Should Chickens Have a Home in Easton?

Mayor says City Council could revisit law banning people from keeping chickens in the city.

Since 2007, chickens have been persona non grata in the city of Easton. That was the year City Council adopted an ordinance that keeps residents from owning farm animals. It was drafted in response to complaints about a family that kept six hens at its College Hill home. (It also hadn't been updated in 30 years at that point.) But now that law could change. Mayor Sal Panto this week said the city's health and planning committees could revisit the ordinance next month. As blogger Christina Georgiou reported, the issue came before council when resident Annie Porter proposed a change in the law so she and her family could keep six hens—no roosters. The hens would be penned in and used only for eggs. City Council has sided with animal lovers …

•  14 Comments
• Photos (1)

From the Editor's Desk

Anyone in Easton Lose a Dog?

Young brown dog found wandering Easton's South Side

Every so often, I'll see stray or lost dogs roaming my neighborhood.  Most of them are pretty skittish, and bolt when I try to get near them. Lost a dog? Found a dog? Use our announcements to spread the word? But today I found a dog wandering my neighborhood -- W. Lincoln Street near Seitz -- who was pretty friendly.  I'd like to see that he gets home safely, and to think that his owners simply haven't gotten a collar for him yet, that it was a mistake, not neglect, that led him to be roaming the city. If this is your dog, please call the county's non-emergency number at 610-330-2200. 

•  1 Comment
• Photos (1)

Easton Could Expand Animal Control Contract

Changing service from five days a week to seven would cost the city an additional $12,000 annually.

Expanding Easton's animal control contract to 24-7 coverage 365 days per year, and temporarily housing lost and stray dogs will ultimate save the city money as well as help take care of a growing problem, Administrator Glen Steckman told city council Tuesday evening. With the no-kill Center for Animal Welfare overcrowded to the point it cannot take more animals, and an annual bill in addition to animal control of nearly $43,000 per year, the city needs to do something, he said. Steckman said he hopes the new plan will not only alleviate some of the associated costs, but also give the city somewhere to take the dogs. "The animal center has been unfortunately been turning down our requests too often," he said, though the city will still work…

• Photos (1)