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A WOMAN has entered a fowl feud with her homeowner’s association after they demanded she get rid of her emotional support chickens.
Homeowner Lori Smith is being forced to pay a daily fine of $50 as long as her five chickens stay in her New Jersey backyard.
The bitter battle started when Smith’s HOA filed a lawsuit against her and her husband, David Miller, saying the chickens and coop be removed after their neighbors complained about the chickens.
“This has been so horrible,” Smith told the daily newspaper the Staten Island Advance through tears.
“There aren’t words to describe what this has done to me,”
However, Smith insisted the Amherst Farms HOA previously allowed the chickens in her backyard in Mickleton, New Jersey, which is about 20 miles south of New Jersey.
“I was told by a board member we would be able to have chickens,” Smith explained, according to Fox affiliate WTFX.
“We needed permission from our immediate neighbors, which we obtained. No issues.”
After six weeks with the chickens, Smith noticed a positive change in her mental health.
“I just thought this is the greatest thing,” Smith, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, recalled.
“This is a miracle, this is wonderful.”
However, the HOA quickly ended her poultry dream.
The organization told the couple they couldn’t have the chicken or the coop in 2022.
Amherst Farms HOA said Smith failed to show the chickens were for therapy reasons instead of just pets.
The neighborhood officials also shared worries the chickens would attract wild animals.
Smith said she’s been fighting the HOA board for three years now.
When the couple refused to get rid of the chickens, the HOA filed a lawsuit that brought them all the way to court.
Last year, Judge Robert G. Malestein ruled the chickens had to be removed from their half-acre property.
The judge also ordered a $50 per day penalty for not following his orders.
Smith and Miller still have the chickens on their property – they’ve just been paying the daily fee.
The Amherst Farms HOA didn’t respond to The U.S. Sun’s requests for comment through their website or their lawyer.
