Penndel land ordinance forces resident to remove emotional support chickens

PENNDEL, PA. - A Penndel Borough land ordinance has forced an unidentified resident to give up six emotional support chickens, leaving her without animals her therapist recommended. 

Chickens removed

What we know:

The resident, who suffers from clinically diagnosed mental health struggles including PTSD, said she relied on the chickens—named Kathy, Mary, Bailey, Ruby, Abigail and Elizabeth—to help her leave her house and manage daily anxiety. 

"My therapist recommended to me to get an emotional support animal, something that lives outside in the backyard," the resident told FOX 29. "This way it helps me to wake up every morning and come outside to take care of them."

Prior to getting the poultry, the resident said she contacted Middletown Township to ensure compliance with local regulations.

"Middletown Township, they helped me over the phone to find the ordinance for chickens," she said. "I followed their ordinance for the size of property it is."

However, she said officials in Penndel Borough enforced a local ordinance requiring residents to maintain at least two acres of land to keep chickens on a property recently, forcing the removal of the chickens. 

"I feel violated. I feel very, very violated," the resident said, noting that two weeks without her chickens had increased her fear of returning to severe isolation and racing thoughts. "It hurts because I don’t want to go back into the walls. I don’t want to go back in my head."

The other side:

The resident said she attempted to contact the borough regarding the situation.

In a statement provided to FOX 29, the Penndel Borough Solicitor stated that the resident chose not to pursue available legal remedies, such as filing an official appeal, and maintained that poultry does not meet federal legal criteria for support animals.

"She has produced documents to claim that these chickens are emotional support animals under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Federal Fair Housing Act," the solicitor's statement read in part. "Unfortunately, under these circumstances and based on our legal research, these chickens do not meet the definition of emotional support animals."

The solicitor added that the borough is not violating the resident's rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act and noted that she retains the right to appeal the decision. Meanwhile, the resident remains hopeful that an exception will allow her animals to return home.

"My hope is to bring them home to me," she said.

Bucks CountyNews