kill-it-and-eat-it locavores give cities indigestion

This article describes how urban farmers who chose to slaughter their own meat are facing new regulations and even bans on home butchering. This is coming after many residents filed complaints that home slaughtering is inhumane and that there are no animal welfare standards in effect. Officials have acknowledged that a growth in urban farming does warrant upgrading the current code, but the merits of keeping versus banning home slaughter is still being debated. However, approximately 20 cities throughout the country have faced new, harsher regulations on keeping and butchering animals. The author goes on to explain that commercial food regulation is a federal issue, while butchering for personal consumption is a city matter. Those who support personal food choice and an individual’s right to produce their own food suggest that burdensome regulations may drive home butchering underground. Policy makers are still trying to figure out how activities such as cooking lobster at home and feeding pet snakes mice would play into proposed restrictions.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-03-08/kill-it-and-eat-it-locavores-give-cities-indigestion