A South Florida family is prepared to take their battle for pet poultry all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary. The Kohns, an Orthodox Jewish family of twelve, live in the upscale, suburban neighborhood of Hollywood, Florida with their seven pet chickens.
The chickens live in the Kohns' backyard, with a playhouse for shelter. Although the chickens are considered beloved household pets, they also serve the practical purpose of keeping the backyard healthy without the use of what the organically-minded Kohn family considers "polluting" landscape companies.
But the Kohns' neighhbors have not taken so kindly to the chickens. "You just can't have chickens in a residential neighborhood," according to one neighbor. The city agrees. A magistrate recently ruled that the chickens must be shipped out of town by the end of the summer.
"I'm not taking away my children's pets," the father, Steve Kohn, told a local news station. He added that one of his children wakes up at seven every morning to feed the chickens, which they love like any household pets.
"Nobody's been mauled to death by a chicken," the father pointed out. "Hens are not louder than a barking, howling dog." He also pointed out that trailer parkers in his district are allowed to have chickens, so why not a private backyard?
I have to agree that the resistance to chickens in a residential neighborhood does seem to have more to do with and old-fashioned sense of propriety than with any logical concerns. The chickens are clean and quiet, and kept in a fenced backyard. I'd much rather have hens for neighbors than a yapping dog.
What do you think? Should the family be allowed to keep their unusual pets?
Photo: Southlands Farm Cottages
