Home > Frequently Asked Questions

1) Are you Vegetarians?

2) What do you think of Veganism?

3) Why do you think the Village Officials singled you out?

4) Are you connected with the Hare Krishnas?

5) Were you attempting to proselytize the Village residents?

6) What is the pattern of Injustice you encountered?

7) Please provide some examples of harassment and hate crime?

8) What is the worst treatment accorded to your family?

9) What is the worst injustice you believe accorded to you?

10) What is the religious significance of cows in Hindu culture?

11) Why do you need your cows to live on your property?

12) Are there any farm animals kept in your village and county?

13) Are your cows farm animals?

14) How often was the ordinance used in the past?

15) What is the text of the Farm Animal Ordinance?

16) Why did the Village Board deny your first request for a permit?

17) So, the Village Board kept in changing the reasons for denial?

18) What were these health and safety concerns?

19) Why isn’t the commercial beef farm next door a health and safety risk?

20 If everyone claimed a religious exemption, wouldn’t religion become
a law unto itself?

21) How is your case a ‘Hybrid Rights’ case?

22) How can Courts tell when Local Governments are being discriminatory against religious practices?

23 How were you Denied Due Process?

24) If the Judge found that your cows were not causing a nuisance to the Village,
then why did he grant the injunction?

25) Did the Judge really forbid you to bring up the topic of religion in Court?

26) What happened to your plans to seek asylum in India?

27) Why did you return to Angelica, where you have had all this trouble?

28 Why do you think you will win this time?

29) What are your future plans?

What do you think of Veganism?
Vegans have a good point; it is wrong to subject animals to cruelty, and we can understand why people would want to abstain from all animal products to protest the exploitation of animals. The cruelty comes from the way animals are treated at the animal farms (e.g. cows are induced with hormones, impregnated almost every year to optimize milk production, etc). We are also concerned about these issues. That is why we promote nonviolence to animals in our own way. Our animals are treated as members of our family and treated very humanely. They are never abused in any way.

Why do you think the Village Officials singled you out?
During the 4 years we have lived in Angelica, we have definitely been treated differently than other residents. We are convinced that this is due to our religious beliefs. Because we are Americans, who converted to Hinduism through association with the Hare Krishna Movement, we are not seen as Hindus, but as members of a cult. And further, the religious practice of protecting our own cows seems to be a very threatening in an area that promotes raising cows for beef. We believe these reasons are the basis for all the opposition we are experiencing.

Are you connected with the Hare Krishnas?
Our connection with Hinduism came about through our association with the Hare Krishna Movement, and Srila Prabhupada’s teachings. Although we still consider ourselves students of Srila Prabhupada, we no longer have any connection with the ISKCON Institution. After Srila Prabhupada’s untimely departure from this world, the leading managers of ISKCON diverged from his teachings and this forced many of his students, like ourselves, to try to carry on his intended mission of spreading Vedic Culture in our own lives rather than in the formal institution.

Were you attempting to proselytize the Village residents?
Not at all, we never had any intention of trying to get the villagers to convert to Hinduism or even to become vegetarians. All we wanted to do was to show a small, family scale example of protecting our own cows, in order to educate to public about the practical and social reasons that cows are revered by followers of the Hindu faith. Our intended audience was people outside this area, and we thought that any outside attention or visits we received would be good for the Village’s tourism industry. But we never got that far.

What is the pattern of Injustice you encountered?
The Village Board has repeatedly denied us a permit for our cows, using one excuse after another in a discriminatory fashion. Not only did they use false reasons, they kept on changing the pretexts for denying us a permit. They made up new requirements that were not even part of the ordinance. They claimed we were violating their ordinance even when we had our cows boarded at the beef farm across the street, and all we were doing was using a small ox cart on a quiet Village street, (while allowing the Amish to drive through town with no complaint). When we did bring our cows to our property to reside, the Village repeatedly and selectively prosecuted us with faulty charges of, ‘harboring farm animals without a permit.” To our knowledge, prior to our case, no one was ever required to have a permit in the history of the Angelica. Not only that, we are aware of at least one family (since our case) that kept farm animals without a permit. The Village Officials and Police also ignored our repeated pleas to stop certain neighbors from harassing us and committing hate crimes against our family’s religious practices. Even when there was ample proof of that happening.

Please provide some examples of harassment and hate crimes?
These incidents began when a man riding an ATV attacked our ox cart and then told us that our ox cart was illegal, and that the Village Board and Police agreed that it had to be stopped. Another time, when we protested a very unfair decision by the Village Board with a kirtan (congregational chanting of the names of God) to the Village Circle, a neighbor used his riding lawn mower as a weapon, shooting gravel and clouds of dust to drive us (including children) away from his home, and finally causing injuries. The police refused to help even when the man repeated this behavior a year later, attempting to stop us from using our cow to cut (graze) our front lawn. When we parked our truck in the way to prevent him from doing this again, WE were given a ticket for illegally parking!

