edward
06-15-2009, 05:44 PM
Yes, Big Brother Wants Your Horses Too
Late last century global leaders, agribusiness trade associations and technology companies conjured up an idea to facilitate international trade, give government and corporations more control over livestock production, and increase demand for new technological products. It was an ingenious plan. All that was needed was to convince the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to require every livestock owner to put electronic tracking devices on every U.S. animal and to report the movement of these animals throughout their lifetimes.
For many years this ingenious plan collected dust as there simply was no justification for government to impose such a high level of federal surveillance over U.S. livestock and their owners. What was needed was a catchy marketing plan – a justifiable reason that could be sold to U.S. citizens. In fact, the purveyors of this plan knew it was so repulsive to U.S. citizens that they actually used it in 2002 to block enactment of the country-of-origin labeling (COOL) law that requires meat to be labeled as to its origin so consumers would know where their food was produced. The powerful agribusiness lobby did not want COOL and said it would accept it only if Congress first mandated a National Animal Identification System (NAIS). As intended, this quid pro quo scared the bejabbers out of COOL proponents. Fortunately, we overcame this threat when Congress included language in the 2002 COOL law to prohibit NAIS for the purpose of implementing COOL.
It wasn’t long, however, before the plan’s purveyors received their awaited manna – their needed justification for this unfathomable government surveillance over our free society. In 2003, a Canadian cow imported into the United States was detected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE or mad cow disease). Within days the corporate-controlled USDA announced to the world that because of this Canadian cow, NAIS must be imposed on every U.S. livestock owner. Immediately USDA, global leaders, agribusiness trade associations and technology companies embarked on an insidious, nationwide campaign to convince U.S. citizens that they must relinquish their freedom to own, raise, and care for their livestock without government interference in the name of protecting them from mad cow disease.
NAIS calls for every U.S. livestock owner to register their real property with the federal government, to attach identification devices to each of their animals, to enroll each animal in a federal database, and to report to the government within 24 hours the movement of each of their animals when they leave their registered property. The following species are included under NAIS; and, yes, big brother wants your horses too:
Cattle, bison, poultry, swine, sheep, goates, cervids (e.g., deer and elk), equines (e.g., horses, mules, donkeys, burros), and camelids (e.g., llamas and alpacas).
This insanity persists despite the fact that the U.S. has the best veterinary infrastructure, which has effectively contained, controlled and eradicated pernicious livestock diseases for over a century, and the most successful disease prevention programs operated by each of the 50 states in conjunction with the federal government, of any country in the world. The USDA originally planned to make NAIS mandatory in 2006. Fortunately, groups like R-CALF USA and others stood their ground to protect and defend the rights and privileges of their citizen-members, and USDA backed off – but only temporarily.
USDA recently issued a study to determine what this unprecedented level of government intrusion and surveillance would actually cost. The estimated cost to the nation’s cattle industry is $209 million per year, with average-sized U.S. cattle ranchers paying over $7 per animal for the privilege of being surveilled by big brother. Cattle ranchers who depend on horses and all other horse owners, including ropers, reiners, cutters, jumpers, barrel racers and the like, would find their industry cost of NAIS to be nearly $76 million per year. Importantly, each horse owner would bear the privilege of not only paying an average of $75.51 per horse to be microchipped by government edict, but also, they will get to know the government employees at the NAIS enforcement agency on a first name basis because they’ll be frequently calling in to file their requisite reports when they move their horses from their property.
Is it just those of us involved in the ranching industry that find this plan absolutely absurd or are there others who also are calling their U.S. Senators and Representatives to stop this madness?
Late last century global leaders, agribusiness trade associations and technology companies conjured up an idea to facilitate international trade, give government and corporations more control over livestock production, and increase demand for new technological products. It was an ingenious plan. All that was needed was to convince the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to require every livestock owner to put electronic tracking devices on every U.S. animal and to report the movement of these animals throughout their lifetimes.
For many years this ingenious plan collected dust as there simply was no justification for government to impose such a high level of federal surveillance over U.S. livestock and their owners. What was needed was a catchy marketing plan – a justifiable reason that could be sold to U.S. citizens. In fact, the purveyors of this plan knew it was so repulsive to U.S. citizens that they actually used it in 2002 to block enactment of the country-of-origin labeling (COOL) law that requires meat to be labeled as to its origin so consumers would know where their food was produced. The powerful agribusiness lobby did not want COOL and said it would accept it only if Congress first mandated a National Animal Identification System (NAIS). As intended, this quid pro quo scared the bejabbers out of COOL proponents. Fortunately, we overcame this threat when Congress included language in the 2002 COOL law to prohibit NAIS for the purpose of implementing COOL.
It wasn’t long, however, before the plan’s purveyors received their awaited manna – their needed justification for this unfathomable government surveillance over our free society. In 2003, a Canadian cow imported into the United States was detected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE or mad cow disease). Within days the corporate-controlled USDA announced to the world that because of this Canadian cow, NAIS must be imposed on every U.S. livestock owner. Immediately USDA, global leaders, agribusiness trade associations and technology companies embarked on an insidious, nationwide campaign to convince U.S. citizens that they must relinquish their freedom to own, raise, and care for their livestock without government interference in the name of protecting them from mad cow disease.
NAIS calls for every U.S. livestock owner to register their real property with the federal government, to attach identification devices to each of their animals, to enroll each animal in a federal database, and to report to the government within 24 hours the movement of each of their animals when they leave their registered property. The following species are included under NAIS; and, yes, big brother wants your horses too:
Cattle, bison, poultry, swine, sheep, goates, cervids (e.g., deer and elk), equines (e.g., horses, mules, donkeys, burros), and camelids (e.g., llamas and alpacas).
This insanity persists despite the fact that the U.S. has the best veterinary infrastructure, which has effectively contained, controlled and eradicated pernicious livestock diseases for over a century, and the most successful disease prevention programs operated by each of the 50 states in conjunction with the federal government, of any country in the world. The USDA originally planned to make NAIS mandatory in 2006. Fortunately, groups like R-CALF USA and others stood their ground to protect and defend the rights and privileges of their citizen-members, and USDA backed off – but only temporarily.
USDA recently issued a study to determine what this unprecedented level of government intrusion and surveillance would actually cost. The estimated cost to the nation’s cattle industry is $209 million per year, with average-sized U.S. cattle ranchers paying over $7 per animal for the privilege of being surveilled by big brother. Cattle ranchers who depend on horses and all other horse owners, including ropers, reiners, cutters, jumpers, barrel racers and the like, would find their industry cost of NAIS to be nearly $76 million per year. Importantly, each horse owner would bear the privilege of not only paying an average of $75.51 per horse to be microchipped by government edict, but also, they will get to know the government employees at the NAIS enforcement agency on a first name basis because they’ll be frequently calling in to file their requisite reports when they move their horses from their property.
Is it just those of us involved in the ranching industry that find this plan absolutely absurd or are there others who also are calling their U.S. Senators and Representatives to stop this madness?