The Pacific Grove City Council balked at a recommendation to force a woman to give up her two pet hens after chicken supporters flocked to Wednesday’s meeting.

The council voted 6-1 to permit Valerie Landau, 45, and her daughter, Molly McGee, 16, to keep Garbanza, a tan bantam hen, and Lola, a Rhode Island Red, at the 19th Street home they rent. A city animal control officer had recommended against allowing the chickens after neighbors expressed concerns that the birds would attract raccoons to the Lovers Point neighborhood.

Molly said she was relieved she could keep her hens.

“I don’t consider them pets at all. They are my family,” Molly said. “I just hope that you can think of them as my family too. You wouldn’t want to tear my family apart.”

Molly, a student at Monterey High School, and six of her teenage friends brought signs to the meeting to defend the birds. One sign, borne by 16-year-old James Palmer, read “Jesus was a chicken.”

On a sad note, the chickens were killed in a mysterious act of mayhen. The raccoon proof cage was opened and the birds were killed. Gayle Sanborn had no comment..

Update! Chickens Get Approved

What is more hometown like, two pet chickens kept by a teenager or a dog owned by a Carmel mortgage agent?

Two pet hens have a Pacific Grove neighborhood squawking, and it’s up to the City Council to make sure nobody’s feathers get too ruffled.

The council will consider Wednesday whether to let Valerie Landau keep two hens at the 19th Street home she rents. Some neighbors are concerned that the birds will attract raccoons or create a nuisance.

Landau, 45, and her 16-year-old daughter, Molly McGee, keep the birds in the fenced back yard at their home just blocks from Lovers Point in one of the city’s densest neighborhoods.

Landau said the birds make less of a mess than dogs. One hen, a foot-tall Rhode Island Red, is named Lola because she’s a showgirl, Landau said.

The other, a tan bantam, is named Garbanzo, like the bean.

The chickens are like part of the family, and don’t cause allergies like some furry pets, said Molly.

Why Did The Chicken Cross The Cranky Neighbor?