What is the worst treatment you believe accorded to your family?
We are engaged in a benign and beneficial activity meant to show a cultural model of how to care for cows in an exemplary way, grooming our cows daily and keeping our barn very clean. Yet, village officials have demonized our cows, conjured images of foul smells, and conspired with vigilante neighbors in order to create a compelling governmental interest to repress our religious practices of keeping cows and working oxen. Not once has a Court seriously addressed this discrimination or the violations of our First Amendment Rights.

What is the worst injustice accorded to you?
It is one thing to be treated unfairly by Village Officials and by a few unfriendly neighbors. It is another to not receive a fair and full hearing in the court of law. In our free, fair and open democratic society, when our family was denied our due legal process and not given a chance to make our case, it was the worst form of injustice accorded to us. One does not expect such treatment in a court of law.

What is the religious significance of cows in Hindu culture?
The cow and bull are considered the mother and father of human society, because of all the benefits they provide. The cow gives milk, a miracle food, simply by eating a little grass. The cow’s milk and other by products are vital to the Hindu vegetarian diet, and are used all in religious sacramental offerings. The bulls are traditionally used to till the fields to produce grains, society’s sustenance, and therefore are greatly valued and revered as Dharma or religion personified. Harming a cow or bull in any way is considered a greatly sinful act, and thus cows and bulls are protected even in their retirement age. In India, cows are present at religious functions and are even brought into the temples.

Are there any farm animals kept in your village and county?
Our county is full of farm animals all over. There are some 33,000 farm animals that reside in Alleghany county. In fact, our own upper lot where we want to keep the cows is already surrounded on three sides by chickens, roosters, Billy goats, and beef cows. We cannot understand why our animals are causing such a fuss. Besides, the Village allows farm animals by permit and other exemptions.

Are your cows farm animals?
No. Would we consider pets (dogs and cats) as farm animals? The care we give our cows exceeds that of ‘companion animals’ and extends to considering them among our family members. Followers of the Hindu faith would never consider or treat cows as ‘farm animals’ because that term connotes exploitation and ultimately slaughter. Our animals are the exact opposite of ‘farm animals’ rather they are tools for preaching against the exploitation of farm animals. We revere our cows as an essential part of our family.

Why do you need your cows to live on your property?
The first and foremost reason is that we love our cows dearly and treat them as family members. We truly consider them sacred. We cannot milk our cow and give her the extra care she and her calf need nor adequately train our oxen to be prepared for public interaction unless they reside at our home. How can we invite the public to see how cows are an integral part of the Vedic religion and culture without any cows on our property? Cows are present at Hindu religious functions; we can hardly be expected to board our cows at a beef farm and then worship at our neighbor’s barn.

How often was the ordinance used in the past?
We are the first people to have ever applied for a permit, and the first who have ever been prosecuted for harboring farm animals; although many persons have maintained farm animals in the Village before us. The ordinance was not enforced before our request for a permit.

What is the text of the Farm Animal Ordinance?
“No farm animals such as cows, horses, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, ducks, or geese shall hereafter be kept, maintained or harbored within the village of Angelica without obtaining a permit therefore from the Village Board. No such permission shall be granted unless the same are to be kept and maintained within the limitations of the owner’s property. “

“No permit shall be required if the owners property comprises ten (10) or more acres in the Village or is adjunct to a farm outside the Village comprising a total acreage of ten (10) or more acres. “

“Any person violating any provisions of this Article shall be liable to a penalty of not less than $3.00 nor more than $10.00 for each day.”

Why did the Village Board deny your first request for a permit?
First we were told that we had to have all of our neighbors consent to obtain a permit. When, our attorney showed that this was an unconstitutional delegation of the Boards decision-making power, the Board changed the reason to “health and safety.”

So, the Village Board kept in changing the reasons for denial?
Yes, that’s right. For the first two years of our struggle, there was no mention of health and safety. The only reason given for denying our permit was that we did not have the consent of all of our neighbors. It wasn’t until this criterion was shown to be unconstitutional that the Board changed horses and started using the term, health and safety. That too was a bogus reason.

What were these health and safety concerns?
The Village Board could not put forward any evidence showing health or safety violations. We even got a letter from a certified NY State Dairy Inspector that our farm had no health and safety hazards. The Village Officials said that our property was too small and that they were worried that our cows might break out of their fence. Our cows have never gotten loose, however, the beef cows from the farm next door get loose all the time, and no one is worried about them.

