HoppinHerdofHares
Active Member
Check this out. You can sign the petition at this page:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/369063795#body
Help Stop the USDA from Taking Away Our Livestock and Our Pets Poultrykeepers and small farmers are facing a serious threat from a proposedgovernment intrusion in to their pastimes and way of life. For quite awhile now, the USDA has been working with the very largest scale animalindustry organizations ( for example, The National Pork Producers,Monsanto Company, and Cargill Meat) to develop a mandatory "NationalAnimal Identification System" (NAIS).
Most small scale livestock producers, people who raise animals forthier own food, and people who keep horses and livestock as companionanimals do not know about this. The NAIS will drive small producers outof the market, will force people to stop raising animls for thier ownfood, and will invade our privacy to an extreme degree. It will violatethe religios freedoms of Americans whose beliefs make it impossible forthem to comply, and will destroy the last vestiges of animal welfarefrom the production of animals for food.
On April 25, 2005,the USDA released "Draft Program Standards" and a"Draft Strategic Plan" concerning the NAIS. If you think thedescription below to bizzare to be true, please go to usda.gov/nais andread the Standards and Plan and check the citations for yourself.
By January 1, 2008, the NAIS will be mandatory.(Plan,pp. 2,10,17) Everyperson who owns even one horse, cow ,pig, chicken, sheep, pidgeon, orvirtually any livestock animal, will be forced to register thier home,including the owners name, address and phone number, and keyed toGlobal Positioning System coordinates for satellite monitoring in agiant federal database under a 7-digit "premises id number." St., pp.
3-4, 10-12; Plan, p.5)
Every animal wil be assigned a 15 digit I.D. number, also to be kept ina federal database. The id will likely be a tag or microchip containinga Radio Frequency Device, designed to be read from a distance. (Plan,p.10; St.,pp.6,12,20,27-28.) The plan may include collecting the DNA ofevery animal and /or a retinal scan.
The owner will be required to report the birthdate of every animal, theapplication of every animal's id tag, every time an animal enters orleaves the property, every time an animal loses a tag,every time a tagis replaced, the slaughter or death of an animal, if any animal ismissing. These events must be reported within 24 hours.
Third parties, like veterinarians, will be required to report"sightings" of animals. For example, if you have a vet on your propertyto treat a sick animal, and the vet sees any animal without themandatory 15-digit computer readable id, the vet will be required toreport you.
If you do not comply, the USDA will exorcise "enforcement" against you.
The USDA hasn't specified the nature of "enforcement" as of yet, but itwill probably include fines and/or seizing your animals. There are noexeptions-unde this plan you will be forced to register an report evenif you raise animlas only for your own food or keep horses for draft ortransportation.
What you can do:
Small scale keepers of poultry and other livestock can take action tocreate an effective movement in opposition to the USDA plan. First,small scale livestock owners should not participate in any "voluntary"
state or federal program to register farms or animals. The USDA ismaking farmers willingness to participate in a "voluntary" program as ajustification for making the program mandatory. ( See Plan, "ExecutiveSummary" and pp.7-8) Small farmers and livestock owners can also helpto inform and organize others. The USDA presently does not plan tofinalize it's rules for mandatory id until the summer of 2006. There isstill time to make your voice heard. Please, sign this petion and letthe USDA know we will not stand for having our right, freedoms, andpersonal privacy taken away. Thank you.
From:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/369063795#body
