Say I'm interested in buying a house on 8 acres. How do I go about finding out the type and number of farm animals allowed on the property?

A friend of mine had those funny little goats running around on his property. If you've ever had any contact with them, you know they go wherever they feel like it, even if it's the hood of your neighbor's car.

Anyway, a neighbor complained and some kind of inspector from the county (Washington) came to his house and issued a warning/citation for having too many or the wrong kind of animals on his property or something of that sort. I figured it would be somebody from the SPCA, but instead, it was some kind of county inspector. So, I would say start with your local government's business offices and go from there.

I'd love to have some goats!

And a pig... and some chickens... and a cow or two... maybe a horse...

My neighbors are going to love me.

Especially at bar-b-que time

Would the Extension office know,do you think? Would the Assessor's office know?Maybe not.Why not PM one of "our" posters like Kelly,Mr.Mayor( I think he even gave his cell# in a post some where),Kid,maybe Tony would know who to ask.

good idea

I know you have to have one acer per horse.
But try the Dept. of Agg. or the extentoin office.

You need the zoning ordinances.

http://www.washco-md.net/index.shtm

hubby said to try to pull the deed and see. It'll have all the restrictions in it for that property. Ours says we can't have a hog farm or a junk yard.



*darn! and I was thinkin them hogs would make me some money!*

Some deeds list some restrictios that you won't find elsewhere so yes it's worth pulling a copy of, but don;t expect it to be the sole answer to your question. If you live in a modern housing development there may be a homeowner's association with a whole bunch of restrictions whom you should contact, in a small incoporated town there may be town ordinances you can only determine by contacting the right person in the town gov't. There may be zoming restrictions in County law that you'd have to look up or detrmine by contacting County authorities. Or, in more rural areas, there may be few restrictions spelled out in detail, but you could stil be hit with citations for having too many animals or not caring for them adequately under broader laws governing animal welfare or creating a public nuisance, so common sense also has a place.