The Milk Riots: How Seattle’s Dairymen Threatened to Spike Prices Over a Dog Ban
When the city council proposed banning pigs and limiting livestock to three cows per family, local dairy farmers didn't just complain—they warned that milk prices would skyrocket to 15 cents a quart.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
DAIRYMEN ARE MAD Threaten to Raise Price of Milk to 15 Cents a Quart.
The draft of an ordinance was presented to the city council some time ago to prohibit the keeping of hogs within the city limits. The draft was changed somewhat and made to include regulations affecting other live stock, each family being allowed to keep not over three cows. This has raised quite an uproar among local dairyman, who claim that if they are compelled to drive their [herds] out of the city limits, milk is liable to take a raise to 15 cents per quart.
This 1902 dispute over urban livestock regulations mirrors modern tensions between housing density and neighborhood character. Just as dairy farmers then used the threat of price gouging to resist zoning changes, today’s residents often use NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) arguments or economic impact claims to oppose new development or agricultural initiatives in residential zones.
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