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Cluck Out Of Luck: Judge Orders Hollywood Chickens Out

HOLLYWOOD (CBS4)- A Broward County Judge made a fowl decision Monday that will have some Hollywood chickens looking for a new home. Grant and Sandra Einhorn won a court battle that will force a neighbor to get rid of his chickens, but while the chicken squawking might end, it's likely the legal squawking is just beginning.

The couple had asked judge Michele Singer to force Rene and Steve Kohn, who live next door to the Einhorns, to remove their chickens. The neighboring families have been battling for months over the noisy birds, which have been on the Kohn property in violation of a Hollywood ordinance.

"It's squawking and it's at sunrise, sometimes, prior to," Grant Einhorn said.

Sandra Einhorn said the chickens are loud, smelly and giving them no peace.

"The worst part is the noise, it's just loud and we don't like being woken up by chickens," said Sandra Einhorn in June. "Just the pitch of it and the fact you can hear it through the hurricane windows, it's irritating."

The Kohns have more than a dozen chickens at their house in the upscale Emerald Hills section of Hollywood.

Hollywood does have ordinance prohibiting residents from having poultry at their homes and the Kohns are being fined $250 a day for the violation. A special magistrate approved the fine, which was upheld in an appeal.

Despite the fines, the Kohns have refused to get rid of the fowl.

Steve Kohn said his chickens are pets and that his family is often misunderstood because they are Arab Jews. The Kohns said they have a right to raise the chickens as pets.

After a two day court hearing last week, Judge Singer ruled Monday that the Kohns chickens were causing irreparable harm to the Einhorns, and must be removed in the next 10 days.

"Neighbors shouldn't have to worry about chickens coming into their yards," Judge Singer stated in her order. "Neighbors shouldn't have to hang heavy drapes in their houses or get hurricane proof windows just to keep out the noise of a neighbor's animals."

Judge Singer said that even though the Einhorns were aware of the next-door chickens when they bought their home, that made no legal difference.

She ordered the Kohns to stop keeping chickens, ducks, or goats in their yard.

The Kohns' attorney plans to appeal the ruling on Tuesday. He says if that appeal is denied, the Kohns will obey the law and say goodbye to their feathered friends.

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