Daniel Zuckerman is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media a proposed local law in the town of Cairo to require domestic farm animals to be confined to their owners' property never made it to a vote, Jan. 14. Town board member Jason Watts put forward the resolution, but it went nowhere after failing to get a second. A public hearing was held before the full meeting and members of the public in attendance balked at the new restrictions. Under the proposal, an animal trespassing on a neighbor's property would have resulted in an initial $25 fine, but increase to $50 for the second and $75 for the third. Watts said he received four complaints about chickens being a nuisance. One complaint came from James West who protested about chickens digging up his flower garden. If the law was imposed, the town police department and code enforcement office would have handled enforcement. Having police officers track down the owners of unruly chickens is a massive waste of time that could be spent on more serious matters, James McManus said. Town Attorney Tal Rappleyea said other towns have enacted similar laws and then had trouble with enforcement. The easier way to solve the problem of trespassing chickens and the resulting property damage is for residents to bring their grievances to Small Claims Court, Supervisor Daniel Benoit said after the meeting. The law in unlikely to be brought up for discussion again, he added. Read the full story story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.