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National Animal Identification System is a Bad Idea
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By Rob Usakowski
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I am resolved to the fact that government legislation willcontinue to erode away at our freedoms. Government likes topaint itself as the lamb, but usually is the wolf. It's therules of necessity to protect us from certain harm. Take forinstance the latest hot topic in farming, NAIS, National AnimalIdentification System.
The NAIS is a government created animal identification andtracking system created under the auspices of protecting thefood chain from such things as mad cow disease. Their plan is torequire every horse, cow, pig, goat, sheep, llama, chicken, andpigeon to be micro chipped, every owner to be registered, andtrack every movement of these animals. It is already beingimplemented, and will be mandatory by 2008. The claim is thatthey will be able to trace back the location of any contaminatedanimal within 48 hours to stop the outbreaks of potentialdiseases.
Look again at the list of animals currently listed as part ofthis legislation; remember this is designed to protect the "foodchain." Did you notice anything odd as I did? When was the lasttime you had one of those horse burgers? Horses are not raisedfor human consumption in the United States; in fact, it isactually against the law in many states. How about those llamasteaks? Llamas and alpacas are raised for their wool, not formeat. Seems odd to me that legislation designed to protect thefood chain, would require participation from non food animals.
I prefer not to have my personal information available forothers to misuse. I am often asked for my social security numberand will not place it on many documents, and refuse to give itin many situations. As an animal raiser you will be required toregister your premises, including much of your personalinformation. The USDA website states that because of the Freedomof Information Act this information will not be kept private.Any extremist animal rights group will have access to yourpersonal information, as will many others with a potential tomisuse your information, so much for privacy.
In considering the food chain, the easiest way to achieve 48hour trace ability, is to have local farmers sell directly toconsumers. Any one that purchases from me, can tell authoritieswithin 30 seconds where they purchased their animal. In fact ifthere are any issues with my animals it will affect my smallherd and no one else's. The necessity to include the localfarmer or homesteader in this legislation is ridiculous. Thereis even some debate about how this applies to those that raisefood for their own consumption. Many experts believe that theytoo will be required to register.
The costs associated with this program will have a huge impacton everyone. You may not be a farmer, you may not raise cattle,but you will be affected by this legislation. Again in reviewingthe USDA website, they make it clear that the cost of thisprogram will be passed on to the animal owner. The farmer willhave to pay for their own compliance. They will have to pay forthe microchips; they will have to pay for meeting all thepaperwork requirements. More than likely this will force localfarmers and small homesteaders out of the production of theiranimals. As it is they make little or no money. Don't expectlarge scale producers to absorb that cost out of the goodness oftheir heart. They will pass that expense on to every consumer.The price of meats, eggs and milk will certainly see largeincreases to meet the costs associated with this program.
Under the regulations of the NAIS, every animal movement must bereported to the US Government. Every time an animal is born,every time an animal dies, every time you take an animal to ashow, every time you decide to eat one of your own cattle, etc.must be reported. Since horses are included in this legislation,every time you take your horse out for a ride, you must letUncle Sam know. In fact those running animal shows such as horseshows will also be required to report the animals shown to theUSDA.
Cattle farmers already have in place a way of identifying theiranimals. Many other animal raisers have their form ofidentification already in place. The USDA will tell you that ontheir website. So why is it necessary for them to create agovernment managed system? It must be because the governmentfeels and can do a much better job than those actually in theindustry. Of course we've seen how great the government is atmanaging our resources like social security.
So will the ability of the USDA to track these animals reallyreduce the risks of food illness and contamination? Historicallymost meat recalls happen not because some local farmer hadissues at his farm, but because a large scale meat packingfacility contaminated the meat. Often contamination occursbecause of improper handling of fecal matter. However, thosemeat packing facilities are unlikely to assume responsibility.Only one cow has entered the United States with mad cow disease.That animal was quickly destroyed. However panic was set offabout the disease by reports like this UPI report declaring thathundreds of cases probably existed in the UShttp://www.upi.com/inc/view.php?StoryID=20040630-042354-9787r ofwhich many would go undetected. In fact only one US resident hascontracted mad cow, and she was in England when she contractedthe human form of the disease. I don't know how much better theUS government thinks it can do than what our cattle raisers havealready done. This legislation does nothing but increase costs,and centralize and increase the size of our already overinflated government. It removes more of our freedoms, and bringsus closer to complete government control of our food supply.
Many rabbit owners, buffalo breeders and elk herders willrejoice that their animals are not on the list. Don't sit stillfor too long. The NAIS is looking to expand its authority andcertainly some of these animals will be included in futurelegislation.
So what can you do? First, contact your local governmentrepresentatives.http://www.stopanimalid.org/action/contactgov.php. The StopAnimal ID web site also has form letters for writing to electedofficials. http://www.stopanimalid.org/action/forms.php Write toyour area newspapers regarding the issuehttp://newslink.org/statenews.html the Yahoo Group AmericansAgainst NAIS has several form letters available for sending tonewspaper editors.http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Americans_Against_NAIS/Sign petitions such as the following:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/369063795?ltl=1137005582
USDA & US CONGRESShttp://new.petitiononline.com/nousaip/petition.html US CONGRESShttp://new.petitiononline.com/nopaws/petition.html U.S. CONGRESShttp://www.petitiononline.com/usanimal/petition.html ALABAMAhttp://www.petitiononline.com/albsl/petition.html CALIFORNIAhttp://www.petitiononline.com/nosb861/petition.html GEORGIAhttp://www.petitiononline.com/gabsl/petition.html INDIANAhttp://www.petitiononline.com/inbsl/petition.html MARYLANDhttp://www.petitiononline.com/marybsl/petition.html MISSOURIhttp://www.petitiononline.com/mobsl/petition.html OHIOhttp://www.petitiononline.com/ohiobsl/petition.html OREGONhttp://www.petitiononline.com/orbsl/petition.html OKLAHOMAhttp://www.petitiononline.com/nookbsl/petition.html TEXAShttp://www.petitiononline.com/txbills/petition.html S. CAROLINAhttp://www.petitiononline.com/scbsl/petition.html WASHINGTONhttp://www.petitiononline.com/wabsl/petition.htm
Most of all, take some course of action and then stay informed.Don't be complacent about these types of matters. Your ownapathy will result in lost freedoms for yourself, your family,and our country. Join the Yahoo Group Americans Against AnimalID, and watch the web site http://www.stopanimalid.org for thelatest information.
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