Today my uncle called, to let me know he was getting fined $200 dollars for not having his chickens, ducks, and goats ect..immunized... YUP thats right.. here in good old Morgan county , Indiana, we must take our barn yard critters to the vet and get their shots, just like the dog or the cat.... Is this just where I am or is this other places... ps, this included his rabbits too....The inspector will be back next friday to see if he has the right documents, and if he dont..... well kiss that money good bye...

-- Kristean Thompson (pigalena_babe@yahoo.com), March 30, 2002

Answers

Unbefreakinlievable! I've never heard of such a thing. Keep us posted, okay?

-- Cheryl in KS (cherylmccoy@rocketmail.com), March 30, 2002.

That is NOT right. Someone is pulling something over on folks. No way. Never heard of it, and I've lived in allot of states and always had critters. I would call my vet ASAP and ask him.

-- Cindy in KY (solidrockranch@msn.com), March 30, 2002.

Our county hasnt really had any laws per say, until this last election, and now all heck has broken loose, now they can tell you what kind of trees to plant in your yard, how tall your shrubs can be and you can be fined if a neighbor finds your flower beds offensive..... If your trash cans arent regulation, FINE.... If your tree gets too tall.... FINE.... ect.... ect...ect... I heard that my sis-in-law can get fined cause she had her new house painted purple. Other than my own personal tastes, I dont think FINE'n her is right. I personally wouldnt paint my house purple, but its not my house now is it? SO what is a citizen to do?

-- Kristean Thompson (pigalena_babe@yahoo.com), March 30, 2002.

What if you immunize your own animals? It could cost a fortune and what kind of immunization do you give a rabbit? I know here, we have to have the vet do rabies, you're not allowed to do yourself but ... Sorry, flabbergasted here.

-- Dee in NJ (gdgtur@goes.com), March 30, 2002.

Uh, what exactly does one vaccinate chickens and ducks for? Only mammals get rabies, and I've never heard of any other mandatory vaccination for any animal. Is there even a rabies vaccine available for goats?

-- shakeytails in KY (shakeytails@yahoo.com), March 31, 2002.

Kristean,

Sounds like you live pretty close to suburbia. That will happen in areas like that! Down by Madison,WI there are laws like that. My knee jerk reaction is to put the place up for sale and find a place a little further away if it is financially feasible!

-- Katie S. (cashcrop90@yahoo.com), March 31, 2002.

I think your uncle had better consider running for county legislature, or you should. That kind of thinking is nuts! Is there a law about the robins and bobolinks around your place, too?! Can't have those disease ridden songbirds around! And those deer! My lord, makes me shiver to even think about the bacteria being harbored by deer!

There has been a lot of farmer trashing on this board recently over farm subsidies, but one big value of small family farming, is to keep the population closer to the earth. If grandpa was a farmer, or your cousin still farms, or your neighbor is a farmer, this bulls**t legislation is not going to come along very fast if ever. You get the factory farms running every kind of agriculture so no one is close to the land anymore, and don't know anyone who is, and you'll get people saying it's time to vaccinate OR GET RID OF, farm animals held by the little people.

-- Jennifer L. (Northern NYS) (jlance@nospammail.com), March 31, 2002.

Many laws have undergone changes and new ones are being enacted due to the events that have occured over the last decade (E. Coli, West Nile Virus, Mad Cow Desiese, Hoof and Mouth and the events of last September). Times change and so do laws and preventative measures. As health risk potentials mutate, so must established preventative measures. Staying abreast of changes is the best preventative measure a homesteader or small farmer can do and Internet connection to the offical .gov sites and regular visits to your extension office to pick up hand outs and read the announcement board is a good place to start.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), March 31, 2002.

About 2 years ago in our county a bylaw was tried to pass over the backyard slaughter of farm animals. It would have prevented anyone from preparing their own homestead animals or game, everything would have to be sent to a gov't inspected facility. And this is a county full of small farmers! Luckily people got out, I didn't even hear about it until it was all over. I try to keep more informed now.

-- Terri in NS (terri@softkits.com), March 31, 2002.

I have lived in Indiana all my lfe and I have never heard of anything like that unless there was a problem with the way the animals was being kept.

-- Mel Kelly (melkelly@webtv.net), March 31, 2002.

There are no vaccines of any kind approved for use in rabbits, in the US. There is a vaccine available in europe against RHV, rabbit hemorhagic virus; but none is approved or allowed in this country. There is no rabies vaccine approved for use in rabbits.

-- Deidre Edder (edderland@yahoo.com), March 31, 2002.

I suggest you vaccinate the inspector with a .30 caliber hi speed needle! GL!

-- Brad (Homefixer@SacoRiver.net), March 31, 2002.

thats it , pack it all up and move to Nd and build a straw bale house,

we just found out , since we are rural , there are NO building laws, other thant the electrical has to be inspected ...... Dickey county Nd, BTW, this was from the county offices, right from the horses mouth , we didnt believe it , so we went to the township , and they said same thing, nope, just make sure its sound ... even ok that we are using our own blueprints!!!,of course it does help we know what we are doing , but having moved here from wis (regulation capitol of the world) its nice to have such freedom, and it doesnt change what we were planning to do one bit :)

-- Beth Van Stiphout (willosnake@hotmail.com), March 31, 2002.

This just dont sound right. I E mailed the humane society of morgan county and asked about this law . I will let you know if I get an answerb Big George

-- George Wilson (cwwhtw@aol.com), March 31, 2002.

All I can add to this is, yes, to raise chickens and keep them safe they should be vaccinated. Anyone who shows does this. Ducks however do not need vaccines and there are none approved for them. Re the chickens, if you want to know what they need vaccinating for log on to the old favorite www.poultryconnection.com and click on the Poultry Forum. Boy that sounds like a wild situation doesn't it? LQ

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), April 01, 2002.

I have been thinking about your post and am wondering if your Uncle may live within a border area of a town or city that may have an ordinance which may not allow livestock within or at the city limits and this may be a forced action to remove the animals.

-- Doug (Doug@hotmail.com), April 01, 2002.

I live in a rural farm community in Wayne County In. and I have never heard of this happening. I do know there are seed inspectors going through Indiana because many small businesses have been selling old out dated seed as new.I have heard of local ordinances that state no livestock within city limits but somehow there are ways around it by proving a 4H project or as pets or proving your family farm was there before the establishment of the town or city or before the ordinance was inacted and falls under some type of grandfather clause.

-- Doug (Doug@hotmail.com), April 01, 2002.

EEEP! I live in rural Tippecanoe County Indiana and don't know of this one... Mayhap the "inspector" is from the Humane Society and they got a complaint about your uncle... My take on the Humane Society is that every critter should be treated like a house dog or house cat. They were a little, uh, clueless. Good Luck!

-- Gailann Schrader (gtschrader@aol.com), April 01, 2002.

Hey, isn't this April 1? Think about it...

-- sersphima (seraphima@ak.net), April 01, 2002.

I agree...move !! If things are really as you say...no joke..right?? I would start looking somewhere else to live. There's enough laws that we have to abide by that this is just down right silly. Good Luck !!

-- Helena (windyacs@npacc.net), April 01, 2002.