South Jersey homeowner, HOA in fight over emotional support chickens
Emotional support chickens at heart of NJ homeowner fight with HOA
A homeowner in Gloucester County has been ordered to remove her five emotional support chickens from her backyard. The homeowner has been fighting her homeowners’ association over the chickens for years.
MICKLETON, N.J. - Homeowners’ associations have a lot of rules, including what color your house can be or no cars parked on the street.
In one South Jersey neighborhood, a woman has been fighting with her HOA to keep her emotional support chickens, and they have been battling for years.
What we know:
Lori Smith has just been ordered by a judge to remove her five emotional support chickens and their backyard coop by early April, the latest legal twist in her battle with her homeowners’ association in Amherst Farms, in Mickleton, Gloucester County.
"I was told by a board member we would be able to have chickens," Smith explained. "We needed permission from our immediate neighbors, which we obtained. No issues."
The backstory:
"And, so we obtained our chickens and about six weeks in I noticed a significant and profound impact in a positive way in my symptoms of PTSD and I just thought this is the greatest thing. This is a miracle, this is wonderful," Smith said.
But, then came an order from her HOA – the chickens had to go.
She stated, "We received an email from the board saying we weren’t allowed to have them. We weren’t allowed to have a coop, and we needed to get rid of them immediately."
Timeline:
In a letter dated June of 2022, the HOA says the board first denied her request for a coop a month prior. It says the couple’s documents failed to show why Lori needed chickens specifically for a therapeutic need instead of an animal that could be kept in their home and why multiple chickens were needed. It also cited safety issues, saying the chickens would attract wild animals.
"We had to hire a lawyer cause they got their lawyers involved," Smith remarked. "We couldn’t be unrepresented. We were going back and forth and waiting for some communication and then they served us with a lawsuit. And, we’ve been in court ever since. It’s almost three years now."
Smith’s attorney, Kristina Bergsten, commented, "During depositions, opposing counsel was asking Lori, ‘Do you kiss your chickens?’ That kind of shows people aren’t taking this seriously, because it’s chickens, it’s cute. It’s a little funny, it’s a little odd, But, at the end of the day, it’s a very serious thing. There’s plenty of empirical data about U.S. veterans who use chicken keeping as a way of therapy for their PTSD. So, it’s not an uncommon thing to have chickens as part of therapy for PYSD."
Dig deeper:
"They’re medicine. If this was a medicine I injected for a disease I had, I would fight just as hard. At this point, I have to fight now for other people in the state of New Jersey with invisible diseases or disabilities that need support, especially with non-traditional emotional support animals," Smith continued.
What's next:
FOX 29 left a phone message and emailed the homeowners’ association lawyer and did not yet hear back as the latest order from the judge overseeing the case came down Wednesday.
"The judge said on or before April 4th they have to get rid of the chickens," Bergsten said. "Otherwise, he will have someone else remove the chickens."
"You’re not gonna give up?" FOX 29’s Steve Keeley asked.
"No. Absolutely not. We’re not, we’re fighting this till the end," Smith replied.