Warwick legal battle over chickens lost

WARWICK, R.I. (AP) - A Warwick resident is about to give up her five hens and a rooster she considers pets, not livestock.

The Providence Journal reports that a Superior Court judge has sided with local zoning officials, forcing Carol Charron-Perry, to part with the animals. The judge says the animals are not allowed under the city's zoning ordinance.

The city Building Department cracked down in 2007 after receiving a complaint about the rooster crowing. The city said keeping chickens on the property violated zoning regulations that bar livestock and fowl in the residential zone without a permit.

Charron-Perry applied in October 2007 for permits to keep the birds. She argued her chickens were domesticated pets, not livestock.

She now worries about where her birds will go because they are too old to lay eggs.