----- Original Message -----
From: Animal Advocates
To: mayorandcouncil@vancouver.ca
Sent: Tuesday, March 03, 2009 6:48 AM
Subject: Please - no yard chickens

March 3, 2009

Dear Mayor Robertson and Councillors,

There are already more than enough citizens of Vancouver distressed because they witness the abusive neglect of yard dogs without adding what will almost certainly be distress at having to witness chickens spending their lives in cages, and their horror at having to hear the cries of chickens being beheaded next door, perhaps even witnessing their slaughter. There is no law against slaughter of animals as long as it is done humanely; there can't be as long as eating animals is legal. Even the SPCA slaughters fowls by wringing their necks, so there will be no way to stop citizens from doing the same.

I would prefer to see the City rewarding citizens who grow their own fruit and vegetables, perhaps with a reduction in their property taxes. Eventually the City could even certify organic city gardeners and allow them an even greater reduction in taxes. That is the direction a forward-looking city would take, not a slide into the atrocities against animals of past centuries.

Sincerely,

Judith Stone, President,
Animal Advocates Society of BC
The Daily WatchDog News.