The chicken family has been fighting for months about the zoning laws. I mean, these houses are in a subdivision where the houses are 15 feet apart. In an inner suburb of 25,000 people. In a metro area of 1.8 million people. Not livestock friendly.
There should not be a dog called a labradoodle. It should be killed.
Agreed. That’s why I wrote that they’re all nuts. Ruralization could probably bring sanity back to many.
I’d bet the rent money that there were no votes for McCain/Palin in THAT household!;))
I’m told they’re actually excellent dogs. But it should be renamed.
Yep. 15 miles north of there, and everybody would be happy
No doubt in my mind either. What kind of person is the poor kid going to become?
“All of the people involved there are nuts.”
You nailed it. I wonder if they buried the chickens or just made dinner out of them?
The lots must be really deep if only one house was within 150 feet of the birds.
Except you could never be certain about Raisin Bran.
When dogs kill chickens, that’s not news. When chickens kill dogs, THAT’S news.
OK, my brain hurts after that one. BTT.
Hilarious post!!!
I live in the deep woods, and if the moment arises while we're out 'n about, we wipe our asses with flowers...never tried a bunny, though.
>>>”No one did anything to those chickens except for two roaming dogs,” Worthington Police Lt. Mike Dougherty said. “It’s not a canine mob hit.”
All the same I suspect fowl play.
lmao!
There is NO EXCUSE for dogs running wild, and NO EXCUSE for dogs killing livestock.
End of story.
I do not care about what the “zoning laws” say, and I do not care about extenuating circumstances.
NO DOG should kill livestock like chickens. ANY DOG that does ought to be given the needle, and their owner ought to have his arse kicked so hard that his bollix fly out of his mouth.
No bloody excuse!
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