Everyone buckle up for one emotional ride,
because this story is a doozy, it involves an emu, very cute.
However, the story has twists and turns that are not so cute, so
meet Nicholas Oleneck and his doctor approved emotional support emu.
The EMU's name is Nimbus, great name for an emu, now, Olenick,
over the last few years, has engaged in a difficult battle with depression.
So in 2019, his brother died of a heart attack, and
then nearly two years ago, his dad died of cancer.
So, he's been having a tough go at things,
really battling with depression as a result.
Now, Joe Walters, who's Olanick's friend,
said that Olnick would skip meals and dodge phone calls.
Walters said that when he would sit down and talk to Olenik,
it was clear he was depressed.
Last winter, Walters, who was living in a trailer in Olenick's driveway,
adopted an emu of his own named Oreo.
When Olenick met Oreo, he wanted an emu of his own, and
that's when he scouted an egg and brought Nimbus home.
So, here's Nimbus as a little chick, very cute, and Nimbus was basically
the saving grace for Olenik, getting him off the couch and into the world.
Walking Nimbus just like you'd walk a dog and
chatting with people about her, Nimbus just made him happy.
In fact, here's a video showing you just how happy.
[SOUND]
>> Speaker 2: Nimbus playing in the bath,
Kagarat protecting, yeah.
And then Nimbus just chows down on it,
he loves his greens.
Tell me the truth, do your dogs cuddle with you like this?
This guy loves?
He's how he likes to hang out.
He's Mr. Thomas.
>> Speaker 1: Okay, look.
So believe it or not, medical records do indicate that a medical
provider did in fact sign on off on papers confirming Nimbus
would serve as an alternative therapy for Olenic.
But neighbors got involved, the neighbors, Jank, you ready for the neighbors?
>> Speaker 3: Yeah, I am.
>> Speaker 1: Some people didn't care about the fact that Nimbus was helping
Olanik with his depression and wanted the bird out of suburbia.
Okay, so neighbor Donald sabled said he saw Olanick walking Nimbus in
Olanick's backyard during the morning.
Why are you looking at your neighbor's backyard anyway during the morning and
at different times throughout the day?
Sabold, who has lived in the neighborhood since 1997, said he had known neighbors in
the past who wanted to get chickens but were told by the city that wasn't allowed.
Now, get ready for some more from sabled, who told The Washington Post,
quote, I wondered, why does he have an agricultural animal in the area?
So, I called Animal Control and said, my neighbor has an emu, is that allowed?
They said, no, it's not allowed, and I said, okay.
They asked for the address, and
I gave it to them, he continued saying he wasn't trying to get Olnick in trouble.
No, he just reported him, but he wasn't trying to get him in trouble,
and so I said, Nick It's not about whether you have an animal or not.
It's about doing the right thing, but it was just a yell fest,
I am a person who has always lived by the rules, if you don't like the rules,
you have the rules changed.
But until then, you live by the rules.
>> Speaker 3: Yeah.
I don't agree.
>> Speaker 1: Yeah. Now, understand, there is a difference
between having chickens for agricultural reasons versus having an Emu for
emotional support purposes, something that was signed off on by a medical provider.
But Sabold says that as a result of this debacle,
Olenick curses I don't condone this, but curses him out and heckles him constantly.
And Olenick has since disputed this claim, he claims that's not the case, but
I don't believe Olanik.
I think that he is actually cursing him out and heckling him,
because I would want to do that, too I don't condone it, but I probably.
Would do it, too.
>> Only because going to take a twist here, too so hold on.
But I want to handle sabled, first of all, that whole thing of, like,
I just abide by the rules, there's nothing you could do.
No, there's a thousand things you can do, so Jaywalking is also technically illegal.
If I see someone jaywalking, I'm not like you're, Jaywalking, and I don't call 911
on them, and I don't go weirdo rambo on a guy who's doing a minor infraction.
And that guy, Jaywalking, doesn't even have the reason that Olnik has,
which is that, no, he really actually does need him for emotional support, right.
So, no, you don't have to abide by every single fricking rule maniacally
in your life, you have to follow the laws, but you have to use human judgment.
But second of all, I sniffed out that he was full of crap as I
was reading the earlier I just followed the rules.
I was like, no, you don't, okay, and then later,
when they ruled against him and in favor of Olnick, mr.
I followed the rules was, okay, okay, I'll abide by it, but, you know,
it's lowering my property value first of all, spoiler, so that's what it's about.
>> Speaker 1: Spoiler alert.
>> Speaker 3: Sorry.
>> Speaker 1: Okay. Yeah, no, but 100%.
But by the way, how is it even lowering your property value?
Are you kidding me?
If I was thinking about moving into a neighborhood and I knew that there was
a resident of that neighborhood that regularly walked his Emu,
I would want to live in that neighborhood even more.
What?
Who's going to be like, the assessment on this home has now been lowered because
someone happens to live in the neighborhood with an emu.
Like, what?
>> Speaker 3: So there's bounds of reason, guys, in both directions.
