J.J. Hart's chickens never should have been a point of contention in the first place. The 2-year-old autistic boy's doctor recommended the animals as pets, saying the chickens could be therapeutic, and it turned out the doctor was right: J.J.'s parents said interacting with the chickens was helping him to develop social skills and improving his mood. He even ate the organic eggs! He loved going outside to the chicken coop his parents built in their backyard (he called his little friends "ducks").
But apparently someone in J.J.'s Florida town of DeBary doesn't like "ducks," because an anonymous complaint was filed with the city council, and the council subsequently informed J.J.'s family that due to residential zoning laws, the little boy's beloved chickens would have to go.
Devastating news, though the blow was softened somewhat on Wednesday night when the council decided to give the Harts a 60-day reprieve from the ruling. During those 60 days, the family planned to rally as much local support for the animals as possible -- as a medical treatment (for a 2-year-old autistic boy, no less), shouldn't the chickens be exempt from zoning laws, after all?
But they never got the chance. On Saturday morning, they discovered something horrible in the coop. Four of J.J.'s chickens had been killed -- their heads sliced off -- and one more was "severely wounded."
Can you even imagine?! Who would DO such a thing? (So far the police don't have any leads.)
At least J.J. wasn't outside at the time to witness the carnage. Still, he's been asking for his "ducks" ever since, which is beyond heartbreaking. Just reading this passage from the Facebook page his parents set up after the council's initial ruling (Save J.J. Hart's "Ducks") and thinking about what ended up happening to those chickens is enough to bring tears to your eyes:
JJ has gone from being afraid of things as simple as a Merry Go Round to LOVING animals, caring for them, and even socializing with others!!!!! While I do not give our Chickens 100% credit, I DO KNOW for a fact, that they have played a huge part in his socialization skills, building leg strength from chasing them so much, helped him with his "fear" of the unexpected, and somehow captures his attention.
Image via Facebook
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Comments 14
Chances are the people who did this have the annoying barking dog on the block. On that note, why is it my neighbor is allowed to leave his dog outside at all hours and it never shuts up and that's legal but this little boy can't have a few chickens?
This is beyond ridiculous for a number of reasons. Here, I'll list some:
1) Cat
2) Dog
3) Hamster
4) Guinea Pig
5) Chinchilla
6) Ferret
7) Rabbit
8) "indoor" Bird (i.e. a parrot)
If the kid needed a pet, then they should've gotten a pet that isn't against zoning laws. THERE ARE SEVERAL TO CHOOSE FROM.
What happened to the chickens should never have, because the asshole parents should never have gotten them to begin with.
Caera - who is to say he would like any of those animals? His doctor suggested chickens for a reason. And really, chickens are NOT loud and they don't smell if they are taken care of(just like any other animal) so to me allowing this child or anyone to have chickens shouldn't be a big deal. I'm so sick of all the sheep in this country blindly following stupid rules. And yes, not allowing a family to own some chickens is a STUPID rule.
Interesting. I just read an article that said the parents were the one's who researched and decided chickens may help, not his doctor. I'm sorry their child has Autism. I'm also sorry that someone hurt the chickens, if that is what happened, since the police have it listed as an animal attack.. However, the parents really should have made the plea BEFORE getting the chickens. Having an Autistic child does not give a person tthe right to do as they please. By not doing things legally, it seems they've hurt their child in the long run.