NJ Woman Fighting To Keep Emotional Support Chickens

GLOUCESTER COUNTY, NJ — A South Jersey woman is caught in a legal battle with a Gloucester County homeowners association after the group said she needed to get rid of her emotional support chickens, according to court documents and a report.

The Amherst Farms Homeowners Association filed a lawsuit against Lori Smith and her husband, David Miller, to remove their five chickens and coop from their property, citing complaints from neighbors, according to a NJ Advance Media report.

Smith — who suffers from panic and anxiety attacks and post-traumatic stress syndrome — purchased the animals in April 2022 after obtaining permission from a homeowners association board member and her immediate neighbors, according to court documents.

After purchasing the chickens, court documents said she realized caring for them alleviated her anxiety and panic attacks and she received letters from her doctors prescribing the birds as emotional support animals.

Last year, however, a judge ruled the chickens had to go, claiming they were not emotional support animals but rather barnyard animals, NJ Advance Media reported. The judge also ordered Smith to remove the chickens and the coop on their property and pay a $50 per day penalty for disregarding his orders.

“This has been so horrible. There aren’t words to describe what this has done to me,” Smith told NJ Advance Media.

Though Smith is appealing the original lawsuit, she has also filed a counterclaim against the homeowners association under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination Act.

According to court documents, the Amherst Farms Homeowners Association refused to accommodate the chickens or have further conversations about the animals, despite Smith providing members with letters from her doctors.

Smith's lawsuit accuses the homeowners association of "continued denial and discrimination."

"(Smith) has suffered extreme emotional distress in the form of lost sleep, inability to concentrate, medication dependence, panic attacks, increased use of therapy, severe stomach pain, G.I. symptoms, concentration issues, palpitations, chest pain, and heightened levels of anxiety which landed (her) in the emergency room twice," the lawsuit states.

Smith's lawsuit is seeking no less than $11,000 in economic damages, according to court documents, as well as unspecified damages for emotional distress and mental anguish.