Big
Brother wants to live at YOUR farm!
The National Animal
Identification System (NAIS) is a national program to identify and track
livestock animals, including poultry, horses, cattle, goats and sheep for the
purpose of disease containment. NAIS plans to use RFID and GPS technology to
track animals, and requires every farm or “premises” be registered with
government agencies, even if that premises houses a single animal. While NAIS’s purported goal of disease containment appears to be
beneficial, the requirement for American citizens to register privately-owned
property for tracking and monitoring purposes has very serious implications for
our privacy, rights and freedoms.
For all of us who are small
farmer/livestock owners, even if it is just 2 chickens and a goat, our
governments is implementing NAIS (National Animal Identification System) to
register our farms and all of our livestock. The “Goal” is to help track the
origin of diseases outbreaks in livestock for National Security.
We must fight this program is it
is total invasion of privacy, more government intrusion and the expense of such
an ID program (i.e. radio frequency ID chips) will be a burden the livestock
owner will have to bear. It would make selling live or processed meat (poultry,
beef, pork, etc) too expensive for the average consumer.
Please don’t sit on your hands
and think other will fight this fight. Contact your State Representatives and your
Senators. Visit NO NAIS and/or
Stop Animal ID .
Do it now as the whole country will be subject
to the NAIS program in 2008.
A wonderful letter to use when
writing your congress person:
I’m writing regarding the
National Animal Identification System (NAIS). I understand that the goal of the
program is to be able to track diseased livestock, so as to stop any further
spread of a particular disease from the same source as the diseased livestock.
On a very large scale, this sounds reasonable, as explained by Dr. Bob Hillman,
a member of the Secretary’s Advisory Subcommittee on the National Animal
Identification System, Texas’ state
veterinarian, and head of the TAHC, Texas’
livestock and poultry health regulatory agency. I quote an article I found by
following a link from the NAIS website. The article is at http://animalid.aphis.usda.gov/nais/spotlights/Texas_spotlight_1204.pdf
Dr. Hillman states, “This
involves the unique identification of each head of livestock moved from its
original herd. For cattle, sheep, goats, cervidae
(deer) and some other species of livestock, the identification device will be
an electronic ear tag, also called a radio frequency (RFID) identification
device. For other species, such as swine and poultry, the number can be applied
to groups of animals, if they spend their entire production life together as a
group or unit.” Forms of identification mentioned on the NAIS website include
micro-chips, retinal scans and DNA. Presumably, poultry and swine that are not
a “group or unit” will require individual identification. The article further
paraphrases Dr. Hillman thus, “When animals are sold, moved or harvested [or
die], project participants will report the event to third-party data service
providers by computer, fax or mail.” I understand that this “report” will need
to be made within 24 hours of a qualifying “event.”
Although the plan seems
feasible, and even helpful, in large-scale agri-business settings, please take
the time to consider what this means to the average backyard or hobby farmer,
who raises a few animals for their own food or pleasure. I am one of this group, and can tell you that making this tracking a
requirement for small farmers will mean the end of hobby farms. I’ll describe a
couple of scenarios to help illustrate why.
I go to the feed store to buy
some chicks to raise for meat. They used to be 89 cents.
Now, since the feed store is required to register each chick separately,
because they’re not sold “as a unit,” how much do you think they’ll charge for
a registered chick? In states where NAIS is already in place, many feed stores
are no longer carrying animals. In fact, the feed store I visited today is a
two-generation enterprise. The current owner/manger, who is the son of the
founder, said he would quit selling feed if he had to start registering and
reporting chicks and other livestock they sell, such as rabbits. How long do
you think small farms will last without feed stores? Please know that large
farms do not typically patronize feed stores to any extent. They buy in bulk
direct from suppliers.
