[ SHOWGSD-L ] Get Gov. out of my barnyard
- From: "Anja Heibloem-Stroud" <Anja_Heibloem-Stroud@xxxxxxx>
- To: "showgsdlistnew" <Showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 21 Feb 2009 11:22:47 -0800
a bit long but worth the read. Divide and conquer seems to be the objective
with all animal regulations. Forward anywhere. Anja
http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/valois/070323<about:blank>
March 23, 2007
NAIS: Get the government out of my barnyard!
By Helen Valois
It is not a piece of legislation, so there is no one to lobby directly
in order to thwart or halt it. It is not essential to national security,
since none of its targets are to be found on any terror watch list. It
purports to protect the safety of our food supply, but its actual
implementation would go far afield of this mission. So, what is NAIS -
acronym of the National Animal Identification System? It is a
complicated network of USDA regulations currently being put into action
through various strong-arm tactics, with the effect of eroding yet
another area of the rights of the American citizen. While it still can
be, it must be stopped. Let's take a look.
Pleading Bureaucratic Incompetence
You have heard, no doubt, that one reason our country remains passive in
the face of the illegal immigration crisis is the sheer weight of
paperwork involved in lifting a finger against it. Consider the
processing problems posed, we are urged, by the task of identifying all
of these individuals, let alone deporting them! Impossible. Simply
impossible.
Now hear this. The same government pleading bureaucratic incompetence on
this point is currently on the brink of assigning a fifteen-digit
identifying number to every horse, cow, llama, goat, sheep, duck, goose,
chicken, alpaca, fish, and - it is alleged, in some states even parakeet
as well. The exact definition of what constitutes a "livestock animal"
varies from state to state. Nevertheless, NAIS proposes tracking them
all, and demands that owners notify the government within twenty-four
hours of any such creature being moved on or off of a registered premise
(we'll get to what that is supposed to mean in a minute).
So, where does the rubber hit the road for - say - my seven-year-old
daughter, who likes to lead her festooned little colt down the street in
the local parade each year? In addition to the health, event
registration, and insurance papers that would ordinarily be required, we
would now have to register our premises with the government, obtain a
government identification number for this particular member of an equine
species, and let the government know immediately that we are going to
trailer him ten miles away. With terrorists breathing murderous threats
against us and other nations, with fears of a dirty bomb making it
across the border, and with everyone wondering how we are going to
protect our water and other resources, we now learn that the government
is about to turn the full weight of its resources and attention to
monitoring the minute details of the personal lives of my three
miniature horses. For some reason, I find this other than comforting.
Protecting Our Herds . . . From Whom?
Animal identification is being touted by proponents as a way of
"protecting" ourselves and our herds, but this raises the question of
what we need to be protected from. Mad Cow disease is one thing, but the
dairy people are saying that the feeding practices that give rise to
this disorder are left unaddressed, so NAIS can't be considered a
serious attempt at staving it off. The horse people are saying NAIS
would be a wonderful way of helping to retrieve a stolen animal - a
dubious proposal at best, and one that raises once again the tedious
query, "Where is that in the Constitution?" If my horse does happen to
get stolen, why would it be the task of the federal government to help
get it back? Furthermore, under NAIS, vets are supposed to report
"unauthorized animal sightings" to the government, so an antagonistic
relationship is being set up between vet and owner that could cause some
animals to go without adequate care. Obviously, NAIS proponents don't
have the animal's best interest at heart. What kind of "protection" can
they possibly be offering?
A hint is found in the fact that he USDA and the alphabet soup of
agencies with which it is vaguely associated in the implementation of
NAIS - here in Wisconsin, that would be WLIC and DATCP, for example -
are adopting the language and tactics of thuggery in getting this
program off the ground. For years, premises registration (the assignment
of a seven-digit identifying number to any location where even one
livestock animal will be kept) has been conducted on a voluntary basis,
but this spring, the transition from voluntary to mandatory is being
made. No explanation of the Constitutional or other basis for the
imposition of these unprecedented requirements is forthcoming. Only
threats of jail time, draconian fines, and revocation of pre-existing
licenses are.
