More Lawsuit's for New Legal Front Against Swine ISO, Having Farmers Kill their Animals

Newsflash from your Hollywood Attorney:

Chippewa farmer sues DNR in federal court.

For over a year now, four different lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of a Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Invasive Species Order on swine have been making their way through Michigan county courts. Recently a fifth lawsuit was filed in the Federal District Court for the Western District of Michigan challenging the swine ISO on grounds that an 1842 Treaty between the Lake Superior Chippewa Indian Tribe and the United States of America controls over any Michigan laws. The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund (FTCLDF) is serving as custodian of the funding provided for the lawsuit.

The plaintiff in the case, FTCLDF member Brenda Turunen, is a member of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC), a federally recognized tribe located in the Upper Peninsula. Turunen, along with her husband Roger (who is a plaintiff in one of the four state court lawsuits challenging the ISO), raises heritage breed hogs in Baraga County on land that is adjacent to the KBIC reservation. Turunen’s complaint states, “KBIC is the modern day successor in interest of the L’Anse and Ontonagon Bands of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians.…Both the L’Anse and Ontonagon Bands of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians were signatories to the 1842 Treaty.”

The 1842 Treaty ceded portions of the Western Upper Peninsula and Northern Wisconsin to the United States; in exchange, the treaty reserved to the Indian signatories the right to hunt in the territory ceded to the U.S. along with the other usual privileges of occupancy.” Turunen’s complaint argues that the historical record shows the phrase, “the other usual privilege of occupancy,” includes the right to commercially farm land within the Ceded Territory. The complaint points out that the policy of the United States at the time of the 1842 Treaty was to “encourage commercial farming, including animal husbandry activities,” among American Indians and that “subsequent to the negotiation and signing of the 1842 Treaty, the United States provided pigs and other domestic animals to KBIC’s predecessors in interest.”

In addition to Keith Creagh, the Director of the Michigan DNR, the suit also names Jamie Clober Adams, the Director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) as a defendant. The complaint notes, among other things, that MDARD has attempted to interfere with plaintiff’s business “by arbitrarily disapproving certificates of veterinary inspection issued by her veterinarian for animal shipped” to markets in New York and Pennsylvania and “by engaging in a pattern of harassment targeted at plaintiff’s veterinarian in order to discourage him from working go for Plaintiff.”

Like the lawsuits challenging the ISO in the state courts, the main thrust of Turunen’s complaint against DNR centers on the department’s Declaratory Ruling of December 2011 in which DNR disclosed it would determine whether a hog was prohibited based on its physical characteristics, not on whether it was actually feral; according to the declaratory ruling, a pig with a curly tail can be prohibited as can a pig with a straight tail. The complaint notes that in 2006 the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Invasive Species Advisory Council approved an “Invasive Species Definition Clarification and Guidance White Paper”. The White Paper states,

             It is also essential to recognize that invasive species are not those under human control or domestication; that is, invasive species are not those that humans depend upon for economic security, maintaining a desirable quality of life, or survival.

In an April press release announcing her lawsuit, Turunen said,

                      I have always believed that every American has the right to farm, a right that should be protected and promoted by the government. It is disturbing to watch these state agencies attack farmers, trying to make them into criminals. I feel sorry for the farmers of Michigan who have to deal with such agencies and I thank God that my right to farm is protected by the 1842 Treaty.

Baraga attorney Joseph O’Leary is representing Turunen in the lawsuit. The Michigan state Attorney General’s office has filed an answer to the complaint asking the court to dismiss the case; Turunen has filed a response opposing the state’s motion.

The swine ISO is an issue that will not go away for DNR; more people are realizing it is a threat to genetic diversity, property rights, the ability of small farmers to make a living and consumer choice. The opposition to the order will only increase as the court challenges to the ISO progress.

The plaintiffs in the other cases are heritage hog farmer and FTCLDF member Mark Baker, game preserve operator Greg Johnson, pet hog owner Matt Tingstad and heritage breed hog farmer Roger Turunen.

Source.... http://www.farmtoconsumer.org/news_wp/?p=7750

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State Demands Family Farm to Destroy 70 Farm Animals for Having Straight or Curly Tails, and Pay $700,000

Newsflash from your Hollywood Attorney:

 This is the thanks this 20-year military veteran has received from the Michigan state government and this is an example of those freedoms being lost.

