Registration protest Nancy Falster in Austin
Posted on 02/18/2006 7:24:23 AM PST by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin
Registration protest Nancy Falster in Austin
They yelled, they cursed and they cried, and in the end, the people who testified Thursday persuaded state commission members to delay a requirement that livestock owners register their animals with the government. The Texas Animal Health Commission, acting on a bill passed by the Legislature, was going to require livestock owners to register their "premises," a rule that would include listing the kinds of animals they have, though not the number. The proposal is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's plan to tag animals so they can be tracked to prevent the rapid spread of disease. The plan is called the National Animal Identification System.
The commission was going to require livestock owners to pay a $20 registration fee every two years beginning July 1, with penalties including a fine up to $1,000 for noncompliance. People who own only one animal — including a chicken, a horse, a cow, a goat or a pig — would be required to register. The commission delayed the decision until its next meeting May 4. "I'll tell you this; I'm really not for this thing," said Jerry Windham, a member of the commission. "I just want to see us delay this decision. . . . I may get fired from this job for saying this," he said.
Dozens of people, including Nancy Falster of Wood County, who raises miniature Herefords, spoke to the commission Thursday at a public hearing that lasted about four hours. Falster, who dressed in prison stripes to protest the plan, said registration would violate her private property rights. "I will not comply," she said.
A few representatives of industry groups, including the Texas Farm Bureau, testified they supported the registration. Many people said the registration fee would be an unfair tax. They worried that the tax would go up and put small livestock owners out of business. "Texas does not need Big Brother watching over us; this is America, not Soviet Russia," said Kim Alexander, a Garfield farmer. He added that he just wanted to be left alone to raise his own animals. Chicken owner John Dromgoole, who owns the Natural Gardener Nursery in Austin and hosts a long-running radio show about organic gardening, yelled at commission members that they were taking away his liberty, getting a standing ovation from a few members of the audience. People also testified that they had not been aware of the plan until recently. A spokesman for the Texas Thoroughbred Association said half his members didn't even have e-mail.
The Texas Animal Health Commission would not require people to individually tag their animals yet, said Bob Hillman, the executive director of the commission. The tags that have been discussed include radio frequency ear tags for cattle, implants for horses and leg bands and ear notches for smaller animals. The U.S. Department of Agriculture does not have plans yet for how different kinds of animals would be marked, Hillman said.
Tagging of all livestock may not become mandatory until 2009, he said. Hillman added that people who complained that those who owned small numbers of livestock were not responsible for the spread of animal diseases were wrong. Three of the five cases in Texas of brucellosis, a bacterial infection that cows carry, came from herds of fewer than 30 cattle, he said. The one case of mad cow disease in Texas, which happened last year, also did not come from a large herd, Hillman said. So far people have registered 7,000 premises voluntarily out of an estimated 200,000 livestock owners in Texas, he said.
People may send their comments to the animal commission at comments@tahc.state.tx.us.
The spread of contagion through livestock will not be stopped by registration of these animals. Migratory birds are carrying bird flu everywhere and I'd like to see the government register them. Also, migratory birds from Latin America (which will NOT be able to stop bird flu once it starts) will carry bird flu to the U.S. as they migrate north during the Spring and Summer.
This is tantamount to another useless tax allowing the State of Texas to collect money and provide absolutely no useful service for funds collected. We plan to kill our chickens when and if bird flu hits the U.S. and we don't need the government to tell us to do it or charge us a fee until we do. Government is out of control.
Come on sheeple! Register your possessions with the central bureau so they can decide how best to utilize your assets for the good of the state.
They are attempting to implement the same thing in Missouri, and the rest of the nation.
Next step is the pet registry.
This is typical of unelected bureaucrats imposing rules and taxation on the people without due process. All in the name of the great protection scam.
Thank you Texas! Yeeee Haaawww! Your example hopefully will make other bureaucracies slink away. Just saw this on some goat lists. I, in MO, will NOT comply and don't even fill out the surveys. We have been diligent in writing legislators and reps.
