I Fought the Law and the Law……

So if you have been following along with the tales of Fred the duck, you will remember that last time, he and the new female duck, Betty, were starting to hit it off. There was love in the air. It was such an exciting time! And then one day the phone rang…… It was the village manager and he asked “Do you have two ducks?” I gulped and became silent….. I knew ducks were against the village ordinance, I had know all along. I took a deep breath and said “No, of course I don’t. Don’t be silly.” We hung up and I got sick to my stomach. I then drove down to the village hall and confessed our sins of having Fred and Betty.

Someone had walked by our property and seen (not heard) the ducks and had reported us. Was I ticked? Sure I was!!! Who has nothing better to do then nark on a couple of cute ducks!?! Seriously I was POed but what was done was done and now we had to fight to keep them because I was so not giving up our Fred and his new woman. Fred is our boy!!! We have been through way to much together.

I had one week to gather “support material” aka write a letter to the village council asking for special permission to keep the ducks. I knew there was no way in heck we would get the ordinance changed, but maybe, just maybe, we could get an exemption. So I wrote my letter. I had two neighbors write letters on our behalf! I called the oldest country kid’s therapist ( he has Asperger’s, it’s an autism spectrum disorder) and SHE wrote a letter explain how loosing them would not be good for him. Fred and Betty were now “therapy ducks!”

Letters of support. And yes, I did black out
names and stuff because this IS the internet
after all! 

Things were moving quickly as just a week later we were on the meeting agenda to discuss the fate our our darling ducks. A few days before the meeting, one of the counsel members popped by and asked a bunch of questions. It was nice to see one of them take such an interest in our topic. Then again, this is a VERY small village and not much to do anyway. Just kidding! We were assured at the end of the visit we had at least one vote to allow us to keep the ducks!!!!

The night of the meeting, I was nervous. We had one yes but there were still six other people who got to vote. I got there on time….. dressed nice (for me anyway) and even had slapped on some make up. There were only about five of us in the audience and seven counsel members, but the stress level, at least in my head, was almost to the moon. After the pledge of allegiance, the counsel set to work. I was kind of spacing off, working on answers to give, when I heard “Well since Mindie is here, let’s move her up on the agenda.” **GULP**  I took a deep breath and prepared to dig my heals in and fight for our feathered friends.

What happened next was such a blur. The announced why I was their and that I had provided support material. There was murmuring from the council members indicating they all had read it. I was bracing for the onslaught of questions and finger shaking for knowingly breaking the law….. and I heard “do I have a motion to grant the exemption” and a lot of voices trying to make the motion!!! “All in favor of granting the exemption?” Seven, yes I said SEVEN yes votes!!!!

I thanked them up and down and burst from village hall. I wanted to get home and tell the rest of the family the good news!!! The oldest country kid was so happy he wanted to go thank the village council for permitting a pet exemption for Fred and Betty. So we went back up, interrupted the meeting, only to have the oldest country kid (who is eight) become instantly shy and bury his face in my shirt!!! But they all understood what this little boy was trying to say!!!

And so I am happy to report, I fought the law and, the law, well……… we got an exemption!!! Fred and Betty are now considered pets. Geee, we always knew they were! But even more importantly, they are family! And best of all, they are here to stay!!!

28 thoughts on “I Fought the Law and the Law……

  1. Kinda gives new meaning to the proverbial 'it takes a village', now doesn't it 😉 What a great story!

  2. Good for you fighting that!!! I'm glad Fred made it through another drama 🙂

    1. He is my boy! He has been through so much this year, I was not going to add the trauma of being rehomed to his list!

  3. They are therapy pets and I would put up a sign stating so (for the darned nosy neighbors; even if its states!).. but that is me .. LOL Congratulations on winning and having the therapy pets around a while longer !! Wooohoo I am very happy for you and your family …

    (This is the reason I don't live in a covenant controlled community..LOL )

    1. Trust me, this whole thing set into motion the desire to get way out in the middle of nowhere!

  4. Village life is so much fun! {Wink} We moved into a village a few years ago to help my parents out. I miss the freedom of country living. In our village we are not even allowed to keep bees!!

    So glad you were able to keep the ducks. My daughter has autism so I know exactly how you feel about this!!

  5. That's awesome! I love to see the trend of village and town boards being a little more understanding. Our codes require 3 acres for anything other than "ordinary household pets" and the board is notoriously strict about upholding those laws. So silly, especially when you take into account that most of the land within a 5-10 mile radius around us is farm land!

    1. Our tiny (pop 1,200) town is surrounded by farmland. The village allows chickens but not ducks. Since they aren't "normal" pets, we weren't covered on that either…. but now we are! LOL

  6. Wow, I have to commend your village counsel members for their compassion and "breaking" their own rules. I wish all government officials would vote with their heart and keep politics and money out of the law! Congratulations to you, your family and Fred and Betty.

    1. Well if you get chickens you may not have a veggie garden! LOL Unless you put up a fence around it.

  7. Well, how awesome, Mindy. It would be stressful, but you were brave — braver than I would be. Except that if it affected on of my kids I can get brave! How sweet that your son wanted to thank them. ~Pamela

    1. I am just so glad Fred and Betty are here to stay. The backyard would just be weird without them.

  8. :::clap, clap, clap::: Bravo to you for being so prepared in your fight to keep Betty and Fred! So glad that the council did the right thing and all is well. Thank you for sharing at Green Thumb Thursday!

  9. Yay! Good for you for standing up and seeking the exemption. So happy Fred and Betty will have a place to grow old together. Thanks for sharing this heartwarming story at my Creative Ways Link Party!
    Blessings,
    Nici

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