So if you're creating a massive disturbance in the neighborhood
I have a pet alligator.
It makes me feel slightly better, it ate three of the kids in the neighborhood,
but, hey, I feel better, right?
No, you can't do that, right.
On the other hand, nosy neighbors love to follow rules and laws and regulations,
et cetera, and enforce that only because they think it affects their property.
You didn't cut your mold your lawn enough, you've got the slightly wrong shade on
your house color, you've got I don't like this.
I don't like your furniture,
what the hell are you doing looking inside my house with the furniture?
This guy's peeking into his like a perfect lady peeking into his backyard,
I didn't like the emu you got in your backyard.
>> Speaker 1: So initially, after his nosy neighbor reported him,
he got a call, so Virginia Beach Animal Control gave him a call.
They gave him a warning and an opportunity to remove Nimbus from the city.
But when that warning period basically ran out, olenick was
charged with keeping livestock within city limits, which violates the municipal code.
Olenick cared for Nimbus really well,
there was no concern about animal welfare here, I want to be clear about that.
She lived and slept inside his home and
was meticulous about cleaning up her emu doodoo, which good.
I'm glad that he was doing that, now.
In March, Virginia Beach General District Court Judge Daniel Laney told Olanik or
found him guilty of the misdemeanor of keeping livestock in a residential area.
According to the court clerk's office,
Olnick said the court ruled that he would have to pay a $50 fine.
Now, according to city spokesman Brian Clark,
the city code does allow for companion animals,
specifically exotic birds, but not emus.
Apparently, Olenick insisted that Nimbus was not livestock.
He requested that the city make an accommodation for him,
considering that Nimbus was an emotional support animal.
And the Virginia Beach zoning administrator said this,
an emu is not a domesticated animal that is traditionally kept in the home for
pleasure.
It is considered a livestock animal and not considered a common household animal.
You have not demonstrated a disability related therapeutic need for
this specific animal or this specific type of animal.
Obviously, Olenick appealed the ruling.
But as the case basically worked its way through the court system,
olenick was asked to relocate Nimbus outside the city.
So he did that, he followed what they ordered him to do.
In early June, Olenick brought the emu to a ranch in Cedar Farm,
Tennessee, where Walters, his friend who also has an emu, had since moved.
Now, here's what happens next.
A month later, Olenick pleaded not guilty in circuit court, and
the judge, Kevin Duffin, wrote that Nimbus was not being kept for
a commercial purpose, but rather an emotional support purpose.
The emu is not defined as livestock under those circumstances, and
it ended up being a win for Olenik.
So Olenik would be able to bring the emu back, but the emu fell in love.
Okay, while the emu was at Walter's ranch hanging out with Walter's,
emu started knocking boots.
>> At a minimum got some emotional attachment.
>> Speaker 1: A lot of emotional support happening in that ranch,
if you get my drift.
Okay, so he decides to keep nimbus at the ranch because he didn't want to
separate nimbus from the other emu because they fell in love.
>> Speaker 3: See, he wasn't doing it for some commercial purpose,
he actually cared about the animal, okay?
Now, last twist, turns out Olnik is a Trump supporter, okay?
So, we now hate him, I'm kidding, okay, he is a Trump supporter, but
we don't hate him.
>> Speaker 1: Did you ever think that there'd be a Trump supporter with
an emotional emu?
>> Speaker 3: No, I didn't.
>> Speaker 1: Right. >> Speaker 3: And by the way,
neither did you admit it, whether you're a Trump supporter or
not a Trump supporter, neither one of you expected that.
And look at that, keep an open mind, there might be good folks who know don't
agree on politics, but you would otherwise like.
>> No, the bad guy in this story is his neighbor.
>> For sure.
>> Speaker 1: Who might be a Democratic voter.
>> Speaker 3: Could be.
>> Speaker 1: Absolutely.
>> Speaker 3: I have no idea.
Right, so he wins the case, but
he lets the emu go, so what does he do afterwards?
Because he's definitely bitter.
So, he then got six chickens, three ducks, and a turkey, okay.
>> Speaker 1: By the way, the other EMU's name is Oreo, so Oreo and
Nimbus fell in love.
>> Speaker 3: Yeah.
>> Speaker 3: Super cute.
>> Speaker 3: Okay, so now I would say, hey, Olnick brother,
you're now trying to rub it in the livestock.
They told you, hold on, rub it in, rub it on, hold on, and
you're trying to do like you say, yeah, you want livestock?
I'll give you livestock.
Right?
So I would say don't go in that direction, but I know the salt queen over here,
all right.
>> Speaker 3: I love it, here comes the rooster.
>> Speaker 3: Well, I guess the emus have come home to roost, in a sense, for
his neighbors, because if you didn't like the emu,
you ain't going to like the six chickens, that's for sure.
>> Speaker 1: We all know what happens to the snitches, okay?
>> Speaker 3: Apparently, they get six chickens, a turkey, and
three ducks as their neighbors and see how they like them apples.
So put aside the politics, hear you, brother Olnick I hear.