An otherwise routine of the was colored by the appearance of two public speakers coming before the board pleading for the right to own chickens and to rail against money in politics.
Joseph Pond, founder of the Backyard Chickens Alliance of Cobb County, once again stressed his recommendation that the board .
With the current code, chickens and ducks can only be kept on properties exceeding two acres in size. Pond said that if the code was amended, neighborhoods with HOAs would be able to restrict chicken keeping.
Pond lost his job two weeks ago and his chickens in the fall of 2011. He is now not able to acquire organic eggs to feed his family. He also mentioned the Georgia Right to Grow Act, which would have alleviated the problem but was killed in the state House of Representatives' Rules Committee and by Rep. John Meadows.
Craig Harfoot came to the podium to address his belief that money and politics should be separated. He began with criticisms of Commission Chairman Tim Lee, who to keep his seat. Harfoot said that with $450,000 in campaign donations, Lee owed favors to his donors that the taxpayers would end up providing.
"We're used to seeing big money compete for tax dollars on the national stage," Harfoot said. "But seeing it on the local level is really frightening."
Lee's support of a HOST tax, in face of the , was considered an outrage by Harfoot, who said that the rise in energy costs was already a tax on food.
Harfoot was also surprised that although , that he managed to win the runoff and keep his job.
"If you didn't have so much debt to your donors, a lot of us would feel better," he said.
Don Bruce | Operations Manager Cobb County Animal Control" Where do you derive the conclusion that fresh eggs can be more of a health problem than store bought eggs? According to the 2007 Mother Earth News egg testing project: Our testing has found that, compared to official U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrient data for commercial eggs, eggs from hens raised on pasture may contain: • 1⁄3 less cholesterol• 1⁄4 less saturated fat• 2⁄3 more vitamin A• 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids• 3 times more vitamin E• 7 times more beta carotene
"The 2010 CDC report estimated that one in 20,000 eggs is internally contaminated. A healthy-looking hen might be infected with Salmonella, and may lay an occasional SE-contaminated egg while the rest are safe for human consumption. This is true for both factory-farm and backyard chickens. However, the probable risk of infection is extremely small." "Humans can become infected with the pathogen after eating foods that come in direct or indirect contact with animal feces, according to a July 2010 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report. A common problem used to be that chicken feces on the outside of a shell would contaminate the egg once the egg was cracked. But now, according to the CDC report, Salmonella illnesses from factory farm egg shells are less frequent, since industry standards for cleaning and inspecting became more rigid in the 1970s." If you are more comfortable eating eggs that are 30 to 60 days old, that is your business. If you would rather listen to hearsay than read documented scientific studies, that is your business as well. You said that the 'city' had an issue with the dogs. I am talking about the County. Even the Animal Control Operations Manager said that the Cities have limits on pets. Cobb County Animal Control takes care of some of the cities as well as their own areas.