Reprint courtesy of San Marcos Daily Record Some owners say animal ID push has got their goat But they will, and they can blame mad cow disease, bird flu and the like for the inconvenience and expense. Citing the need for quick response to outbreaks of disease, state and federal authorities are ushering in a program that will eventually call for the registration, via electronic tagging, of every cow, horse, donkey, sheep, goat, hog, chicken, turkey, duck and goose - just to name a few. The National Animal Identification System (NAIS) is a project of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and state animal health agencies. In Texas, the deadline for compliance with the first part of the program, Premises Identification, is July 6.
Texas' participation in the program was enabled by HB 1361, passed by the Legislature in its last regular session. The Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC), the agency charged with developing and implementing the system, will meet March 23, at which time it may adopt proposed regulations. Both the program and the way it is being implemented anger some local residents, who say they don't need the expense and don't appreciate the “Big Brother” aspect of having government intrude into their barnyard. “It's an Orwellian concept,” said local goat keeper Joe Dowling. “If you own one chicken, one horse, one cow, one goat it's considered livestock and you're going to have to register your residence or farm as a livestock premise. “That is a precursor to having to register every animal,” he continued, referring to the Animal Identification portion of NAIS, yet to be scheduled or implemented in Texas. “Say you're a 70-year-old woman who lives on an acre with five or six chickens. Every time you kill one you will have to notify these people. Every time one is born you're going to have to get it tagged.” Dowling, who keeps 15 goats, and Marita Wittkopp, whose goat herd number about 125, also note that under the animal identification portion of the NAIS, individuals would have to pay for getting each individual animal registered; though large-scale producers would be able to identify animals by lot, provided the animals are managed and held as a group before being brought to market. “It's a big business thing to push all the small operators out,” said Wittkopp. “Pretty soon it's going to put everybody out of business but big business.” In addition to residences or properties where livestock is kept, veterinarians' clinics, livestock markets or exhibitions and other sites would also have to be registered as premises. All would be described by Global Positioning System coordinates. Once assigned, the premise ID would remain the same for that property, regardless of owner or lessee. Information about specific premises would be kept confidential, but would allow authorities to “map out” emergency responses. The TAHC did not return phone calls Tuesday but materials at their web site indicate that Texas has more than 200,000 premises that would have to be registered. About 7,500 Texas sites had already been registered as of Feb. 28. The TAHC heard public input on Premise ID on Feb. 28, and said they would meet again in Austin in May after further consideration. However, that meeting has now been moved up and will be held March 23 at 8 a.m. at the Marriott North Hotel, 2600 La Frontera Blvd., in Round Rock. “Changing the location from Austin to Round Rock and from 10 a.m. to 8 a.m. makes it all that more difficult for small ranchers to make it,” Dowling said. “It means if you're from out of town you've got to come in the night before.” Wittkopp said she was at the Feb. 28 meeting and will be there on March 23. “People are very upset,” she said, about what she deemed a “socialist” concept. “It's not a good idea. They don't have the manpower to enforce it and they don't have the money. It kind of slid through the Legislature and it's got people up in arms.”
|
||||
![[State Site.]](texas_online_logo_small.gif){kind=logo}