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Wisconsin Ag Connection - March 10, 2010
A decision has finally been made in the highly anticipated case in which the State of Wisconsin was trying to sue an Amish man for not following Wisconsin's Livestock Premise Registration law. On Tuesday, Clark County Circuit Court Judge Jon Counsell ruled that Emanuel Miller Jr. of Loyal does have a 'religious right' to be exempt from the law, which requires anyone who keeps, houses, or co-mingles livestock to register their premises with the state.
It was noted during court proceedings that the Amish do provide their names and addresses when they buy and sell livestock, and the judge said that doing so should be enough for the state to track down animals in the event of a disease outbreak.
Prosecutors also cited a recent pseudorabies outbreak in Clark County as an example of why the law is needed. But Judge Counsell said the state failed to show why alternatives, that would not affect Miller's religious freedom, would not be just as effective.
As Wisconsin Ag Connection had been reporting during the case, the Amish believe the requirement infringes on their religious believes because it could eventually result in the tagging of all animals, or
the 'Mark of the Beast.' But prosecutors felt with mandatory premise ID, the process of tracking down potentially at-risk farms would be much easier if there were an animal disease outbreak.
Meanwhile, an official with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture's animal health division says he expects the state to appeal the ruling.
The case at one time was referred to as the state's first such prosecution, until a Polk County judge ruled in October that Patrick Monchilovich of Cumberland violated the four-year-old rule after he refused to
register his premises. He was ordered to pay a $200 civil forfeiture and about $190 in court costs.
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