Animal control workers found a dozen chickens at a house in the city's northeast neighborhood on Wednesday.
The Animal Health and Public Safety Division were called to the 600 block of Myrtle Avenue shortly after 10 a.m. They received a report that some chickens were possibly being mistreated and some were dead. However, workers didn't find any sign of neglect.
"There's nothing cruel that is of concern right now," Eron Dawkins, special investigator with Animal Health and Public Safety said.
KCMO residents can have chickens as long as it is 100 feet away from any other building.
The homeowner, who declined to speak to 41 Action News, didn't receive a citation but was given a two-week extension to try and obtain an exemption permit. The permit allows her to keep her chickens but she will have to go around and get the necessary signatures from the residents within the distance of the perimeter.
Even with the exemption permit, an owner can only keep up to 15 chickens.
"In this side of the city, we do get a lot of calls of folks having chickens or wanting to have chickens," Dawkins said.
He adds discoveries like the one made Wednesday morning are rare.
"There are some neighborhoods are OK with it, we are not aware of the problem until someone complains," Dawkins said.
For more information on how to apply for the exemption permit, visit Kansas City's Open Data site.
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Andres Gutierrez can be reached at andres.gutierrez@kshb.com
