IntenseDebate - BOwens

16 years ago @ GazetteOnline.com - Council supports backy... · 0 replies · +6 points

When this idea first starts emerging as something that may really happen the same pattern occurs over and over again. There is initially a lot of concern. Some people will be swayed by the arguments that CLUC makes, some will not. The more interesting thing that happens is that when a city actually decides to allow for backyard chickens, the vocal protests all disappear almost instantly. I think there are two reasons for this.

The first is that once you actually spend some time around a small number of birds kept in a backyards, you appreciate them for what they are, very small animals. They do not come close to producing enough noise, smell, or commotion to impact a neighbor. This is just a fact. I know it does not hold true for large numbers of birds on the farm, but it is a fact of raising a small number of birds. The second reason is that the small number of people who like to vocally oppose anything and everything, move on to other topics. They forget about chickens. Please do not take my word. Talk to any animal control department, police department, city council member, or neighbor in a city that allows chickens.

16 years ago @ GazetteOnline.com - Council supports backy... · 4 replies · +4 points

If that were actually going to be a problem I would think it would also be a problem with small cats and dogs. Seems like it really has not come to be an issue. One big difference is that hens are kept in a coop and therfore protected, so as not to attract predetors. Believe me the chicken owner is alot more concerned about predators than you are.

16 years ago @ GazetteOnline.com - Council supports backy... · 18 replies · +2 points

Should people not be allowed to grow tomatoes in their backyard either? That is another example of food production that has no impact on neighbors.

16 years ago @ GazetteOnline.com - Council supports backy... · 0 replies · +1 points

As the procees stands now it looks like ti will be first come first serve, no one has been selected.

16 years ago @ GazetteOnline.com - Council supports backy... · 0 replies · +4 points

I would think you would actually want to talk to someone who wanted to raise a chicken before you made judgments about their understanding of the commitment. What people realize is that keeping a few hens in a backyard is nothing like living on a farm, and in fact requires about the same level of commitment as a dog.

It does require a commitment and it does require the owner to act in a responsible manner just as all animal ownership does. At the end of the day though, it has no relation to the lifestyle of living on a working farm.

For most people interested in this, it has nothing to do with romanticizing the rural lifestyle. Many people have gained their exposure to chickens by being around them in the city, which is not uncommon. It may be useful for you to look into how a few chickens are kept in the city to see what a dramatically different pursuit it is than keeping larger numbers of chickens on a farm.

16 years ago @ GazetteOnline.com - Council supports backy... · 0 replies · +4 points

This is not an argument based on any reality. The council has already recieved input from a leading expert on poultry from ISU in regards to the fact that backyard chickens pose absolutely no helath risk.

How do you think it is safe for cats and dogs to spend time outdoors, and then also spend time being kept indoors sharing living quarters with families, but having a chicken outdooors in a coop is not safe?

16 years ago @ GazetteOnline.com - Council supports backy... · 0 replies · +6 points

CLUC absolutely agrees with this sentiment of storing chicken feed resoponsibly. It is vital that food is stored in a manner as to not attract pests, just as it is the case with any pet food, or human food or garbage for that matter.

16 years ago @ GazetteOnline.com - Council supports backy... · 0 replies · +1 points

I believe that everybody in CLUC agrees that the city does have many important issues to deal with, and hopes to take up very little of their time with this one issue. This should be an easy vote for the council, and CLUC will be glad to see them spend very little time on it in passing the resolution, so they can continue spending the bulk of their time on the many large compelx issues before them.

As a group CLUC has shown great respect for the councils requests to work on the councils time frame and only bring this issue to them when they felt they were ready to address it.

It is a reality of the city council that they deal with a large variety of issues at any single meeting, and no single issue is veiwed by the entire population as the important issue that the council should be devoting its time to.

16 years ago @ GazetteOnline.com - Council supports backy... · 7 replies · 0 points

It is only relatively recently that chickens began to be seen as an animal that did not belong in the city. For most of this countires history chickens were wide spread in urban backwards, and still are today including cities as uraban as New York City

Many people are growing tired of their food coming from factories, and Cedar Rapids citizens are going to need to get readjusted to the idea of small scale food production coming back to the city. I do not understand how this is so terifying as the city is already full of urban animals. Is it that we are ashamed of our agricultural roots, and are scared we will look like hicks if we keep chickens? It is time to get over it. If your neighbor does something that has no direct impact on you and does not hurt anyone, I do not undertand why you feel you should have control over it.

16 years ago @ GazetteOnline.com - Council supports backy... · 1 reply · +2 points

It may be useful to look at any other city that allows chickens to see if this argument holds up. What you will find is that every animal control dept. will tell you that they get virtually no complaints on chickens, and they take up absolutly no significant amount of time from those animal control departments.

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