JeffCo woman fights law that says she can only keep 2 of her dog - WBRC FOX6 News - Birmingham, AL

April Kendrick of Concord has five pets and to her they're all family. Now, she's fighting to keep them after she was cited for have too many pets.

"They're my babies," Kendrick said.

But some of her neighbors want them gone. Kendrick showed FOX6 the letter she received from the Jefferson County Department of Land Planning and Development.

"It says I have 14 days to have only two pets on premises," Kendrick said.

The letter says a neighbor complained about her.

"I was reported to be running a kennel. I was angry. All of my dogs are rescues except for one. All vetted and treated. They were on death's door, starving," Kendrick said.

Kendrick says her dogs are all well-behaved and friendly and they stay indoors or in her fenced-in backyard.

But there's a county law that pet owners in an area zoned residential can only have two pets on their premises.

FOX6 spoke to Frank Humber with the Department of Land Planning and Development about the law.

"The idea is so you won't have, so a dog won't become a nusiance to neigbors. Even if they're inside. Inside, outside we consider that the same," Humber said.

One of Kendrick's neighbors on Sunnydell Drive told FOX6 off camera that he has no problem with the dogs, except that they bark a lot.

Kendrick doesn't believe they bark excessively. She feels she's considerate of her neighbors and is building a privacy fence.

Although the letter says she faces a fine or jail time, she refuses to get rid of her beloved dogs.

"I'll move. They've done nothing wrong except bark to someone else's degree of too much," Kendrick said.

She is fighting to keep all her dogs. She's paying $300 to file a variance with the county, which will allow her to keep the dogs for now.

The County Board of Adjustment will make the final decision of whether or not she can keep them.

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