Volume 38, May 2014, Pages 426–440
Highlights
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- We examined motivations and management practices of 134 urban livestock owners in 48 US cities.
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- Urban livestock are more akin to pets than farm animals, but nevertheless retain a productive function.
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- Regulation seems to have little impact on management practices, despite a favorable attitude toward regulation.
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- Planners should reevaluate setbacks and animal limits and establish minimum space requirements that raise welfare standards.
Abstract
As
interest in urban agriculture sweeps the country, municipalities are
struggling to update, code to meet public demands. The proliferation of
urban livestock—especially chickens, rabbits, bees, and goats—has posed
particular regulatory challenges. Scant planning scholarship on urban
livestock focuses mostly on how cities regulate animals, but few studies
attempt to characterize urban livestock, ownership and management
practices in the US in relation to these regulations. Our study
addresses this gap. Using a web-based survey distributed via a snowball
technique, we received responses from 134 livestock owners in 48 US
cities, revealing the following: why they keep livestock; what kind of,
livestock they keep and how many; the proximity of their livestock to
property lines and dwellings; the extent to which they raise animals for
meat; how they manage waste and other possible nuisances or public
health risks; and their interest in exchanging animal products through
sale and barter. We also examine whether such practices conform to the
regulatory context. Results suggest that urban livestock ownership is
more akin to pet ownership and should therefore not be restricted under
planning codes as if it were a commercial-scale agricultural activity.
Given the diversity of livestock ownership practices and lot sizes, we
recommend that planners consider the following when developing urban
livestock codes: (1) more appropriate setbacks and animal limits per
lot; (2), promotion of high standards for animal welfare; (3) addressing
sales and slaughter; and (4), making regulations more visible to the
public. We, conclude by laying out an agenda for future research on
urban livestock regulation and management.
Keywords
- Animals;
- Food systems planning;
- Municipal chicken ordinances;
- Urban agriculture;
- Urban livestock;
- Zoning
- Corresponding author. Tel.:
+1 503 725 4064.
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