I have chickens that run loose
on my property. Let’s say a hen comes up missing. I’m supposed to report that
in 24 hours. A week later, I see her scratching around again. So I’m supposed
to report that, too. I see her every few days for a couple more weeks. Each
time I see her or fail to see her, I’m supposed to report it, or I’m breaking
the rules (which we all suspect will become law). After three weeks or so, she
marches in with several chicks. Now I’m supposed to catch all of them and haul
them down to a “tagging station” to be identified, since they don’t live their
entire lives “as a unit.” Being a law-abiding citizen, I do so. Three days
later, a chick is missing, probably taken by a hawk or crow or cat. I report
it. A few days later, another comes up missing. Report.
A week later, my horse steps on a chick. Report. Then
another hen disappears, probably to brood another clutch of chicks. Report. You see where I’m going with this, of course. Who is
really going to pay attention to all of my reports? Who is going to pay a
staffer to do so? Am I going to have to pay a staffer for several hours’ time
to take care of all my reports? How much will my chickens cost at that point?
Will I be eating the most expensive chickens and eggs the world has ever known,
or will I give up and shop at Safeway?
Besides, does anyone honestly
think that people who raise animals for their own food are going to acquiesce
to this degree of oversight? Does anyone honestly think a person is going to
haul a $15.00 rabbit and her new litter down to the local tagging station and
pay heaven knows how much to have their rabbits identified? And at what age
should they do that so that they don’t stress the doe out, causing her to
cannibalize her babies? (This can happen when the babies are as old as four
weeks of age. Butchering or live sale is typically done at 8 weeks.)
So, as a result of NAIS
implementation, all the small farmers and hobby farmers will disappear. So
what, you ask? Apart from the fact that NAIS has seriously disrupted the
“pursuit of happiness” for millions of hobby farmers, and destroyed all the
businesses, publications, activities, etc., that depend on hobby farmers, let’s
discuss genetic diversity. There are many, very specific adaptations in
livestock, which were selected for over generations. Breeds were selected that
are specially adapted to perform well despite certain adverse circumstances
such as excessive heat or cold or wetness or parasite loads. Or they are
adapted to graze very hilly, rocky land; or they are foot-rot resistant to
thrive in damp, low-lying pastures; or they have terrific mothering skills, or
excellent laying rates despite cold, darkness, etc.
If small farmers and hobby
farmers disappear, the genetic diversity in livestock and its potential to
offer solutions to problems we cannot yet foresee will disappear as well. Why
is that, you ask? Because small farmers and hobby farmers raise these specially
adapted, endangered “heritage breeds.” They are therefore the guardians of the
genetic diversity. Large farms and ranches, to which NAIS poses no special
burden, use only a very tiny percentage of the livestock breeds available. They
use only breeds that are specially adapted to perform well in high-input,
high-output confinement systems. Heritage breeds do not perform well in these
systems, being adapted to produce in more natural settings. With people
becoming more particular about how their food is raised, is it a good idea to
allow the loss of these heritage breeds?
As a final note, I must address
the remarkably un-American nature of a law making it impossible for people to
raise their own food. What’s next, shall we outlaw home vegetable gardens so
that their pollen doesn’t contaminate the local GMO crop? Let’s give the
agri-business lobby a little time; I’m sure they’ll come up with something “feasible.”
While we’re waiting, we can take
our children for the last time to the petting zoo, the livestock exhibits at
the fair, and the community 4-H and FFA meetings. “Last” because the animals
for all of these are provided primarily by small farmers.
This whole tracking idea, as it
applies to small farmers and hobby farmers, is so unrealistic, impractical and
Orwellian that it seems like a bad dream. I keep hoping to wake up, but it
doesn’t seem to be happening. My only other choice is to try to wake up the
people who are in a position to avert this disaster. I hope this letter has at
least begun to do the trick. Please, please get out there and put a stop to
this before any more harm is done.
Thanks for your
attention to this serious matter. Feel
free to print this out and write an actual letter (emails don’t have the same
effect as a postal mailed paper letter) to your government representatives to
fight this misguided cause.
Now please link back to www.EggCartons.com and continue
shopping.
