Court ruling says Amish farmers exempt from livestock registration rules

NEILLSVILLE, Wis (WSAU) A central Wisconsin judge says an Amish farmer does not have to register his livestock premise with the state, as required by a five-year-old law. Emanuel Miller Junior of Loyal said the law violates his religious beliefs. And in a ruling yesterday, Clark County Circuit Judge Jon Counsell said the state failed to prove that its need to protect food safety and animal health could not be achieved by adopting something less restrictive.

Assistant state veterinarian Paul McGraw expects his agency to appeal the ruling. But for now, it’s a victory for the Amish and other farmers who feared that mandatory premise registration would lead to the individual tagging of all livestock – something they called Satanic and the “mark of the beast.”

At a trial last fall, the 29-year-old Miller and his bishop said the premise law puts faith in government-over-God – and it would force the Amish to shun its traditional ways, and end its isolation from a modern world. Judge Counsell said the premise law had several flaws. He said it was impossible for the state to keep its register current, because farmers only have to sign up every three years. He said the law does not require farmers to have telephones – so if there’s an animal disease outbreak, inspectors would still have to go door-to-door. Also, the judge said the Amish have always given their names-and-addresses when buying and selling farm animals – and that should be enough for the state to keep track of diseases.