Judge rules against appeal of Columbia woman who fed raw meat to vultures

Three months have passed since Feng Sun last left raw, bone-in chicken in her backyard, but she asked Howard County’s highest court Tuesday to strike down an injunction and allow her to resume feeding the hundreds of vultures that have flocked to her cul-de-sac.

Circuit Court Judge Daniel Dwyer said he thought the Columbia woman’s heart was in the right place but had the most empathy for Sun’s neighbors, who for months have complained about the foul odor of decaying meat, the excrement dripping down their trees and on their porches and grills, and the regurgitated chicken bones on their roofs.

“Beyond any reasonable doubt, this was a nuisance,” Dwyer said before denying Sun’s latest appeal in an ongoing dispute with county officials.

He echoed a district judge’s warning that she risked a contempt order if she takes up feeding the lapdog-sized birds again.

“Hopefully, you’ll see the light,” he said.

Sun declined to comment on the court’s decision, citing another hearing scheduled for Nov. 5 to appeal a citation from the Howard County health department.

The resident of the Glenmont neighborhood near Long Reach has represented herself in proceedings before Howard’s health board, district court and circuit court. She vigorously defends her actions, arguing that the scavengers can’t get by without her help.

Sun testified Tuesday that she first fed vultures raw chicken seven or eight years ago but stopped after the county health department intervened. Amid a cold snap in August 2025, she began leaving out up to 40 cans of cat food and 20 pounds of birdseed a day for the vultures.

By November, she said she struggled to find enough quality cat food for the birds and switched to raw chicken. In a letter to county officials, Sun estimated that she fed hundreds of vultures up to 10,000 pounds of chicken, at times up to 200 pounds a day, throughout the winter.

Sun denies that the birds are a nuisance and also the presence of an odor. She testified that she regularly removed any leftover bones and chicken skin in her backyard.

Neighbor Ellen Vizzini filed a complaint with the health department in January after Sun’s husband asked for her help stopping his wife. The couple have since divorced.

While county health officials investigated the matter throughout the late winter and spring, Vizzini took her own photos and videos of the bird activity surrounding Sun’s house, some of which the county entered into the court record.

Vizzini testified that bird poop dripped down her oak tree and repeatedly coated her outdoor grill. The highly acidic excrement damaged the paint on her car, she said. And she stopped inviting friends over to her home because of the unsanitary conditions.

Howard County Health Officer Maura Rossman testified that vulture excrement smells like ammonia and can carry histoplasma, which can cause a respiratory disease called histoplasmosis. Decomposing chicken also can carry pathogens and attract rodents, she said.

Throughout the spring, Sun ignored county orders to stop feeding the vultures and filed several appeals. She eventually stopped on June 29, after a district court issued an injunction and a $2,500 fine.

During cross-examination Tuesday, County Attorney Marita Grant asked Sun whether she intended to continue feeding the vultures.

“I have no idea,” Sun said.

Following the hearing, Vizzini said she was “very grateful” for the judge’s decision. Without the court’s backing, she worried that the feedings might resume when the temperature drops again.

“She needs help,” Vizzini said of Sun. “She’s a lonely person. She’s not mean or anything. She’s just not well.”

Over the weekend, Vizzini welcomed friends to her house for the first time in a year.

The vultures are gone, but a chicken bone still remains on her roof.