Late last week, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) demanded the payment of $700,000 from a small farm family of ten and the destruction of 70 of their pigs at Baker’s Green Acres, operated by Mark and Jill Baker and their eight children. This action followed Mark Baker’s comments during testimony opposing a new rule at a state congressional hearing where he identified himself as owner of three hogs deemed illegal (because of their looks). He understood the new rule, called an Invasive Species Order (ISO) to mean the state would threaten him with fines, criminal charges and a two-year prison term and an order to destroy his animals. Baker answered the ISO by filing a lawsuit against the state agency for the damages and their reckless behavior.

In the latest action on Thursday, June 27, 2013—legal papers sent to the court say the state demands $700,000 in fines and destruction of the farm animals—all based on how the pigs look. These actions are not just against Mark and Jill– it is also against their children and their animals, too. This is one of five lawsuits against MDNR and their new ISO (several more suits are pending).

The Baker’s small farm business has nearly been ruined and at jeopardy now are their pastured poultry and beef production for local families who want want farm fresh, healthy food. The Baker’s have set up an intern crowd funding account through Pledgie to handle the donations to meet family needs, feed pigs and fix the tractor and for the small fees being charged by an independent attorney.

George Orwell, author of 1984 also wrote Animal Farm where farm animals revolted because of their treatment and after a new policy was issued: “All animals are created equal, except some are more equal than others.”  Orwell coined the term doublespeak, a language that deliberately disguises, distorts, or reverses the meaning of words so as to deceive—where the same word can have different meanings in the same paragraph or where new phrases are made up with no definitions–commonly used in legalese. Doublespeak is common among politicians and state bureaucracies in their sales campaigns for new programs to protect us from potential harm.

Can you imagine having your farm animals confiscated and destroyed because of the way they look? Due to a new rule Michigan DNR can enter a private farm and kill hogs that look different than those approved types. To make their point, the DNR has gone after this farm family of ten, just because the farmer has three pigs that look like what is loosely nicknamed Russian boars—a type of pig made “illegal” recently.

The new rule, as described in the Invasive Species Order ( ISO) and declaratory ruling-- is touted to control feral pigs (roaming wild) the state says–yet these pigs are already under control by hunters. The ISO clearly states can mean any type of pig. If a pig has a curly tail or a straight tail, ears that are with erect or floppy, striped piglets, hair on the underbelly, certain colors including being black, then these are “wild or feral hogs” even if on a farm behind fences. Approved, exempted swine include those raised in huge hog houses called CAFOs (Confined or concentrated animal feeding operations (commonly called factory farms) and the young pigs raised by farmers under contact with CAFOs contract. These CAFO owners have contracts with the giant food processors controlled by four companies. (The largest US pork producer is Smithfield –sold last month to the Chinese.)

Read Ruling here...   http://www.farmtoconsumer.org/docs/MDNR-DeclaratoryRuling-2011-12-13-Final.pdf

SEE VIDEO... http://youtu.be/jqSQh4OBf2Y

Mark and Jill Baker and their eight children bought farmland in Michigan after he retired from 20 years of service in the U.S. Air Force.  His goal was to produce specialty pork from an unusual heritage breed called Mangalitsas that he breeds.  His nutrient-dense “red meat” pork and lard is of the quality that is highly prized throughout the world and throughout this part of Northern Michigan by fine chefs and restaurants. Mark decided “farm living’ is the life for me” and bought his green acres so he and Jill could raise their children on a farm and teach them these old skills. They also have educational programs to teach others they can farm too—and a right to farm– and produce healthy food locally in the old humane way which enhances the environment and the health of those consumers who choose this type of fresh farm food. The dilemma they are facing was broadcast last year on NPR with a 11-minute radio segment on Hog Wild.

As crazy as it sounds, it is clear from what has been said, the state’ rationale is that this type of operation may be threat to human health and the environment and a financial threat to the state’s big pork industry.  But currently, rivers of pig diarrhea are flowing through CAFOs in 15 states with a new type of virus—similar to the Chinese CAFO outbreak—caused by conditions within these indoor operations. In 2009, the swine flu, later called H1N1, was shown to originate from Mexican swine CAFOs. Studies have shown serious respiratory illnesses and higher infant mortality occur near CAFOs.

Read More.... http://worldtruth.tv/state-demands-700000-from-michigan-farm-family-and-the-destruction-of-70-farm-animals/

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