When Horses and Freedom of Religion Collide

(by Nicole Hong, The Wall Street Journal) – Horse diapers have been thrust into the debate over religious freedom.

Two Amish men in Auburn, Ky., filed a lawsuit last month saying a city ordinance requiring horses to wear equine diapers—bags designed to catch manure—violated the ability of Amish residents to exercise their religion.

The ordinance, passed in 2014, broadened an existing law mandating the removal of dog waste in public places. The new law, which the city said was spurred by complaints from neighbors about horse manure, requires a “properly fitted collection device” to be placed on all horses walking on the street.

Residents of Auburn say the issue has divided the town of about 1,300 for years. Members of the town’s Amish community have refused to comply with the ordinance, saying equine diapers violate the community’s religious standards. That stance has landed many of them in court, or worse.

Last year, after a jury found Dan Mast guilty of violating the ordinance, he refused to pay the $193 fine and spent 10 days in jail. Last month, Mr. Mast, 27 years old, and another Amish plaintiff filed a lawsuit against the city of Auburn, its mayor and police chief in which they argue the law is intended to prosecute the Amish based on their religious beliefs.

The plaintiffs are members of the Old Order Swartzentruber Amish religion, one of the most conservative Amish orders. They believe in shunning things that are “of the world,” the lawsuit said, including technology that some Amish groups accept, like fax machines, LED lights and gas-powered refrigerators. Before the ordinance passed in 2014, the community elders decided the equine diapers wouldn’t be permitted by the Swartzentruber church.

A lawyer for the defendants, W. Currie Milliken, said the issue has been blown out of proportion, and the city wants to preserve its friendly relationship with the Amish.

“The city ordinance does not target any individuals based on his or her religious views,” Mr. Milliken said. “This is just a health and safety issue that needed to be addressed.”

Dan Canon, a civil rights lawyer representing the plaintiffs, said the law is singling out the Amish, pointing to a section of the ordinance that allows horses to walk without diapers during special events such as parades.

“They knew at the time they enacted the ordinance that the Amish wouldn’t do it…and they enacted the ordinance anyway,” Mr. Canon said.

The lawsuit is part of a long line of religious freedom skirmishes between the government and the Amish, a Christian church with more than 300,000 members in the U.S. The equine diaper issue has also come up in Wisconsin, southern Indiana and upstate New York. Many disputes in recent years have centered around whether Amish homes must adhere to building codes, including the installation of smoke detectors.

The Amish have approximately 2,300 local congregations in the U.S., and each one has its own rules for how it interacts with technology and the outside world. …

The Swartzentruber Amish, who moved to Auburn about a decade ago, say a less restrictive solution is for the city to require people to clean up after their horses without mandating the attachment of a diaper. The Amish currently carry shovels for waste removal and dispute the city’s claim that the horse manure poses a threat to public health, according to the lawsuit.

City officials have said the 2014 ordinance was necessary after previous attempts to negotiate with the Amish failed. Mr. Milliken, the city’s lawyer, said shoveling is an inadequate solution because it can be dangerous for the Amish to stop in the middle of a highway and scoop up horse manure.

Donnalyn Alford, who works at a furniture store in Auburn and has lived in the area since 1978, said she has mixed feelings on the issue. The Amish should make more of an effort to clean up after their horses, while the city should also stop “picking on these people,” she said.

“Yes, it’s a law, and we’re all supposed to follow the law,” Ms. Alford said. “But I don’t understand why they can’t find a happy medium. All of this over horse poop?”

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