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Portage Bay crow-feeding family settles lawsuit with neighbors

img_0522-1An out of court settlement has been reached in the 2015 civil lawsuit neighbors filed against the Portage Bay parents of a girl who made their block a veritable crow haunt.

According to the attorney for the neighbors who filed the lawsuit, the girl’s parents agreed to pay “a sum of money” and to “severely restrict their bird feeding activities for the following eight years” in exchange for having the civil suit against them dropped in this wealthy neighborhood just off the north slope of Capitol Hill.

“My clients are very happy to have peace restored to the neighborhood,” said Seattle attorney Anna Johnsen.

In February 2015, 8-year-old Gabi Mann became was a worldwide sensation for her love of crows. But it turned out that, locally, neighbors weren’t as excited.

In a King County civil case filed that August, Matt Ashbach and Christine Yokan sued E Shelby neighbors Lisa and Gary Mann over the alleged “large-scale systematic crow and pigeon feeding operation.”

Complaints in the lawsuit were over issues you might expect: bird excrement, noise, and the arrival of other vermin.

The plaintiffs sought an injunction limiting the family to “no more than a quarter pound of food per day to local wildlife,” $200,000 in damages, attorney’s fees, and “further relief as may be just and warranted.”

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Timmy73
Timmy73
7 years ago

What a nightmare. I feel so bad for the neighbors having to endure this and glad they’ve got some compensation.

David
David
7 years ago

I’d take the crows any day.

nettles
nettles
7 years ago

I thought they were moving to Houston?

DJ
DJ
7 years ago

The fact these neighbors had to get a lawyer like this to force public hygiene is crazy. Where is the city?

joser
joser
7 years ago
Reply to  DJ

What exactly could the city do, though, other than sue them itself at our expense?

joser
joser
7 years ago

Probably should have sued the crows. On second thought, those little bastards are easily smart enough to get through law school, so the people would probably lose. I am very careful to stay on the good side of the crows around my building, but I would never feed them.