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The Winona City Council’s recent decision to find a way to allow chickens in the city limits of Winona is a great step forward for common sense.
And with the decision will hopefully end the Great Chicken Controversy of 2008. For those of you who’ve missed it, it had to do with keeping chickens inside the city limits.
For all the free-roaming cats and dogs that run loose, a couple of chickens seemed like a fairly innocuous idea. But, according to some residents, it was a nuisance.
Any animal if not kept properly can become a nuisance. That’s true for any typical household critter, and it can be true for chickens. But we’ve argued that just because an animal can become a problem shouldn’t mean we ban it And, in this day of rising food prices, coupled with a push for more locally produced food, having a few hens seems like a good idea.
The simple idea turned into a half-year debate with plenty of squawking. Then, just as quickly as the issue dusted up, the council decided to allow up to 12 hens in the city limits.
That’s a great decision and a victory for common sense. If some animal owners are letting their animals become a nuisance, that’s a separate issue. But it doesn’t make sense to ban all chickens from the city because of a few poor owners or a couple of over-sensitive neighbors.
It’s good to remember that we’re not so cosmopolitan as to shun any livestock — after all, Winona County was the second-largest agricultural producer in the state. And if we’re really committed to locally produced food and lowering our grocery bill, raising chickens might be an interesting start for some.
Not making the chickens cross the road to somewhere else was a great decision.
By Darrell Ehrlick, editor, on behalf of the Winona Daily News editorial board, which also includes publisher Rusty Cunningham and online editor Jerome Christenson. To comment, call 453-3507 or send e-mail to letters@winonadailynews.com.
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