1) One may not allow one's animal to carry a burden on Shabbat. 2) According to Biblical law, because a living being carries its own weight to a certain extent, one doesn't violate the prohibition against carrying on Shabbat, when one carries a living being on Shabbat. The Sages later made an enactment prohibiting a person from carrying a living being on Shabbat, but did not extend the prohibition to one's animal (See Shulchan Aruch 305:22). 3) Other articles would be considered a load.

1) There are three different principles which apply here: a) Milking an animal on Shabbat is Biblically prohibited due to the Melacha called ''Mefarek'', which basically forbids the extraction of a natural product from its natural container; b) It's rabbinically prohibited to instruct a Gentile to perform prohibited activities on Shabbat for the sake of a Jew; c) It's also prohibited to allow an animal to experience unnecessary suffering. Here the animal's suffering overrides the prohibition against instructing a Gentile to perform forbidden labor on Shabbat. 2) That is, the milk is ''muktzeh'' - ''set apart''. (See Mishna Berurah 305:71). 3) Geese which have been force fed over an extended period can usually no longer eat on their own. If a Gentile is unavailable, a Jew may do it, preferably through a minor.

1) A Jew is prohibited from letting his animal perform ''melacha'' (that is, one of the 39 categories of forbidden activity) on Shabbat. Even an animal which has been rented out to a Gentile is subject to this prohibition. Further, according to the Mishna Berurah (246:11), if a Jew has rented an animal from a Gentile, one should be stringent, and not allow it to perform ''melacha'' on Shabbat. 2) The Jew makes his animal ''Hefker'' - ''owner-less'' - just for Shabbat, and then he will automatically regain ownership when Shabbat ends. If someone comes along and takes the animal during Shabbat, that person would acquire legal ownership of the animal, and the original owner would not regain ownership after Shabbat. However, the likelihood of someone else acquiring one's owner-less animal on Shabbat is very low, since it's under the control of the Gentile who rented it. 3) Without witnesses. However, some authorities consider that renunciation of ownership requires witnesses to the declaration. Therefore the Mishna Berurah (246:15), rules that, if possible, one should make the declaration in front of at least one person, even a member of one's own household. 4) Since the renunciation of ownership over the animal isn't known publicly, people who see the Jewish owned animal working on Shabbat might assume that the Jew is intentionally violating a prohibition; this concept is called ''Ma'arit Ha'ayin'' (lit: ''visual appearance'') and forbids doing anything that others might interpret as a transgression.