Discover the story of Cilla Carden, a vegan from Perth, Australia, who took her neighbors to court over their backyard barbecues and basketball games. Cilla Carden, a massage therapist, found these activities so disruptive that she pursued legal action, ultimately taking her case to the Supreme Court.
Carden’s complaints centered around her neighbors’ frequent barbecues and basketball games, which she said made it unbearable for her to enjoy her own backyard. “It’s been devastating, it’s caused turmoil and unrest, and I haven’t been able to sleep,” Carden told 9News in 2019.
For months, Carden, a dedicated vegan, had been troubled by the smells of barbecued meat and cigarette smoke coming from her neighbors’ yard. Additionally, she was disturbed by the noise of children playing basketball. “They’ve put the barbecue there so I smell fish; all I can smell is fish. I can’t enjoy my backyard, I can’t go out there,” she explained.
Frustrated, Carden decided to take legal action. However, her initial claims were dismissed, and her subsequent appeal to the Supreme Court was also denied. “It’s deliberate, that’s what I told the courts, it’s deliberate,” Carden insisted.
Her neighbors, believing they had resolved the issues, removed the barbecue and asked their children to stop playing basketball, according to a 9News report. The case drew widespread attention, leading to a Facebook event being organized for a community barbecue in defense of what many saw as a quintessential Australian tradition. With 24,000 people expressing interest, the police issued a warning, and Carden’s lawyer threatened legal action, resulting in the event’s cancellation.
Despite the public uproar, Carden’s lawyer clarified that she has “no objection to people eating meat and no objection to people having barbecues.”