Bangor, Maine Family Trying to Save Its Emotional Support Chickens

First and foremost, this story isn't what you think it is.

You can cruise the internet any time you want and find any number of people who claim to need something they don't. There are certainly an incalculable number of people who will manipulate a situation to make it benefit themselves, solely. These people are the ones who give people who really need help with something, a bad name.

The Martin family in Bangor is the latter. They're a family that's not out to cause headaches. They're not out to inconvenience anyone. They just have a very specific need that the city of Bangor is scratching their heads, trying to figure out. So far, probably no one involved is really happy with the current state of things.

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This all revolves around a small flock of chickens.

Amy Martin and her son C-Jay currently have a small flock of chickens on their property, as emotional support animals for her son. C-Jay suffers with blindness, a bilateral cleft palate and lip... He's missing one-third of his brain and half of his right lung, and his heart is on the right side of his chest instead of the left. Additionally, C-Jay is also autistic and has epilepsy and ADHD.

His chickens, which were literally prescribed by his one of his doctors, provide him with a sense of not only comfort, but likely some day-to-day purpose. But after trying to get informal permission from the City of Bangor, because chickens technically violate the city's ordinance against owning chickens in certain areas of Bangor, the Martins are getting some bounce-back, according to the BDN. Although, the need for the chickens seems pretty obvious.

Miscommunication is king.

This whole kerfuffle seems to be a giant case of miscommunication. The city doesn't necessarily seem totally opposed to the request but has been slow to get a final judgment together because there are so many moving parts of the law that need to be dealt with in the proper, legal way.

Amy Martin has filed appeals and sent letters trying to get this issue resolved because the chickens bring so much positivity into her son's life. And I imagine as a mom, it must be maddening to see something that should be so simple, be so difficult. Especially when one of her neighbors, who are all okay with the chickens by the way, is actually on the city council.

Again, these folks don't want to sell eggs or monetize these birds in any way. Amy Martin just knows what's best for her son and is trying to do what moms do... Take care of their kids.

The whole thing goes before the Bangor Board of Appeals on October 5th.

Maybe chickens could eat these nasty bugs?