Great Neck trustees: Chickens aren't pets
One of Alfred Basal's pet chickens in the back yard of his Great Neck home. Basal started a petition for the the Great Neck VIllage board to change the status of chickens from nuisance to pet in the village code. (March 18, 2012) Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
Fluffy, Cutie and the four other chickens the Basal family in Great Neck has considered household pets for the last year will remain prohibited in the village.
After a spirited debate, the village board of trustees Tuesday night declined to lift a ban on chickens, which are considered nuisance animals like pigs, goats and donkeys.
Alfred Basal, whose backyard chicken coop was discovered by village officials in February, had requested that the village remove chickens from the nuisance list.
He had garnered more than 100 signatures on a petition in support. Basal, a father of three, argued that the chickens are educational, produce about six eggs a day and provide fertilizer.
But several opponents, including his next-door neighbor Mitchell Lechner, voiced concerns about the chickens attracting rodents and potentially causing a health hazard.
Mayor Ralph Kreitzman said the village has no animal control workers and needs code enforcement officers to focus on public safety issues.
"We should not change our law," he said.
Basal, who expressed surprise and disappointment at the village's decision, said of his banned pets, "We don't know what to do. Our children are so attached to them."
'I do think he saw the writing on the wall' Rex Heuermann's Attorney Michael Brown sat down with Newsday following his client's sentencing to discuss the case. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn reports.
'I do think he saw the writing on the wall' Rex Heuermann's Attorney Michael Brown sat down with Newsday following his client's sentencing to discuss the case. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn reports.
