An anonymous complaint has led to a standoff between the D.C. city government and a family who wants to keep their chickens.
Mrs. Tiggy-winkle, Minnie Mouse, India, and Red are chickens kept in the backyard of Allison Sheedy and Daniel McInnis in northwest D.C. They give the family fresh eggs, give their children the opportunity to take responsibility and care for the birds, and provide an opportunity to meet neighbors and passers-by.
Now, however, the D.C. Department of Health says the family cannot keep chickens on their property, and the couple — both lawyers — have challenged the order to remove their chickens, according to The Washington Post.
The couple claims that they’ve met city regulations, obtained written permission from neighbors, and say that the law used by the health department is one intended to outlaw wolves and exotic animals.
The chickens will be unaffected until a hearing next week. Backyard chickens within cities have become a growing point of contention across the country. From cities as small as Sandwich, Illinois and Beavercreek, Ohio to Springfield, Illinois and Denver, Colorado, “chicken ordinances” have expanded to allow residents within city limits to keep poultry. Some laws allow goats, too.
D.C. residents have tried to keep chickens since at least 2010, though they have been overruled by the health department and animal control. Concerns about noise and health, and laws that require coops to be at least 100 feet from a neighbor’s property stopped would-be urban farmers.
If Sheedy and McInnis prevail against D.C. regulations, it could mark the first legalized poultry within city limits since 1906.
