Saturday, February 28, 2009

BE AWARE! NAIS IS COMING.....

That's right and you probably won't hear anything about it until it's implemented and you'll wonder how the heck that happened! You won't know what hit ya or when it happened.

NAIS is the National Animal Identification System to be imposed by the federal government on individual property owners and horse owners whether you own one pleasure horse for trail riding or a herd of them you've rescued. If you want to take your horse for a ride off your place and "commingle" with other animals you will have to report every time you do it. I scoffed at the idea at first. I said it wouldn't mean me! But alas, it means EVERYONE with any type of animal listed and horses are on the list.

There are groups trying to get pleasure horse, show horses etc off the list, or at the least designated in a different category from "livestock" or "used for human consumption". But, why would the government allow that? They want the property ID to be implemented.

I'm not going to get long winded on this, I could. It has been one subject that has been infuriating and frustrating to me every time I read something about it the past year. If you want to be updated just put NAIS in your search engine and you'll be able to research the topic. This is one "voluntary" amendment that will touch everyone who owns a horse or horses.

Keep in mind, the voluntary status for those of us who live in states that say right now it's voluntary will be short term.

This is only one article I gathered recently from one of my horse email groups, but the author did a good job of getting the information together.

http://arkansasanimalproducers.8k.com/whats_new_55.html

Horse owners are being encouraged to write their legislators if they are opposed to this system. Unfortunately, from what I've read, some of the larger horse organizations are embracing NAIS which I find totally unacceptable.

My own state governor has said it's a good program and much needed for the "safety" of our livestock food system. Where does that put horses?

In my opinion this is one of the worst systems the USDA has ever tried to implement without even being prepared for what will come or even bothering to prepare the public for it's implications, especially for horse owners. One more disastrous "change" coming our way, being slid in under the radar.

Be AWARE!!!! Know how it will affect you. It is coming.....

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