Why isn’t the commercial beef farm next door a health and safety risk?
A few of our neighbors have made ridiculous complaints about our cows, fearing that they might get our and harm their dogs and grandchildren, (hello, cows eat lawns). These neighbors property also borders the beef farm; yet, they claim that the beef cows do not worry them. This is religious discrimination.

If everyone claimed a religious exemption, wouldn’t religion become
a law unto itself?
The US Supreme Court has described two situations in which Courts cannot ignore a laws burden on religious practice, where the law appears to be facially neutral. The first situation is where a law has built into it exemptions requiring individual assessments, (like the animal permit exemption). The second is a ‘hybrid rights’ claim, where the law burdens not only freedom of religion, but also other important constitutional protections, such as freedom of speech.

How is your case a ‘Hybrid Rights’ case?
We protect our cows for religious reasons, and because we want to set a practical example of the Hindu Vedic culture. We invite public interaction with our cows and oxen, and this is just as important to us as the rights of Jehovah Witness’s and other Christian groups who preach door to door. If we are disallowed to keep cows on our property, then our rights of Freedom of Speech and of Assembly are violated along with our rights to practice our religion.

How can Courts tell when Local Governments are being discriminatory against a religious practice?
US Federal Courts have held, ‘If a state creates a mechanism [for exemptions], its refusal to extend an exemption to an instance of religious hardship suggests a discriminatory intent.’

How were you Denied Due Process?
At the bench trial for the mandatory permanent injunction in May of 2003, we were not given a chance to finish our defense in the injunction case, nor were we allowed to bring forward our countersuit against the Village for deprivation of Federally Guaranteed Rights to practice religion, possess property and contract. After the Village’s witnesses had finished testifying, the Judge stated that he did not need to hear our testimony, or that of our expert witness, because the Village had failed to prove any nuisance. He then went on to grant the injunction and in effect deny our counter suit without having heard testimony or evidence from our side.

If the Judge found that your cows were not causing a nuisance to the Village,
then why did he grant the injunction?
We had been convicted of “Harboring Farm Animals Without a Permit” in the Village Court. The Judge who granted the injunction said that this violation was enough reason to sustain the injunction. He wouldn’t give us time to explain that we had leased twelve acres down the block, and therefore we were exempt from the permit requirement.

Did the Judge really forbid you to bring up the topic of religion in court?
Yes, the Judge said that the injunction case had nothing to do with religion, because the issue had (supposedly) been decided already in a lower Court. The Judge threatened our attorney with sanctions if he mentioned one word about Religion during the trial.

What happened to your plans to seek asylum in India?
We never followed through, because we received an invitation to relocate to the Laxmi Cow Sanctuary in Bangor PA, by the kind invitation of Dr. Sankar Shastri. We are very grateful to Dr. Shastri for inviting us to spend the summer and fall of 2003 with the cows at his Sanctuary, where we learned a lot and met many wonderful people.

Why did you return to Angelica, where you have had all this trouble?
The Laxmi Cow Sanctuary did not have quite enough facility in the barn for our cows to stay over the winter months. We also felt that it was imperative to stand up to the bigotry, bias and blatant violations of our civil rights. That is why we are undertaking to appeal the injunction which bans revered cows on one side of the fence, and allows beef cows on the other.

Why do you think you will win this time?
The denial of justice is obvious from the fact that the judge in the trial court did not allow a full hearing and failed to give us the proper “due process”. Once we have a chance to make our case, we can explain that we had leased twelve acres down the block, and therefore we were exempt from the permit requirement.

This will be the first time we have had a chance to address our case in a Court located out of the area. Local Judges are elected, and very few will risk their position by standing up for the rights of a religious minority. The local Village Justices and the County Judges that heard our cases have not given any serious consideration to the important First Amendment Issues brought before them. If justice is to be served, it will have to be done in a higher Court. That is why we are pursuing the appeal to the Appellate Division’s Fourth Department.

What are your future plans?
We would like to practice a model Vedic Agrarian lifestyle with cows and god at the center of it. We would like to continue our efforts to educate the public about the importance of cow protection in Hindu Vedic Culture and to help provide support systems for those who want to implement this practice in their own lives. We have many creative ideas for popularizing cow protection, such as providing newsletters, video documentaries. We would like to travel with our animals to religious and cultural events, and work with other organizations to encourage scientific studies investigating the voracity of the statements contained in the Vedas regarding the many benefits accrued to society from protecting cows. We are actively looking for institutions and like-minded individuals who would like to work in cooperation with our family to achieve these shared goals.