Reprint courtesy of Austin American-Statesman
Decision on animal registration delayedPublic outcry swayed state commission's decision.
The public so disliked the idea of requiring owners to register their animals with the government that a state commission has delayed any decision on the plan until 2007. "We realized there was a lot of adversity out there," said Jerry Windham, a Texas Animal Health Commission board member. The commission, acting on a bill passed by the Legislature, was going to require livestock owners to register their "premises," which would include listing the kinds of animals they have, though not the number. The proposal is part of a U.S. Department of Agriculture plan to tag animals so they can be tracked to prevent the rapid spread of disease. Board members delayed their decision at a February meeting and planned to take it up again in May. They decided this week to postpone it again until this winter or next spring. Hundreds attended the board's February meeting to protest the idea, and the commission received 600 to 700 letters from the public, Windham said. Even some legislators who originally supported the bill changed their minds, he said. "There were some representatives and senators not very pleased with the issue when they found out what it was, even though they had voted to pass it," Windham said. The USDA announced Thursday that it wanted 100 percent compliance on animal premise registration by 2009. Compliance would be voluntary, said Dore Mobley, a spokeswoman for the agency's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The state commission was going to require livestock owners to pay a $20 registration fee every two years beginning July 1, with penalties up to $1,000 for noncompliance. People who owned even only one animal — including a chicken, a horse, a cow, a goat or a pig — would have been required to register. cosborn@statesman.com; 445-3871
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