Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Toxicology


I am incredibly moved and touched by the folks who have reached out and offered to chip in for a toxicology test on the birds.

The birds were disposed of 2 days ago by the Village public works person. A very sweet woman with the village offered to send him out so we wouldn't have to figure out what to do with the remains. I would have liked to find out for certain if they were poisoned, but the officer who came out gave the advice that even if we find out they were for sure, that wouldn't produce the person who did it, if they were in fact poisoned. I decided it made for more peaceful closure to let it go. I hope that turns out to be the right thing.

We should also keep in mind that it is an assumption (not a proven fact) that the hens were poisoned. The thing that keeps bringing me back to this notion is that they all 3 died at once. I can't get my head around anything else that would have caused such a thing. At any rate, to be fair to our sense of injustice and reality, we should keep in mind that there could be an explanation that does not involve malice. The only thing we know for sure is that someone entered our yard, left our garage open, passed out flyers with our address on them, then our 3 pets were discovered dead. There is no way to know that these 3 events are related or just a really bad-looking set of coincidence. If this is the act of a malicious individual, then that will hopefully come out in the wash. They must live with their actions. I suspect they will be caught eventually.

Either way, I think it is abundantly clear that the people in our community find these types of actions abhorrent. Please keep in mind that the poison theory is unproven and will most likely remain so. To create an environment of anger and outrage will do no one any good.

As always, our ultimate goal is to influence a positive change that is pro-urban agriculture in our community.

5 comments:

  1. Keep up with the positive spirit, Alana! Keep moving forward, we're with you!

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  2. Talked about you during our Girl Scout meeting yesterday. My 13 yo girl scouts are cheering you on! You're an inspiration to them. (a few want their own hens now!)

    What do you think about talking to a Girl Scout troop about backyard chickens in the future? We're local!

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  3. Hi there,

    I would love to visit with the Girl Scouts! I was a GS and so is my younger daughter. Where can I reach you? My email: alana@alanawaters.com

    I'm so touched by all these notes and am thrilled to hear about all the interest in backyard hens.

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  4. Wait a minute ... MY tax $ helped to pay for the removal of YOUR illegal chickens? If they were legal, I would have no problem with that. HOWEVER, at the moment having chickens on your property is NOT okay here, so why am I paying to have them removed? I had a LEGAL tree down in my backyard that cost me 2K to have removed after the recent storms. Would you like to help me pay for that in cash or check? C'mon, it's all about the community, right? I understand your plight, and I wouldn't mind having some chickens myself, but not in the strict confines of BROOKFIELD! Jeez, some of these lots are only 60-something feet wide! What you want is a farmlet. Go find yourself some land out in the country and let me know if you get a good deal. I've lived on a farm before, and having pigs, chickens, cows, and sheep is amazing, and to be honest, life-altering, but we live in BROOKFIELD! I can't even count on my neighbors to mow their lawn, let alone clean up after chickens. So, basically, what I've learned from you is that if my dog dies I can leave him outside for the maggots and then expect the village to come and pick him up, free of charge, right? (Disclaimer: I would never do that, because I have respect for my dog and my fellow tax payers)
    Good day.

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  5. Wait a minute...Random Nurse...Is this Mona Towner again?

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