Letter to the Editor: “Chickens are different than dogs, but better.” Hmmm.

A recent letter to the Free Press by R. J. Sayler made the claim - wait for it! - that chickens are better in some way than dogs.

RJ begins by asking, “What’s the difference with chickens? Why are all the politicians so scared of chickens?” (June 25, London Free Press)

Then RJ mentions some differences between dogs and chickens, and the chickens come out on top, in his opinion.

“Everybody is allowed to have dogs but not chickens.” (I.e., here in London).

“Chicken food is cheaper than dog food.”

RJ says he likes waking up to the sound of chickens but doesn’t like the three dogs across the street that “bark at everything all night every night.”

“Dog poop smells worst and only ends up in the garbage. Chicken poop makes good fertilizer for your garden.”

“Unemployed people in London can eat the eggs... even the chicken if need be.”

RJ concludes by saying, “So give chickens a break, as long as they are kept in reasonable numbers.”


["Will chickens be run out of town? Too bad."]

Though I don’t think - like RJ - that “all the politicians” are “so scared of chickens,” I do feel there will be continued resistance to the idea of backyard coops, even “in reasonable numbers,” for many more years.

And that’s short-sighted on our part as a modern, creative city.

I hope small backyard coops become the norm in all corners of our fair city in my lifetime.

(I’m 61 now, plan to live 44 more years, beat my great-grandmother Lucille Gordon’s age and set at least one world record hockey in senior’s hockey. Maybe I’ll go for the “Keep Your Stick on the Ice - Most Consecutive Years” or “Most Goals in the Same Pants”. Sorry, I digress).

One might ask, “Short-sighted?”

Yes. More to follow.

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