Council in a flap over couple's array of pets
Caroline and Michael Graham Young have been told they cannot keep their collection of four guinea pigs, three cockerels, two chickens, two quails and 60 budgies and canaries which they have at their rented bungalow in Micklefield near Garforth.
But they told the Yorkshire Evening Post that when they moved from an upstairs flat in Swillington earlier this year, Leeds City Council knew they had the pets - and they were re-locating too.
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Hide AdMrs Graham-Young, 51, said she and her husband, 62, are being made ill by the situation adding to their current health problems.
She said: “The tenancy agreement says we can have so many but they knew we had all these when we moved. It is making us ill and getting beyond a joke.
“Leeds City Council asked us to build an aviary which we did. They said we can only have 20 birds but it will hold 50. The cockerels, quails and chickens have got to go but we have had them since they were babies and don’t want to part with them.”
A council spokesperson said the authority had been awarded the Gold and Innovator Community Animal Welfare Footprint by the RSPCA for its pets policy which was introduced in 2014.
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Hide AdThey added: “We work with all our tenants to apply this policy fairly and appropriately.
“In this case we have been working with Mr and Mrs Young and the RSPCA to reduce the number of animals kept in the property to a reasonable number as agreed when they moved in. Unfortunately this has not been successful, so to ensure the welfare needs of the animals are being met and to prevent nuisance and noise complaints we have reluctantly had to refer the matter to our Legal Team to look to enforcing the tenancy agreement”