Hey Pet Talkers! Help is needed! Trying to ban parrots in Connecticut town

[Karen]

I got this forwarded email, and we can help by emailing in protest!


Hello All,


Parrot owners in Connecticut (CT), and the CT Association for Aviculture (CAFA) need our help. There is a proposed zoning regulation change which will ban parrots in the town of Chester, CT. Yes, really!!!!

I received the notices from CAFA member, Dr. Amy Hopkins, & will include some of her recommendations below. Time is of the essence, as the Public Hearing on this proposal occurs this Thursday evening, January 10th.


The AFA Rep for the Northeast Region, Concetta Ferragamo, will be attending, as well as some CAFA members, & town residents. They need email support opposing this proposal to ban parrots there. They are scrambling to oppose this ban on short notice.


Reportedly, this all began with a neighbor dispute, where a Mr. John Bennet had some quarrels with his neighbor over a rooster. His petition to the Town Zoning Board includes banning all "noisy fowl", & it is unclear at this time why he's included parrots & macaws, etc.


Please read the attached petition from Mr. Bennet to change zoning laws, which would ban parrots in Chester, CT (attached pdf. below). You can also read the entire petition on the Town of Chester website. http://chesterct.org/ & http://chesterct.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Petition-for-Amendment-to-Zoning-Regs.pdf with the reference to parrots on P. 3 of 4.


Please send an email to Mr. Jon Lavy, the Zoning Board Chair, opposing this proposal, as soon as possible. I have sent mine today. Emails need to be sent by Thursday, before the end of the "business day". Please read all the way down below here for some points to consider when writing your letter.


Send your letter to both email addresses below, & then write either: "Attention: Mr. Jon Lavy, Chairman Chester Planning & Zoning Committee" or, "Please forward to Mr. Jon Lavy, Chairman Chester Planning & Zoning Committee".
[email protected] and [email protected]


Feel free to cross post this to other lists... or to email me privately.
Audrey

[Karen]

From Amy Hopkins: 1/5/13


There is a proposed change to the Town Plan and Zoning regs in Chester, CT that would ban the keeping of parrots or other "noisy fowl". You can send a letter to Jon Lavy, Chairman, Chester Planning and Zoning Commissioner, 203 Middlesex Ave, Chester, CT 06412, in opposition to this proposed regulation change.

A public hearing has been scheduled for January 10th. You can view this information on the Town of Chester web site which is http://chesterct.org/?p=1757





From Amy Hopkins: 1/5/13

Please send emails to Jon Lavy, Chairman, Chester Planning and Zoning Commissioner, at [email protected] and [email protected] (no specific email is listed for him, so it should probably be sent here with a request to forward it on to him).


Please oppose the proposed changes to the Chester Zoning Regulations 40R.1, which prohibit the keeping of parrots. Please stress that parrots includes over 300 species of birds, ranging from the smallest budgies, cockatiels, and lovebirds on up to the large macaws, and that about to 1 in every 10 households owns a bird, mostly parrots. Most birds are not noisy and audible to neighbors. Individual cases of excess noise attributed to animals can be dealt with on a case by case basis without widely prohibiting the ownership of birds. If this regulation passes, hundreds of birds will have to be relinquished without available homes to adopt them, and hundreds of households will be disrupted by the loss of their cherished family members. Banning households from having birds would be the same as banning the ownership of dogs because a few dogs bark too loudly.

Please write an email in your own words. The more emails, the better. We need to flood them with opposition to this ruling.

The hearing is on Thursday, so please send emails ASAP.

[Freedom]

Chester's City Solicitor will advise them that while they can regulate livestock, they can not regulate pets in this way.

[Karen]

Chester's City Solicitor will advise them that while they can regulate livestock, they can not regulate pets in this way.

How do you know this? Has it been on your local news? Why would it even come before a meeting then?

[Parrot Lover]

How do you know this? Has it been on your local news? Why would it even come before a meeting then?

Fowl (disambiguation)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The term fowl refers to certain birds often used as food by humans, which make up the Galloanserae clade.

This is the definition of Fowl according to Wikipedia. If they are trying to ban Fowl, parrots do not apply to this category!! How then can they be included in a ban of Fowl??

To answer Karens question, I heard about this on FB.

[Karen]

Fowl (disambiguation)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The term fowl refers to certain birds often used as food by humans, which make up the Galloanserae clade.

This is the definition of Fowl according to Wikipedia. If they are trying to ban Fowl, parrots do not apply to this category!! How then can they be included in a ban of Fowl??

To answer Karens question, I heard about this on FB.

The actual proposed legislation is so broad it could apply to all birds, it is not specifically worded. And folks worry it could be seen to apply to other pets easily, too!

[Parrot Lover]

I have sent my letters to the two e-mail addresses you provided and included the definition of FOWL which does NOT include parrots! This entire issue stemming from two neighbors scrapping could lead to the punishment of an entire town. And if it passed there, this sort of thing could spread to other towns. What's next? Dogs? Cats? This thing needs to be nipped in the bud!! I hope EVERYONE is writing their letters. PLEASE this is important. We need to preserve our basic rights in this country. We also need to share this far and wide!

[Karen]

Thanks, Parrot Lover! The more letters they get, the better! I'll be talking to folks about it on my radio show tomorrow, and hopefully that will help get the word out as well!

[Karen]

Sent my email today, the more the better, folks!