No individual or individuals, partnerships, company or corporation shall keep a pig or swine within the limits of this municipality without first obtaining a permit from the Board of Health. All such permits shall expire on December 31 of each year unless sooner revoked. Any permit may be revoked at any time by the Board of Health for cause.
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Health of the Town of Northborough. Amendments noted where applicable.]
All piggeries shall be suitably isolated and maintained in such a manner that no nuisance shall be created thereby.
No pen or enclosure shall be located within 500 feet of any public highway or property line.
All piggeries will be examined frequently by a representative of the Board of Health, who will make such recommendations to the owner as are necessary to maintain the piggery in proper condition.
Properly ventilated buildings of substantial construction, preferably painted white or whitewashed, well lighted and so designed that accumulations of offensive material can be readily removed, shall be provided. For indoor pens, watertight troughs of cement or metal kept in good repair shall be provided for feeding purposes, and these troughs must be thoroughly cleaned every day.
All buildings used for the housing of swine shall be kept in a clean and satisfactory condition. Brood houses shall be cleaned daily.
If outdoor pens or runs are provided, the swine shall be fed from platforms built of heavy watertight material flat on the ground or on skids one foot above the ground so arranged that the platform can be readily moved and the ground at earlier location can be plowed in. If the feeding platform is elevated, the space between the ground and the platform shall be kept clear and clean, and no food shall be allowed to accumulate about the platform or on the ground.
A bin for receiving garbage shall be provided, which shall be covered during warm weather.
Garbage cans, wagons and trucks shall be thoroughly cleansed after the garbage has been removed therefrom.
Manure and uneaten garbage shall be cleaned out at least every other day and must either be immediately removed from the premises or be so kept that it will not constitute a nuisance and that the pigs will not have access to it.
If uneaten garbage and manure are collected in compost piles, they shall be treated or covered with ground limestone and earth, loam or other suitable material in sufficient amounts to eliminate any odor, fly breeding or other nuisance. All such piles shall be at least 1,500 feet from any highway or dwelling. No garbage, manure or putrescible matter whatsoever shall, except in the cultivation and use of the soil in ordinary methods of agriculture, be put upon the ground within 500 feet of the high-water mark of any open waters flowing directly or ultimately into any source of water supply. In addition, during the fly-breeding season (May 1 to September 30), such matter shall be sprayed daily with some suitable insecticide.
Manure shall be spread upon land only when such land is in condition to plow, and any manure so spread shall be plowed under within 48 hours.
Wet muck in outdoor pens shall be removed and replaced with clean sand.
A water supply adequate for cleaning purposes shall be provided.
No pigs shall be kept within 500 feet of any room where milk is handled. No person who handles milk shall assist in the maintenance of pigs or the cleaning of pens.
Adequate personnel shall be employed at all times for the proper maintenance and operation of the piggery.
No piggery shall be located, constructed or maintained any part of which is within 500 feet of the high-water mark of any source of drinking water supply or any tributary thereof or within 500 feet of the high-water mark of any open waters flowing directly or ultimately into any source of water supply.
No piggery shall be located, constructed or maintained any part of which is within 500 feet of the high-water mark of any open waters, brook, stream, river or drainage easement.
The Board of Health may, after petition and investigation, grant exceptions to the provisions of §§ 8-20-020 and 8-20-030, subject to such conditions as said Board may deem necessary for the public health.