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.