We’re glad to see the New Ulm City Council is taking a closer look at the issue of chickens being raised inside the New Ulm city limits. There are other cities that do allow people to raise chickens in their back yards, and it would be good to hear from them on how things are working.

We do wish the council’s chicken committee will do one thing – quit comparing chickens and dogs. A lot of comments at Tuesday’s council meeting centered on dog-chicken comparisons – chickens are cleaner than dogs, dogs are louder than chickens, chickens eat ticks, dogs get ticks, etc. etc. The comments were basically comparing apples and oranges, and tell us nothing.

Let’s face it. Chickens are not dogs. People have dogs and chickens for different reasons. People – at least people who live in the city – keep dogs as pets, for companionship. Sometimes the dogs serve other functions, such as hunting buddies or service dogs, but for the most part people keep them for their loving nature and loyalty. They put up with the barking and the shedding and the waste patrol because the emotional payback is worth it.

Chickens, on the other hand, are livestock. People raise them for the eggs and because they’re finger-lickin’ good. We haven’t met too many people who get emotionally attached to their chickens.

Chickens may well have a place in limited numbers in a city neighborhood, but please, let’s leave dogs out of this issue.