Damon and Racheal’s conflict with the Village of Beverly Hills, Michigan, has been an ongoing back-and-forth dispute. The couple has received an ordinance violation for keeping chickens as pets in their backyard – something they have been doing for the past three years. Now, they are fighting to clarify whether Birmingham’s local pet ownership ordinance extends to chickens.
The pair has decided to fight to maintain the coexistence with their chickens with the village’s zoning board of appeals, with a meeting scheduled for the near future.
Their feathered companions aren’t just livestock; they are considered part of the family. Each chicken even has a name. Take Taylor for instance, named after popular singer Taylor Swift – much like Swift steals the stage, this chicken is the center of attention in the couple’s backyard.
“Chicken are pets,” Damon affirms. Racheal, who has served as the president pro-tem of the Beverly Hills Village Council since 2018, agrees. However, not all residents in Beverly Hills see eye-to-eye with this.
The animal ordinance in Beverly Hills doesn’t explicitly mention chickens – it only notes that residents can keep animals generally considered as pets. Thus, there has been a continuous debate about whether chickens qualify for this classification.
Back in 2018, there were similar altercations when a group of people initiated a petition to allow chickens to be kept on properties within the village, garnering support from over 400 people. However, this petition didn’t lead to any definitive change in the ordinance.
Later, in 2021, while the Beverly Hills Village Council was pondering over the allowance of chicken coops on private property, residents had put up anti-chicken signs, showing their disagreement. No formal changes were made to the ordinance after this incident either.
Due to the heated debates and strong opinions on both sides, some locals have voiced their strong beliefs: “Everyone’s fired up again, so you’ll see quite a bit of activism from the community,” noted one resident who doesn’t agree with the idea that chickens can be considered pets.
As the situation remains undecided, the larger question at hand surfaces – Are chickens pets or livestock? And, will a judge make a ruling to set a landmark court decision on pet ownership?
For aspiring chicken owners in several cities across Michigan, including Allen Park, Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, Detroit, Farmington, Flint, Mount Clemens, Oak Park, and Plymouth, owning chickens as pets still remains a grey area and local ordinances need to be checked before proceeding.
