Doctors told Amy Martin of Bangor her son likely wouldn’t live longer than two years.
C-Jay Martin was born completely blind with a bilateral cleft palate and lip, missing one-third of his brain and half of his right lung, and his heart is on the right side of his chest rather than his left, Amy Martin said. He also has autism, epilepsy and ADHD.
Today, he’s 25, loves to complete puzzles, meet new people and can recite books verbatim. But perhaps his favorite thing to do is to care for his six backyard chickens, which serve as his comfort animals.
Next month, the Bangor Board of Appeals will consider the family’s formal request to keep their chickens, despite a city ordinance prohibiting the family from owning them based on where they live in Bangor.
The meeting will come after Martin was unable to informally get permission to have the chickens as a reasonable accommodation for a disability, which led her to file a discrimination complaint against the city with the Maine Human Rights Commission.
“I sent [the city] all the information explaining why we want chickens but we understand there’s an ordinance against it,” Martin said. “The application the city wanted me to fill out had nothing to do with requesting reasonable accommodation for a service animal, but they insisted that’s what I needed to do.”
Martin’s frustration is an example of the miscommunication that can happen when residents struggle to navigate a bureaucratic maze if they need a question answered or they have a request to make. Likewise, city officials may grapple with how to explain complicated jargon and procedures in a way that residents understand.
“It still doesn’t make sense to me,” Martin said. “I shouldn’t have to become a lawyer to figure out how to do this.”
In February, Martin contacted the city seeking an informal reasonable accommodation for emotional support animals under the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Fair Housing Act. She explained she wanted to get comfort chickens to ease her son’s depression, anxiety and isolating behavior that developed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“During COVID, C-Jay started struggling because he’s very social and we lost all our activities and no one came over,” Martin said. “For the past two years, he wasn’t talking to anyone and was very withdrawn.”
C-Jay Martin’s medication specialist even recommended the family get chickens after Martin researched reasons why chickens specifically would be a good comfort animal for her son, because he’s able to care for them and enjoy spending time with them with his specific combination of conditions.
“His doctor wanted to be able to go to court and defend her prescription and say ‘This is the only viable option for him specifically,’” Martin said. “It may not work for everyone, but it works for him.”
For example, the “chicken chatter” noises allow him to know where the chickens are, and chickens aren’t easily startled by C-Jay’s self-stimulating behaviors like flapping his hands or spinning in circles.
Chickens are also generally calm and easy to care for, which helps C-Jay create a routine that is satisfying and comforting without being overwhelming and gives him a reason to go outside several times a day.
“Since the chickens came, he’s excited, feels more involved and has more of a purpose,” Martin said. “He’s much happier and goes outside more because he’s coming out in the morning to let them out and puts them to bed at night.”
Three of the chickens have names — Popcorn, Cheeks and Stella — as Martin is certain they are hens. The other three chickens will get names when she’s sure they’re hens.
Aside from the six chickens, the Martins have one cat named Spoofy, one dog named Marley, and four tanks of fish.
After a string of emails with various city staff, Martin said she was told to fill out an application to ask the Board of Appeals to change the city’s law prohibiting chickens in certain residential areas of Bangor, which she never intended to do. She also didn’t understand why she was being directed to the appeals board, and how exactly to complete the appeal application.
The family was then given six chicks in March, but four were given away after they turned out to be roosters, Martin said, so she bought four more chicks to complete the flock. The chickens now live in the family’s backyard where they’re able to roam around the garden until C-Jay Martin closes them in a coop overnight.
Martin believed, based on information she found on HUD’s website, that she could have the chickens because they’re assistance animals recommended by a health care professional, then ask the city to keep them as reasonable accommodation. The city, however, expects residents to gain permission from the city’s Appeals Board before doing something prohibited by local law.
While she never told the city she has chickens, Martin said she “assumes they know by now.”
“I’ve talked to all my neighbors and they’re fine with it, and my next-door neighbor is on the city council,” she said.
Jeff Wallace, Bangor’s code enforcement director, however, said the city was unaware of any chickens at Martin’s address as of Sept. 20, and the city has not received any complaints about chickens there.
In April, Martin filed a complaint against Bangor with the Maine Human Rights Commission claiming the city was discriminating against her son for not granting an informal reasonable accommodation.
The commission dismissed Martin’s complaint in September after finding no evidence of discrimination, as “a governmental agency is unable to grant informal reasonable accommodations to city ordinances,” according to the investigation report the city received.
In the meantime, Martin completed the appeal application, “even though it had nothing to do with filing for a reasonable accommodation or an emotional support animal,” she said.
Martin said she understands why a city official or resident may think this is a case where someone is masking their desire for chickens behind the title of “emotional support animals,” but she said that’s far from the truth.
“We’re not looking to sell eggs on the weekends or raise meat birds,” Martin said. “They’re a therapeutic device for C-Jay.”
The Bangor Board of Appeals will decide whether the Martins can keep their chickens on Oct. 5 at 5 p.m.
The city’s board of appeals considered a request for emotional support chickens in 2020, which it denied, according to Wallace.
If the board denies the family’s request, Martin said she’s prepared to continue fighting for her son’s right to have his comfort chicken, even if it means taking the case to the Supreme Court.
“Why would I let this go?” she said. “Just because someone says no doesn’t mean that’s the final answer. If I don’t try, who’s going to?”
