Legalize Chickens in Boston

Organizing Meeting Tomorrow (6/6/2012)!

Legalize Chickens in Boston — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 12:14:58 +0000

LCIB is having an organizational meeting this Wednesday, June 6th at 7pm in room 201 at the Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology (Details below). We are looking for a few volunteers who can help get their neighbors excited about backyard chickens! We are especially looking for folks who live in Dorchester, Mattapan, Hyde Park, Roxbury, Allston and Brighton, but we can use your help no matter where you live in Boston. If you’d like to help us bring Urban Flocks to your community please come by tomorrow or send an email to legalizechickensinboston@gmail.com for more information.

Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology

41 Berkeley St

Boston, MA 02116

By Public Transit:

Orange Line: Back Bay Station

Green Line: A short walk from Copley or Arlington Stations

Silver Line: A short walk from Washington St & E. Berkeley St. stop

Nearby Buses: 39, 9, 10, 43,

Parking:

There is some metered parking on Tremont St (bring quarters) and a garage on the corner of Berkeley and Tremont.

Visit LCIB at Wake Up The Earth!

Legalize Chickens in Boston — Fri, 04 May 2012 13:43:17 +0000

Drop by JP’s Southwest Corridor Park and visit the Legalize Chickens in Boston table at this year’s Wake Up the Earth Festival on Saturday, May 5th from 12-6pm ! There will be kids activities, a demo chicken coop, chicken races and a raffle of exciting chicken-related items! Fun for the whole family!

Yolanda’s Appeal Denied & Next Steps

Legalize Chickens in Boston — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 17:42:23 +0000

Yolanda wants to come home!

Yesterday, the Zoning Board of Appeals ruled against allowing Deb & Audra to keep the chickens that they lovingly raised in Roslindale before they were asked to leave by the city. Sadly, this means that Yolanda and her chicken sisters won’t be able to come home today. However, the board did encourage us to keep working with city agencies and the city council to make a reasonable process for keeping chickens in Boston.

Read more about the event at Boston.com, Universal Hub, the Boston Metro, and Wicked Local Roslindale!

Now, don’t be discouraged! This is just the first step in our fight to make hens legal in the city of Boston!

What YOU can do to Help!

Going forward we need you to show support by writing to Mayor Menino, the City Councilors at large, and your city council representative (email addresses below). Tell them how important chickens are to you and to Boston’s goal of being a green, sustainable city!

Here’s a sample letter sent by one of our supporters:

Dear Councilor Consalvo,

I am writing in support of legalizing permitted chicken ownership in Boston. After extensive research on the subject, I do not believe that chickens pose a human health risk, would cause excessive noise complaints, odors, or attract rodents.

Properly kept chickens are excellent household pets that provide fresh healthy eggs to their owners, as well as REDUCE rodents by consuming table scraps and keeping them out of the garbage. Chickens do produce small amounts of manure, which can be composted to provide excellent garden fertilizer. I do not support ownership of roosters in urban areas.

I believe that home-grown eggs are sustainable, healthy and ‘green,’ in keeping with Mayor Menino’s campaign to increase Boston’s environmental sustainability.

My biggest concern involves the ability of the city officials to regulate quality of care and consideration for neighbors. I propose that the new policy require chicken owners to apply for and obtain a permit. By maintaining chicken ownership as a revocable ‘privilege’, this would allow animal control to inspect and respond to complaints, and would ensure that chicken owners are kept to high standards of care, and consideration for neighbors.

Thank you for your time,

Jane Smith
10 Centre Street, Boston, MA 02130
555-123-456

Contact Information:

Mayor Menino: mayor@cityofboston.gov

Councilors at large:
Stephen.Murphy@cityofboston.gov
Felix.Arroyo@cityofboston.gov
John.R.Connolly@cityofboston.gov
Ayanna.Pressley@cityofboston.gov

To find the councilors for your district:
http://www.cityofboston.gov/citycouncil/

Welcome to Legalize Chickens in Boston

Legalize Chickens in Boston — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 15:49:47 +0000

Welcome!
Legalize Chickens in Boston is working to amend Boston’s Zoning code to create a reasonable permitting process for backyard chickens.

Yolanda

Yolanda’s Story:

Yolanda and her 2 sisters, Roxy and Carmen, moved to Roslindale to live with a dog and 2 toddlers when they were just 1 day old. In May, because a permit to keep chickens in Boston was rejected, they were forced out of their home by Animal Control. Yolanda remains a fugitive, temporarily shacking up in an undisclosed location where being a backyard chicken is legal, anxiously awaiting her appeal.