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Court rules in favor of Miniature horse for neighborhood subdivision
In a protracted Rhode Island court battle, a
homeowner successfully challenged a anti-livestock law, winning the
right to keep Sonny, their miniature horse in a neighborhood
subdivision.
In one of the most eloquent statements in
jurisprudence, the judge finds that Sonny the miniature horse is
more like a dog than the conventional horse:
Sonny's shoulders will never be
higher than 3 feet from the ground and his weight will never exceed
150 pounds. The animal, by all descriptions, as well as by the
Court's view on July 6, is gentle, amiable and not high strung or
vicious in the least. His stature and weight will never reach that
of a Great Dane, a Bull Mastiff, or a Saint Bernard; and it is
unlikely that any training could make him into a guard or attack
animal along the lines of a Doberman Pincher, a German Shepherd or a
Pit Bull.
Indeed, the popular name for this
animal--"miniature horse"--is an apt one. When Shakespeare's Richard
III cried out to his deity and the fates to supply him with a horse
in return for his kingdom, if Sonny (or one of his ancestors) had
appeared from the underbrush into the clearing, the distraught king
surely would have uttered an Anglo-Saxon expletive that would make
an Elizabethan audience blush and then fallen on his sword. [FN1]
Alas, Sonny the miniature horse cannot be ridden nor used to pull a
plow through a field.
FN1. "A horse! A horse! My
kingdom for a horse!" from William Shakespeare, King Richard
III, Act V, Scene 4.
Further, the judge deemed that a miniature
horse is not considered livestock within the legal definition:
"As I indicated above, the intent
of the drafters of the restrictive covenants was not to bar a pet
such as Sonny, but rather to prohibit cattle and horse farms,
chicken coops and the like."
However, it should be noted that Sonny
performed a service for a disabled person. The judgment notes:
"Balancing the equities, the
Mignaccas have found a gentle pet and wholesome activity for
Christian, whose weak legs, problematic growth plates and braces
prevent him from participating in other competitive activities, such
as baseball and football, with his friends and other children of his
age, and this clearly outweighs the undifferentiated fears of the
Homeowners Association and the individual plaintiffs."
The full text of the decision can be found here:
http://www.courts.state.ri.us/superior/pdf/01-2615.PDF
The appellate case is here:
http://www.guidehorse.com/law_mini_ri.htm |
