Peacock Kerfuffle Has Elk Grove Woman's Feathers Ruffled
ELK GROVE (CBS13) — An Elk Grove woman is in the middle of a struggle to keep her exotic pets after a neighbor's complaint about her beloved peacocks.
Anita Munyer greets her feathered friends, Jack and Jill, like a mother hen looking after her chicks. The colorful creatures clearly add meaning to her live. She calls them her watch dogs, and provide therapy for her husband Bill who recently suffered a stroke.
And just look at how excited she gets when Jack struts his stuff.
"Oh look at Jack's back, he's in full bloom," she said.
She can't imagine her life without them.
But even though her two-and-a-half acres in Elk Grove is surrounded by towering trees, lush gardens and open space, Elk Grove officials say city rules still apply.
Her peacocks are considered exotic animals and aren't allowed as pets.
An animal control officer came by on Monday.
"She said, 'You have to get rid of them,'" Munyer said. "It breaks my heart, because I've had them for three years and they're my pets."
And just like most pets, they're not always that quiet.
When some neighbors began squawking about the squawking peacocks, that's when the city got involved.
"Just because a neighbor complains," she said. "They don't complain about dogs barking and cows mooing and things like that because this is country."
So now she's been told to find a new home not just for her beloved birds, but the egg she discovered Jill has been sitting on this week.
Elk Grove officials say they won't seize the birds, but they could fine her $1,000. A judge could order them taken away if it gets that far.
