You’ve read about bad neighbors, and you’ve probably had your own run-ins with lousy ones. For Stacy Williams, the six chickens in her backyard in Omaha, NE, are a blessing. But to the next-door dwellers, Brad and Lynn Perry—not so much. The Perrys say the animals are a nuisance—and a judge recently ruled in their favor, saying the chickens have to go, according to Omaha.com.
It’s not the clucking or smell that majorly irks the Perrys (though they reportedly voiced concerns about the smell of two compost piles along their property line). The problem, they say, came when Williams expanded the garden that houses them to 2,000 square feet. Rainwater is running off the new garden and into the Perrys’ yard, they say, potentially compromising a retaining wall.
The chickens, it seems, are collateral damage. But the Perrys have local laws on their side: Their subdivision of Trendwood has a 40-year-old covenant banning livestock and poultry.
Yet Williams—who’s had the chickens since 2014—argues that these cluckers are necessary as “therapy chickens” for her 17-year-old son. They help him battle depression and anxiety, Omaha.com reports. By forcing her to remove these chickens, Williams argues that this lawsuit discriminates against her son’s disability and right to animal therapy. Williams plans to appeal the ruling.
While therapy dogs and cats are well-known at this point, therapy chickens are a newer trend. Considering the healing power combined with the fresh eggs, it’s easy to see why Williams would put up such a fight.
