Council presented no research on problems with backyard chickens

To the Editor,Monday night’s city council meeting produced another round of curious comments from both council members and local citizens. It really is bewildering as to what causes such fear concerning chickens in our community so as to produce statements that surely have not been thought out.Comments such as; “what will you do with a dead chicken?” Is that really an issue? What do hundreds of Tecumseh citizens currently do with their dead chickens on a weekly basis? Well, the majority eat them. And any leftover parts are left with the trash man each week with no crisis in our community. Why, even parts of dead cows and pigs join these disposals each and every week. Is there any real danger to our beloved community to rogue chickens running down the street? Not at all, but I have been chased by various types of canine with a real sense of danger to my physical being. A council member has a concern of chickens morphing into roosters? Well, after many years of being around farms that magical feat has yet to be experienced. Manure infested neighborhoods? No, but I have smelled dog deposits in many neighborhoods. Over and over again such statements are made with no research of communities who have a backyard hen ordinance. Are these problems experienced in the multitude of urban settings in which open minded people have an ordinance protecting both the rights of the people to raise chickens and their neighbors? Not a single council member has referenced any such research at all. So, why are we really so chicken about chickens?Tommy HawkinsTecumseh