USDA scraps National Animal Identification

Great news from Judith McGeary of Texas Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance! The U.S. Department of Agriculture is dropping its plans for national animal identification. This plan would have forced owners of even one horse, chicken, or other farm animal to have chips implanted in every animal and to notify an authority every time the animal was moved off their property—for instance, for a trail ride, or if an animal temporarily got loose. By way of the computer chip, the authorities would know if the animal had left its property, and legal action could have been taken against the owner. Thankfully for small ranchers and rural animal owners, this plan has been scrapped.

Judith says, “Thank you to the thousands of people who called, wrote, organized meetings, and more. We succeeded in making our voices heard.” USDA will now work on requirements that apply only to animals moved in interstate commerce. For more details, see:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/animal_health/content/printable_version/faq_traceability.pdf

As for the future, Judith notes, “We must be involved and vocal, so that agribusiness does not develop yet another high-tech, big-industry boondoggle. We must be active at the state level to ensure that the state agencies do not implement unnecessary and burdensome rules.”

Thanks to Judith and her organization and to everyone who worked against this plan that would have been so intrusive and legally harsh for rural animal owners.

Help stop National Animal Identification by voting at change.org

Below is a message from the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance about bringing the opposition to the National Animal Identification System to the attention of the incoming administration. When I checked earlier today, the Stop NAIS issue had moved up a spot in the issues to be considered. If you have even just a few animals, and you don't want to have to tag them and enter them in a registry to even take them to a neighbor's, on a trail ride, etc., please consider registering at Change.org and VOTING for this issue to be considered. Below is Judith's message:

"Stop NAIS" Idea Still In the Running at Change.OrgBut it needs more votes to win!

Good news: "Protect Our Food Supply - Stop NAIS!" is currently ranked #17 on Change.org, out of the almost 90 ideas that made it to the second round, and from over 7,000 original submissions

Bad news: Only the top 10 entries in the Change.org contest "win" and have their ideas presented at the National Press Club on January 16th and advocacy campaigns organized to promote them.

Good news: The competition is not over yet! You can still vote at http://www.change.org/ideas/view/stop_nais

All the voting totals were re-set to zero for the second round, so even if you voted for it in the first round, you can now go vote again. The second round of voting will run until 5 pm EST on Thursday, January 15.

Step 1: If you are not already signed up for the site, register at: https://www.change.org/admin/sign_up
Step 2: Go to http://www.change.org/ideas/view/stop_nais Be sure to click the box labeled "Vote!" to the left of "Protect Our Food Supply -- Stop NAIS!" Simply leaving a comment does not count as a vote. After you click the Vote box, it will change color and show "Voted." If it does not do that, shift your mouse a bit and click again, because it sometimes take several tries.
Step 3: Email all your friends, and ask them to vote also.

Step 4 (optional): The most important thing is the number of votes that the idea receives. If you want to leave a comment after you have voted, think in terms of what will encourage other people to vote to stop NAIS. Keep your comment short and clear.

Remember that all of the ideas are competing against each other for one of the Top 10 slots!
This is a very quick, easy way to help us raise awareness about NAIS and potentially get significant new resources for this fight. Please go to http://www.change.org/ideas/view/stop_nais and vote now!
Please Support Our Work!
Become a new member or give an additional donation at http://farmandranchfreedom.org/content/join-farfa
Working together, we can make our voices heard.

Sincerely,
Judith McGearyFarm and Ranch Freedom Alliance
www.FarmAndRanchFreedom.org
Phone: 512-243-9404
Toll-free: 866-687-6452