WWRN/USA/Hare Krishna-Charges dismissed against couple with cattle

January 8, 2003

WorldWide Religious News

"Charges dismissed against couple with cattle at home"

(AP, January 2, 2003)

A judge dismissed charges against a Hare Krishna couple accused of keeping

cattle on their property without a permit.

Rushford Village Justice David Brautigam this week dismissed seven charges

against Stephen and Linda Voith "without prejudice," meaning the village

could choose to refile the charges, said their attorney, W. Ross Scott.

Public reaction proved mixed in the ongoing debate pitting a village law and

neighbors' fears against the Voith's religious beliefs, in which Hare

Krishnas highly regard the protection of cows.

The village had charged the family with violating the law prohibiting the

keeping of farm animals in the village, 80 miles south of Buffalo. The

Voiths own one adult, two yearlings and a calf.

Brautigam noted that the ordinance prohibits keeping farm animals in the

village without a permit unless the owner has at least 10 acres of land on

which the animals can graze, some of which can be in the village.

"The lack of a permit by the defendant, the size of his lot and the lack of

its being adjacent to a farm with total acreage qualifying for an exemption

are all absent," Brautigam wrote.

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