Vegans don’t exactly have the best reputation for being subtle about their beliefs. But one vegan in Australia really took things several steps too far when she sued her neighbor for barbecuing in their own backyard.
Cilla Carden is a vegan massage therapist from Girrawheen, Australia. She claims that her neighbors intentionally barbecued fish in their backyard to bother her.
“They’ve put [the barbecue] there so I smell fish, all I can smell is fish. I can’t enjoy my back yard, I can’t go out there,” Cilla told Nine News Perth.
“It’s deliberate, that’s what I told the courts, it’s deliberate.”
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To repeat: the argument is that they are deliberately cooking in their own backyard in order to waft the scent of fish, which Cilla does not eat as she is vegan, into Cilla’s yard. To…punish her? Or something?
This seems to be a case of a long-running neighborly feud. Cilla is not only bothered by the barbecuing, but also by her neighbors’ cigarette smoke and the sounds of their children playing, both of which drift into her own yard.
So, she filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of the state of Western Australia, accusing her neighbors of breaching residential laws. The legal battle has dragged on since 2017. Her case was thrown out by a tribunal and a Supreme Court judge. Cilla filed an appeal, but that was thrown out too.
“What they are doing is living in their backyard and their home as a family,” said the State Administrative Tribunal of Western Australia.
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Cilla’s neighbors have reportedly conceded to some of Cilla’s demands. They removed the barbecue and banned their kids from playing basketball in the yard.
But Cilla plans to continue fighting them in court.
