| WARD
- Bheema, Shyama and the other cows whom Stephen and
Linda Voith consider part of their family had slipped
past the electric fence and were lounging peacefully
next to Paul Watson's dairy barn in this Allegany
County town.
"We
need to get a more powerful (fence) charger,"
said Stephen Voith, as he helped his wife herd the
cows and a goat named Roy back into the pen that is
their home now that they've been exiled from the Village
of Angelica, five miles northwest of here.
The
threat of the cows getting loose on Main Street in
Angelica was one of the fears some residents cited
when they pushed to have the Voiths, members of the
Krishna Consciousness branch of Hinduism who believe
in cow protection, prosecuted under a little-used
ordinance governing farm animals within village limits.
The
Voiths' attorney, who is handling the appeal of the
injunction that forced the cows out of the village,
thinks there is another reason.
"They're
a bunch of bigots," said W. Ross Scott. "They've
not tried to be decent to the Voiths. The Voiths are
standing up for their rights."
More
specifically, according to Stephen Voith: "We
have a right to assemble, a right to freedom of speech
and a right to religious expression, like all Americans."
According
to Village Attorney David T. Pullen, the Voiths do
not have the right to keep farm animals in violation
of the village ordinance, which states that farm animals
aren't allowed on a village lot smaller than 10 acres.
"If
I moved in there and tried to have livestock on a
lot less than 10 acres, my confidence is the village
would . . . have me stopped," Pullen said. "They
can have animals. They just can't have them in the
village with less than 10 acres."
As
do other Hindus, the Voiths hold cows in a place of
honor. They moved to Angelica in 1999, buying an old
house on 2.5 acres on Main Street. Their intent was
to practice Vedic agriculture, an organic approach
prevalent in India that stresses respect for the animals
who provide sustenance.
Despite
the presence of several large cow farms just outside
the village, some neighbors objected, complaining
of noise, odors and the possibility of harm if the
cows got free. The Voiths, who also leased a larger
parcel of farmland adjacent to their property, were
charged with violating the village ordinance.
"Certainly
cows have always been thought of very highly around
here because they have the County Fair one-third of
a mile from us," Stephen Voith said.
The
conflict between the Voiths and their desire to have
cows in a village setting, and Angelica, where upscale
antique stores are surrounded by farms, attracted
international attention.
That
attention helped the Voiths gain supporters such as
Nitin Talsania, a New Jersey resident who helped the
family put together a Web site explaining its side
of the story: www.nomoreinjustice.org.
"One
citizen's rights have been violated, and it should
be a concern for all citizens," said Talsania,
a member of the Jain faith, which also believes in
animal protection.
Acting
State Supreme Court Justice Michael Nenno in May 2003
granted a permanent injunction, sought by the village,
barring the animals from the property.
Scott
maintains that he was not allowed to present any witnesses
supporting the Voiths or to argue that their religious
rights were being denied.
"The
judge just entered the injunction without giving me
any opportunity to put a case on behalf of the Voiths,"
he said. "He denied that due process."
Pullen,
who did not handle the case on behalf of the village
because of a conflict of interest, said the judge
ruled that the ordinance was not vague.
"It
has nothing to do with their religion, or mine,"
he said. "It has to do with the physical circumstances
in a tight, densely populated area creating a health
hazard that our society says overrides a person's
right to practice their religion."
The
Voiths, who moved with the cows to a farm in Pennsylvania
in June 2003, returned to Angelica after four months.
They
have recently asked for another extension of the deadline
for filing an appeal of the injunction. In addition
to overturning the injunction, they also want counterclaims
they've filed against the village to be reinstated.
Scott
said that the original trial transcripts were lost
and that regenerating them has taken more time than
expected.
The
Voiths say that they will continue their appeal and
that resourceful Hindus in America have indicated
they will help with the legal fight. But they are
also talking about establishing a goshala, a kind
of retirement home for cows.
There
are many in India but few, if any, in North America,
Stephen Voith said.
"Let's
do a precedent," he said. "Why not start
the first goshala here?"
e-mail: jbonfatti@buffnews.com |