About disease, why not tag flies and canada geese instead!!! That way when my stock comes down with pink eye we can track the fly down that started it and try it in federal court for hate crimes!!!!!
Parasites are a bigger problem in virtually any livestock. Why not spend their money on research on better wormers!?
We do a LOT of business with 'border crossers', they always pay cash, and clean up after themselves. Its been a great market for us. I don't need the USDA taking control of my pastures. Thanx for the post.
All in the name of the great protection scam.
Absolutely! This is why I never have been a supporter of Homeland Security or the Patriot Act! Let us be citizens, watchful and diligent.
I will NOT put tags in my pretty dairy ladies ears. Goats are waaaay to orally fixated. Tattooing with a registry should be enough. They are wanting us to let the govt know before we go to a show. Think of the horse and cattle people who travel the circuit and are on the road constantly.
Just one more fee for the land owner. Personally I think its a ploy to get around eminent domain. People will become fed up with regs and sell out to developers.
Even hay is reuired to be registered now.
PING
When the only protein source is the local supermarket, and no man rich or poor, free or bond, can buy or sell save he that has the Mark, then they will be in control...
Texas and the US cannot control the illegal aliens and until they can take care of this problem (which is more threatening to our health, saftey, etc. than animals) they have no business even thinking about the animals owned by legal citizens of this state and nation. They wont really pass this will they? Incomprehensible.
We plan to kill our chickens when and if bird flu hits the U.S
I really don't think its going to happen. I'm still waiting for the swine flu!
Sounds like a great sunday dinner to me! Whats your favorite coating?
Couldn't be a total loss, sell the feathers on ebay to the fly-tyers and crafts people!
Did anyone hear about this?
Don't worry guys we will get our chickens from China.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1570648/posts
Personal in-the-house pets pose the greatest risks to human health. They carry fleas and other diseases which are a danger to people. Yet, they knew better than to start with a registration of such animals -- that would encite immediate revolution.
The incompetent government can force registration of animals supposedly, but cannot track illegal aliens. Ha ha hahahbwahahahaaaa. The illegals are making money for the big boys, so who cares how much damage, death, disease and immorality they bring in/cause. However, peoples animals...the government is not making much money off of small lots of animals -- TAX IT.
Whoops. Let's incite proper spelling.
IIRC (and I probably don't!) There is a UN mandate for countries to do this. In any event the reason all states have similar plans in the pipe is a mandate from on high.
Bush's 2000 Farm Bill
Considering USDA is under HUD and HUD is deep into the Energy Commission I'm also thinking that this is a way that they can take your property if oil/gasses/minerals are found on it. For the Good of the People. There goes your mineral rights checks.
I wouldn't be surprised. Who knows, maybe Chavez will be running things up here anyway. He's getting ready.
I feel soooooo much better...
Muleteam1
We are in an era were we need traceability against live stocks. We are under threat of terrorism, and we need to track down where the bio terrorism is coming from, to counter the spread early as possible to save lives. There also have been studies in the past spreading disease through live stocks by certain countries. Terrorists have put effort in developing new techniques of terrorism. The attack of 911 was one of it, using suicide bombers on jumbo jets. There are also risks they will engage in bio terrorism using live stocks, spreading deadly disease by secretly injecting viruses into live stocks that will be consumed by people. Traceability of live stocks would not stop deaths (unless each live stocks are tested for disease before consumption), but the ID tags for each live stocks will allow fast reaction to contain the disease before it spreads far out. It will be easier for analysis, and profiling for bio-terrorism where the terrorist may have been within the country. We can no longer accept a pre-911 mentality of the Department of Agriculture, farmers and lobbyists. Our people, and our country is fighting against terrorism and multiple threats which we will not always be able to expect. We will have to sacrifice something for our safety against such terrorism using livestocks to spread disease that may genocide many innocent Americans.
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