Westlock may be an agricultural hub, but having livestock in your backyard may be taking it a bit too far, especially when that livestock is roaming freely around the neighbourhood.
That was the sentiment raised by Westlock town council at its Sept. 10 meeting after reading a letter from a concerned citizen regarding her neighbour’s free-range chickens, which tend to end up in her backyard quite frequently.
At this point there is no bylaw on the books to restrict such animals or to deal with the problem at hand, but council directed administration to bring back options regarding chickens and other livestock within town limits.
The letter to council from resident Debbie Boyd pointed out her neighbour’s chickens on 99 St. are constantly in her yard. The town peace officer has removed the chickens several times, brought them home and spoken to the owner, but the problem still persists.
“Most of us take pride in our property and spend a great deal of time and effort, not to mention money, to keep our property well-maintained and attractive,” stated the letter, which was signed by numerous residents of the neighbourhood.” Do we have to tolerate chickens picking our gardens and flowers apart because there is no regulation controlling livestock within town limits? What’s next, pigs, goats and cows?”
The current bylaw regarding nuisance animals only covers dogs at the moment, development services director Simone Wiley pointed out
“We don’t address livestock per se. Our bylaw only addresses dogs. Council did discuss a chicken bylaw a few years ago, but did not proceed with it,” she said. “Council discussed it and chose not to allow, or disallow.”
“Our bylaw officer would require something to enforce and if we don’t have any bylaw in place, what is he supposed to enforce? Other than asking the people to be good neighbours and keep their chickens at home, what is he supposed to do?” mayor Ralph Leriger asked the room.
“I would suggest maybe we should be looking at that,” said Coun. Curtis Snell.
Leriger further commented that there are a number of communities that allow small, urban agriculture projects like chickens or beehives, but a few careless neighbours can ruin the privilege for everyone.
“Quite frankly there are all kinds of people that have chickens in their yards in this town and councils get put in awkward positions because some people don’t understand what it takes to be a good neighbour. When they don’t understand what it takes to be a good neighbour they put us in a situation like this where we have to enact some sort of rules that we can enforce. It’s called community standards,” said Leriger.
