Crackdown on chickens

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(video)

http://fox8.com/2017/04/04/i-team-crackdown-on-chickens-in-town-filled-with-vacant-homes-and-trash/

EAST CLEVELAND - The FOX 8 I TEAM has found a woman threatened with a criminal charge for keeping two live chickens in her backyard, even though she lives in a town plagued with abandoned homes, trash, potholes and serious crime.

... Virginia Russell lives in East Cleveland, and she keeps two chickens in a coop in a backyard. She considers the birds to be pets, and she showed us they produce eggs.

Russell says this week an East Cleveland Police officer came to her and said she has to get rid of the chickens by the end of the week or get cited with a criminal charge.

At East Cleveland City Hall, the Law Director said a neighbor complained. Virginia Russell was warned last year. And simply, it’s against the law in East Cleveland to keep chickens. Law Director Willa Hemmons said, "The health hazard of keeping chickens, you know, in close proximity to where people live and reside."

Still in a town that struggles to provide even basic police and fire protection, we wondered why would the city focus on something like this? Hemmons responded, "Well, I don't think there's a focus" with just one case.

... [T]he neighbor who had filed the complaint called to say she was concerned about the smell and noise of the chickens and more.

If police issue a citation, Russell could face punishment up to 6 months in jail and a $1000 fine although she would not likely get a sentence nearly that severe.