Here in Wisconsin, the few milk producers who haven't yet registered
their premises are being warned that their milk licenses will be revoked
on May 1 unless they step up to the NAIS plate. (Then, once registration
has been made mandatory here, other states can be forced to follow our
example.) The State is saying there is no need for these people to
"jeopardize" their licenses and, therefore, their livelihoods. One can
only picture a cigar-chawing, broken-nosed hulk in a tipped black hat,
drawling, "We wouldn't want to see yas get yer knees bashed in - now
would we?" When the government says it is offering us "protection" for
ourselves and our herds, then, it turns out that there is just one kind
it could possibly mean. NAIS compliance provides, in the last analysis,
nothing other than protection from the government itself.
Cooling Out the Mark
This thing about premises registration also deserves a second look.
During the "voluntary" stage, NAIS has been sugar-coated and downplayed
so that people will not see the full extent of the rights they are
surrendering until it is too late. Here in Wisconsin one can register
(voluntarily or otherwise) with a simple, no-fee visit to a website, or
a call to a toll-free number - for the moment, that is. When you take a
magnifying glass to the entire NAIS program, however, far more crushing
requirements - and a disturbingly anti-American agenda as well - soon
appear.
In future years, fees for premises registration will apply, and
registration will have to be renewed annually. Then the fifteen-digit
animal identification number requirement will kick in, under the same
circumstances. The cost and paperwork that the government says it cannot
possibly take on, it is quite happy to require of its lowly subjects, it
seems. Plus, for many species of livestock, simple physical tagging with
the fifteen-digit number will not suffice. Microchipping and
radio-frequency tracking will be required, at the expense of - well, you
guessed it.
And here's the interesting thing. If you happen to be an agribusiness
producer with lots and lots of animals - the kind of situation where
diseases are more likely to arise and devastate - you magically don't
have to tag every individual animal after all. One fifteen-digit number
per two hundred head will do. So, exactly who is supposed to benefit
from NAIS, and who is not?
Many 4-H families, organic farmers, homeschoolers who raise livestock as
an income stream or curriculum outlet, family farmers, and hobbyists and
small business people of many descriptions will simply not be able to
continue owning, profiting from, and enjoying livestock animals at all,
while the agribusiness conglomerates most able to handle the brunt of
the new requirements won't have to face them in the first place. Is it
really up to the government to decide by regulatory strangulation who
can raise our food, and what businesses we can run, and which activities
we choose to enjoy? What exactly are our young people going to be
allowed to do any more? Will everything be made illegal for them, except
for viewing pornography on the Internet and ingesting dangerous drugs?
And There's More
NAIS is a bloated, secretive program that takes a great deal of research
to grasp; we have only touched upon the tip of the iceberg here. For the
government's version of what it is doing, see
http://animalid.usda.gov/nais/index.shtml.<about:blank> For some opposing
viewpoints,
see www.nonais.org and www.stopanimalid.org. The interesting thing about
NAIS is that it affects people of many political stripes, who will have
to come together despite profound differences on other issues, if this
thing is to be addressed effectively. I am not vouching for the complete
(and often Bush-bashing) viewpoints of other NAIS opponents. Still, NAIS
should be of serious concern to everyone who believes in the concept of
limited government, whether personally a livestock owner or not. Because
really, what is the government saying when it requires us to register
our property and to track and handle our animals according to their
often non-disease-related specifications, in the first place - under
threat of jailing us, fining us, and confiscating and/or destroying our
animals if we don't comply?
It is saying, when you think about it, the same thing it said in the
Schindler-Schiavo slaying, and in the confiscatory Kelo decision as
well. It is saying that it no longer respects our unalienable rights to
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. What used to be the
American government and is now only a shadow of its former self told the
Schindler family members they could only maintain the life of their dear
daughter and sister with the government's expressed permission, and the
government withheld that permission. It told the homeowners in the Kelo
case they could only occupy their own homes with the government's
permission, and the government withheld that permission. Now, through
NAIS, everyone who owns a livestock animal of any kind is being told
they can only own them with the government's permission. Does anyone see
a pattern here? When will we see it, and put a stop to it as well?
To answer our original question, then, NAIS is not a benign attempt to
curb the bird flu, or any other imagined or actual biological threat. It
is a socialistic power grab with ramifications far beyond what might be
immediately apparent. Just because an agenda is achieved through
regulation rather than legislation doesn't give it the right to remain
unconstitutional. What is the point of vigorously defending our freedoms
abroad while calmly handing them over to bureaucrats back here at home?
What do life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness mean any more, if
they are to be constantly redefined by those with the power to back up
that redefinition through the power of the sword?
© Helen Valois
Anja Heibloem-Stroud
www.pet-net.net/hausmekon/<http://www.pet-net.net/hausmekon/>
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