Barnyard Blawg: Animals and the Law

About Us

Where did this morning's eggs come from, and are they safe? How about that milk … how was the cow who provided it treated? What if you're a meat eater—can you be sure your steak or pork chops are disease free? If these questions are important to you, you're not alone. All levels of government are heavily involved in determining what can and cannot be done with agricultural animals. Likewise, farmers big and small have a vested interest in producing safe, and tasty, food products—their livelihood depends on it. Yet, among these various groups there are competing interests.

"A farm regulated to production of raw commodities is not a farm at all. It is a temporary blip until the land is used up, the water polluted, the neighbors nauseated, and the air unbreathable. The farmhouse, the concrete, the machinery, and outbuildings become relics of a bygone vibrancy when another family farm moves to the city financial centers for relief.” ― Joel Salatin, Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal: War Stories from the Local Food Front.

This quote from "alternative" farmer and lecturer Joel Salatin expresses the sentiment of a growing number of small farmers, folks who believe their ability to make a living providing quality food (for example, pastured chickens and cattle, raw milk and organic veggies (grown with animal manure)) is under constant attack from governmental forces. On the other hand, many consider that the aggressive enforcement of the laws governing the use of animals in agriculture is vitally essential to public health—think swine flu, E. coli, etc.

My name is David Root. I'm an attorney located in Charleston, S.C., and I serve as chair of the Agriculture Subcommittee of the South Carolina Bar Animal Law Committee. We are publishing this periodic "blawg" to provide information addressing the many legal issues that are related to animals and agriculture, from backyard chickens to vast industrial poultry factories. As the question of where our food comes from and how agricultural animals are used and treated continues to rise to the forefront of public debate, we hope to use this setting to keep you informed of these essential questions.