Michigan Service Pigs ?

There are certain rules that society has set up by which everyone has agreed to live, more or less. We are all interconnected with each other to a greater or lesser extent. So if you happen to live in a city there are different rules by which you must abide than if you happened to live in the country.  For example, you probably won't be allowed to put your old car up on blocks in the front yard. You may not be able to park your boat in the driveway. You won't be able to run your snow blower or lawnmower before 6 AM or after 10 PM. And you probably won't be allowed to keep livestock in your home. All of these are restrictions on your right to dispose of your property. However I think they are all reasonable laws. A local couple disagrees with the last constraint and is fighting it in court.

YPSILANTI, Mich. (WXYZ) - You are welcome to stay- but your livestock has to go. That is the message the city of Ypsilanti is giving a couple living in a house with four potbelly pigs.
Now the couple is arguing their case in court, saying their pigs are much more than just livestock.

“This is Vinny. He is our second oldest,” said Jeffery Rowland as he introduces WXYZ to his pigs. He and his wife Stephanie Rowland say their four pigs are part of their family. They both are on disability and say the pigs ease their symptoms of anxiety or bipolar disorder.

“What you have to have are doctors notes. I have between me and Jeff, eleven doctors who say: they need this,” said Stephanie. 

Video below

I think that livestock belong on farms, not in homes. I think the Rowlands have probably gone nose blind. There are plenty of areas close by that are rural. If it is really that important for the Rowlands to live with pigs they should move. The smell and possibility of disease should be enough for the city to prevail in this case. Pigs aren't service animals. They're livestock. And rather nasty livestock at that. In this case rules are rules. And nasty is nasty.

But that's my take. What's yours?