Woman With Pet Turkeys Charged With Misdemeanor
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She's says they're like foster children to her, now one Jefferson, South Dakota woman is being told that keeping her turkeys is illegal.
Cindy Irwin has owned goats and chickens in the past, but they were taken away due to Jefferson's ordinance banning livestock. She thought she'd be safer with owning wild turkeys, but she was wrong.
Irwin has raised her turkeys since she got them at the four days old back in March. When she was told they would have to be taken away, but her pheasants and quails could stay, she didn't understand why.
"I was devastated because those turkeys don't know they're turkeys," said Irwin, who had raised the turkeys to be so tame she often holds them in her arms.
Irwin was charged with a misdemeanor for owning the turkeys. Officials in Jefferson say they violate a city ordinance banning livestock, which includes poultry. On Thursday, a Union County judge decided that Irwin's turkeys are considered poultry on Thursday.
Irwin and her attorney don't agree.
"Turkeys are big game, you can't hunt them outside of season. Cindy may have some turkeys, but she can't kill them for dinner, she's not allowed to because she'd have to have a hunting permit in order to do that," said defense attorney Jonathan Edwards.
In court, Edwards argued that the city's ordinance banning livestock has to be more clearly defined.
"When you say livestock and/or you identify cattle, pigs, sheep, etc. by name and then say ‘other livestock' you're just painting too broad of a brush and creating too much room for error," said Edwards.
The city of Jefferson argued that the ordinance is clear and necessary.
"How we treat one person is how we have to treat, everybody else in the city so if we allow one person to have a large number of birds, animals, poultry, chickens, turkeys, those kinds of kings, the city has to be prepared that everybody should be allowed to have them, and that would clearly cause a problem," said City Attorney Sabrina Sayler.
Irwin says her turkeys are too tame to be released into the wild, so she plans to appeal the judge's decision.
"I think what's right is right and I'm going to keep going until they get it right because this is wrong. I'm not violating an ordinance. I've done everything they've asked me to do," said Irwin.
Irwin has ten days to appeal today's court ruling, and she can keep her turkeys through that appeals process.
Irwin also a faced a charge of creating a nuisance, but was acquitted on that count.
