EDITOR,
I recently learned that the Willmot family, after much pleading with the DOS, and despite community support, has been forced to surrender its chickens. Why? Because having backyard chickens has been deemed a bear attractant. I have known the Willmots for many years; indeed, I rented a room at their house long before the chickens came to roost. And way back then, on occasion, a bear would wander through their yard. Likely now that the chickens are gone, bears will continue to sometimes wander through. Banning chickens from backyards and expecting this to reduce or eliminate the presence of bears is the same archaic thinking that invented the burka. What's next? We ban owning pets based on last summer's incidence of cougars snatching kitties from front yards? Maybe as a pre-emptive strike against wildlife encroachment we should also ban toddlers, midgets and people who can't run away. Come on DOS, get with the times! Urban farming is a progressive concept, one we ought to proudly embrace. Where bears are an issue, let's work together as a community to problem solve, just as we did with garbage cans and fruit trees. Instead of banning chickens, I vote we do away with old-school and embarrassing bylaws.
Jess Reid
Squamish
