The Plymouth Agricultural Commission is continuing talks with the town’s Public Health department over proposed regulations that would regulate the keeping of livestock – such as goats, chickens, and cows – after a state animal health official said that the scope of any new rules would have to be limited.
Plymouth’s backyard farmers have bristled at the proposed rules, arguing that they are too strict and violate the town’s right-to-farm bylaw.
The regulations were drafted in response to complaints about livestock in neighborhood settings. The Public Health Division previously said that since 2018 it has fielded between 11 and 27 complaints a year. There have been 18 so far in 2024.
The six-member Agricultural Commission sought advice from the state on whether the town has the authority to regulate livestock.
In a Nov. 19 email response to Rebecca Nutter, the commission’s chair, Michael Cahill, director of the Division of Animal Health at the state Department of Agricultural Resources, wrote that town boards of health do have the authority to implement and enforce “reasonable” regulations for agricultural activities.
But Cahill added that such “regulations should pertain only to matters that promote public health.” Provisions aimed strictly at animal health and welfare are likely outside of a board of health’s authority, he said.
For example, Cahill wrote, a town could require horses to be vaccinated against rabies because they might transmit the deadly disease to humans. But it could not require horses to be vaccinated against Eastern Equine Encephalitis, as horses cannot directly transmit EEE to humans.
“Requiring EEE vaccines in horses protects the horse, but it has no bearing on public health,” Cahill said. “Therefore the [Board of Health] could require a rabies vaccine but would not be authorized to require an EEE vaccine.”
At Monday’s meeting of the Agricultural Commission, Nutter reported that she and Bruce Howard, its vice chair, last week met with Karen Keane, the town’s director of public health, and health agent Margaret Coe to discuss the proposed regulations.
Nutter said they were open to loosening the rules along with adopting a proposed compact proposing best practices for farmers to keep animals responsibly and ethically. The compact would be distinct from more formal regulations. It would provide voluntary guidelines for raising animals. She said town officials left the language of the regulations and the compact up to the Agricultural Commission.
Nutter added that Kane and Coe also support repealing an existing town rule that bans roosters.
Three of the Agricultural Commission’s six members opposed making any regulations.
“I don’t believe there should be any regulations,” said member Jack Risso, adding that town officials are acting outside of their authority in proposing the limits on livestock.
As they now stand, the rules would limit the size of chicken flocks and establish minimum land areas for raising farm animals such as goats and cows, among other requirements.
Nutter said she and Howard are scheduled to meet with town officials again on Dec. 9.
Howard warned that if the commissioners opposed implementing regulations, the Public Health department would not accept a voluntary compact.
In an interview last week, Town Manager Derek Brindisi said he considered the proposed compact idea “loose guidelines,” adding that the Department of Health believes that regulations needed to ensure that animals are maintained in a safe and sanitary manner.
Brindisi was unavailable for comment on Tuesday. Casey Kennedy, spokesperson for the town, declined to make Keane available for an interview.
At the Monday meeting, Dan Forand, a West Plymouth resident who raises goats and chickens, said he discovered through a public records request that of the 18 complaints about livestock so far in 2024, 12 were about roosters and another three were about rodents. The remaining three were about animals leaving their yard, he said.
The commission voted 4-1, with Nutter not voting, to ask Nutter and Howard to proceed with meeting town officials on Dec. 9, with instructions to ask officials for their support for a compact that would resolve any complaints about livestock the town receives, and to remind officials that the right-to-farm bylaw requires that complaints go to Agricultural Commission for resolution.
Fred Thys can be reached at fred@plymouthindependent.org.