Victoria council is still cluck-clucking about what to do about chickens in the city.
In a committee of the whole meeting Thursday morning, councillors heard the opinion of Aaren Topley, co-chair of the Victoria Urban Food Table. He was speaking in response to proposed changes to the BCSPCA animal responsibility bylaw recommendations that, in part, seek to limit the number of animals allowed on any one property.
The City of VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 consideration of changes to its own animal control bylaw coincides with a neighbourhood dispute in the Rockland area, where a building owner wanted to bring in 99 chickens to help feed her tenants.
B次元官网网址淗owever long weB次元官网网址檝e had a council, weB次元官网网址檝e never had a chicken bylaw. So for bylaws to be created because of one issue in 100 years B次元官网网址� itB次元官网网址檚 a little bit ridiculous,B次元官网网址� Topley said with a laugh.
He made four related recommendations for councillors to consider:
B次元官网网址� A rejection of the newly proposed BCSPCA bylaws, with the exception that chicken food should be kept in secure storage, and that there is timely removal of debris, food and manure from the coop
B次元官网网址� A rejection on a 12-hen limitation, saying itB次元官网网址檚 too restrictive and suggesting instead that an application process be put in place for people interested in owning 30 or more chickens.
B次元官网网址� A rejection of the idea that chicken owners must live on the property, for instances such as shared chickens or school-raised chicks, and
B次元官网网址� That more resources and information are provided to the public on the benefits of urban hens, and on good hen keeping practices.
TopleyB次元官网网址檚 original proposal was to limit the number of chickens to 30 per property, but he conceded that 12 to 15 birds is probably a more reasonable amount for people to have without needing an application.
B次元官网网址淲e represent a lot of individuals interested in urban farming,B次元官网网址� he said, B次元官网网址渁nd the key message is about good chicken care practices.B次元官网网址�
City staff are currently working on recommendations for proposed bylaw changes, a report on which is expected to come back to committee of the whole at a later date.
