Town Moves to Take Away Disabled Kids’ Pony — Then Backs Down

As a three-year-old with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy, one would think that people might cut Sam Spiteri a bit of slack. But a neighbor still dropped a dime on Sam to tell them that he was keeping a miniature pony — his pride and joy — in violation of city rules. The city moved against Spiteri until the outcry forced them to back down.

The neighbor complained about the smell coming from the property — though the Spiteri home also borders a cattle farm.

Previously, the family was told to get rid of the pony because of a zoning rule against home livestock. It appears that you can have cattle, just not a pony for a disabled kid.

I would love to know who led this crusade to take away the pony. Perhaps Governor Rod Blagojevich was seeking some green.

It is rather disturbing that it takes an international media outcry (including a web campaign) to get city leaders to do the right thing in such a case after months of worrying this family.

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