Sacred Cows Raise Issues of Civil Rights

An American Hindu family in Southwestern NY State is appealing a Court Injunction, which banned their religiously revered cows from their rural home in 2003. The Appeal will be decided by the Fourth Department Appellate Court in Rochester later this year.

Stephen and Linda Voith and their family moved to the rural Village of Angelica NY in 2000, hoping to start a small cow sanctuary where they could demonstrate simple living skills and promote humane, responsible care of cows according to their religious beliefs.

The Village allows a Beef Cow and Dairy Goat Farm to operate across the street from the Voith's home, and other Village residents have kept goats, sheep and chickens as pets, yet Village Officials repeatedly refused to grant a permit for this family's animals.

The family has been discriminated against in the local Courts and denied Due Process when they sought to make a First Amendment claim.

One Judge forbade the family from saying ‘Krishna', the Hindu name for God in Court; another threatened the family's attorney with sanctions if he mentioned the word “religion”; and yet another Judge was forced to recuse himself after admitting to signing a petition against the religiously revered cows.

As followers of Hinduism, the Voith's wish to keep their cows for religious and free speech purposes to demonstrate the cow's integral role in traditional Hindu culture as part of a sustainable agricultural system centering on locally grown food and local economy for the development of peace, prosperity and non-violence in society - all of which are symbolized by the cow in the Hindu faith.

The cows were banned from the family's country home after a court trial wherein the family was not allowed to finish their testimony or bring witnesses on their behalf. The Judge dismissed the family's counterclaims against the Village for religious deprivation, saying the case had nothing to do with religion.

Please sign the Petition to the US Commission on Civil Rights supporting this family's struggle to have their First Amendment rights addressed in a fair and unbiased manner.

Sign the Petition Equal Vision Cow Sanctuary

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Pramukh Swami Maharaj

Blesses the Voith's Civil Rights Legal Case
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