HP: APRIL 2006 ARABIAN HORSE ISSUE

I am devastated on what the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) is going to do to small farmers. The USDA was transferred to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) which is under the Patriot Act in 2003. One of their goals is the registration of ALL farm animals (including chickens and non-food animals such as horses) in a centralized government database. NAIS is still trying to figure out how to keep your private information secure. The system is being implemented far too broadly. This program will require a microchip or Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) tag for each animal at the expense of the owner, and a premises ID for every farm which will be linked to a Global Positioning System record (see link for USDA website: www.usda.gov/nais/).

Premises ID (your property), movement restrictions (owners must report all off premises movement, births and slaughter etc. to the animal records repository), annual census forms, fees and red tape will jeopardize our freedoms and reduce or eliminate the small farmer. Once you volunteer for ID premises you give NAIS the right to violate your Freedoms, come onto your property and confiscate and destroy your healthy animals without due process or legal appeal. There are no checks and balances. NAIS violates the Fourth Amendment of our Constitution. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. Remember many fought for our freedoms. I refer to the 2nd paragraph of the Declaration of Independence- All men are created equal. They are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

As a small farmer I have know much happiness. From my understanding NAIS target date for “mandatory premises ID” is Jan. 2008, and Jan. 2009 target date for “mandatory animal identification”. Many states are registering you voluntarily without your knowledge by scrapie voluntary programs, show records, or gathering information from where you buy feed or other supplies (catalogs).

NAIS has been backed by large corporate farms. They won’t be required to ID each of their animals. They will be given lot numbers, big favoritism for corporate farms. So the small family farms, homesteaders, 4H, FFA, hobby farmers, and horse owners will bear the burden of the costs. While large corporations get by with little costs. NAIS states it is for safety of our food. The bottom line is making money exporting American meat. While our families choice of meats will be imported meat from who knows where. The start up cost for the first year will be thirty-three billion dollars! Our hard earn tax dollars at work!

I ask you to think about it. If large corporations want NAIS so they can have the stamp of approval to export, let them have it. Leave the small farmer out of it. NAIS will increase the cost of raising food, restrict our personal freedoms, increase the size and reach of the government and ultimately increase taxes and the cost of food to consumers. Please familiarize yourselves with NAIS and ask your government officials to revise this plan. Please stop ID premises registration and animal ID. NoNAIS.org