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I had heard about NAIS last summer but forgotten about it... what they were proposing was crazy, it would never pass, right? They've apparently backed off according to one article I saw, but NAIS (National Animal Identification System) is still on the table and was scheduled to become manditory as of 2009 I believe. In it, every single horse, cow, chicken, goat, sheep, mule, duck, turkey, llama, alpaca, or any other livestock would be injected with a microchip bearing a unique identifying number, and you would have to give them all your personal data as well as an exact GPS coordinate for your homestead so they could use a satellite to track your animals' comings and goings. Want to ride your horse down the road? If it leaves your property, you would be legally required to report that to the government. Want to sell your extra lambs? Gotta report that and get 'em chipped first. Want to get some chicks to add to your free range flock? Gotta register them as a separate flock and they have to be kept separated in another pen. Your animal dies? Gotta report it to the feds within 48 hours or you face stiff fines. I've also heard stories from states where this is already manditory that rabbits and chinchillas are also chipped. Talk about "number of the beast." If you are enrolled in the voluntary scrapie program, your data has already been entered into the NAIS program -- all that's missing is the microchip and the GPS coordinates. And who pays for this program? Why you do, of course! Your tax dollars pay for the whole thing, and then when it's time to get the chips and keep the records, they charge you for the privilige again. Who's exempt from the program? Animals that were born on your land and who will never leave it... oh, and of course Big Ag who are pushing the USDA to make the program manditory. All they have to do is give their location and approximate number of animals, no individual animal chipping required. Costs them almost nothing... costs the small farm a lot. I wonder what they're trying to achieve here...? I suppose I had better close for now as I tend to get rather heated about this topic. If you're interested in opposing NAIS, please visit the following sites: |
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