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Chicken Police

I’ve been kinda snickering a bit. Seems a bunch of hippies want to keep hens in the greater urban areas of Knoxville. For eggs. So they’ve apparently gotten the city council to go along. But it looks like having chickens may mean you waive your fourth amendment rights:

The Animal Control Board shall have the right to enter the permitted property during reasonable daylight hours to inspect the hen enclosure and condition of the animals in the enforcement of this law, and shall have the authority to enter the property at any time in case of emergency or health threat, and to remove chickens from the premises, if necessary.

14 Responses to “Chicken Police”

  1. chris Says:

    The folks in Cocke County avoid this 4A issue by putting their kickin’ chicken pens in the front yard.

  2. FatWhiteMan Says:

    This is becoming a trend around the country. So called animal cops, which have very little training and no police training or powers think that the 4th amendment does not matter to them.

    Usually they receive a couple of weeks of animal training from a sponsor like the Humane Society then they are turned loose on farmers that have been raising animals for generations.

  3. MJM Says:

    All manner of employment legislation prepared the way for these kinds of knocks on the door in violation of the 4th amendment. Consider OSHA and other surprise inspections that are deemed “administrative.” Somehow, labeling it “administrative” when the government comes to your door and demands to walk around taking notes and pictures is OK. But, we Americans didn’t raise a fuss when business owners were treated this way, and now it’s us.

    Of course, we agreed nearly 100 years ago to open up our most private financial journals to compulsory reporting and warrantless inspection when we foolishly accepted the income tax.

    The 4th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, quoted in full: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath of affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

  4. mariner Says:

    Do they have to wait 45 minutes for a supervisor to approve?

  5. dustydog Says:

    Because chicken-farming should have greater oversight than raising children.

  6. ParatrooperJJ Says:

    Do people keep chickens in their house or in their yard? There no 4th amendment protections for items in plain view in your yard.
    Also in many if not most states animal control officers have limited or full police powers.

  7. Melody Byrne Says:

    This is true of livestock almost everywhere under USDA rules and state laws. In some states they have to notify you and limit the number of welfare checks per year, but some states don’t have any such limits.

    Welcome to farming, that’s why most people don’t do it anymore.

  8. Paul Says:

    Amendment IV.

    The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

    So how did they get the right to enter?

  9. Fred Says:

    It really doesn’t sound that different than what the ATF can do to FFL holders to me though.

  10. JKB Says:

    It’s for the chicks. So what if it means as a society we become hen-pecked.

    On the other hand, the hippies are the ones (or their parents were) who protested for greater control over the evil farmer who kept their brood cooped up. They were cocksure such rules would never apply to them.

  11. hecate Says:

    This is no different than any of the other violations by little nazis in government agencies. A friend caught a representative of the county assessor’s office peeking in through his windows. So-called nuisance inspectors can invade wherever they please and seize property without due process. Horror stories abound in the classic-car community.

  12. Nomen Nescio Says:

    the local neo-hippies organized a semi-guided bicycle tour of suburban chicken coops recently; i went on it. pretty neat, actually. you need a small shed or something to act as a coop, a fenced-in bit of yard, and that’s pretty much it. all the birds i saw were quiet, decently neat (for animals), and seemed pretty easy to keep.

    they’re outdoors animals except that they need that shed or whatever for nighttime shelter, and you better fence them in good or the raccoons will have a party. far as i know my town doesn’t have any damnfool silly fourth amendment abrogating bits in its chicken-keeping regulations, either. i could keep four of them and none of them roosters, but from what i saw the hippies doing, only the “no roosters” bit appears to be actually enforced (or really needed).

    and this is upstate Michigan, for crying out loud. why should it be any harder to keep chickens in Tennessee?

  13. John Smith Says:

    Sounds like you would be more secure breaking the law and keeping chickens without permit. They would then have to get a warrant to search the premise instead of just strolling in like they own the place.

  14. Kristopher Says:

    Do what the local latinos breeding cock-fighters do inside city limits in Oregon: Call them all pets, and tell the cops to go get a warrant.

    Once they become a “pet”, the farming ordinances go out the window.

Remember, I do this to entertain me, not you.

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