Woman Fights Township to save Brother's Emotional Support Chickens
(Amity Township, PA) -- An Amity Township woman says the municipality is going after her brother's emotional support chickens because their property doesn't meet agricultural requirements. Megan Holden says she and her 41-year-old brother Tommy Spillane is deaf and has special needs. They started raising the chickens on her property three years ago to help Tommy and Holden has since gotten them certified as support animals. She's filed an appeal for a variance after the township recently told her she needs at least a one-acre lot for the chickens to stay as part of agricultural zoning; her property is only one-half acre. The town's code enforcement officer says neighbors have complained about the rooster and that no one has ever claimed a chicken to be a pet. Township supervisors will need to review the variance request.