Agriculture dept... Mail with threat

[ruffles]

Hi, many cities and towns have an animal health inspector. In Rehoboth, Mass, it is her responsibility to do barn inspections, attempt to keep track of livestock.

This applies to many states, it is a precaution, hypotheticaly what if a disease breaks out, the State and Animal Inspector can get on top ot it and make notifications.

Additionally it is a method of making sure barns, coops et all are kept minimally clean, to prevent any breakouts of diseases.

I do not consider this invasive, I am speaking as a Nurse and see the other side of Animal Health Issues .

 

[ntink17]

The premise behind all these government run programs, permits, testing, etc are to help protect us. They are all about disease prevention and tracking. Our entire world is so interconnected now, there is the potential for a huge outbreak of disease and devastation to occur.

As a animal owner, why would you want to risk this- financially, emotionally..? I'm an avid pet owner, but also have a background in biology and have worked in the animal field for years. I have seen how "minisucle" disease outbreaks at a site have wiped out a herd of animals when accidently introduced. It's really easy to have happen. Can you imagine how this would play out if the entire nation was affected?

Paperwork isn't fun to do. But I hope you take some time to think about why they are doing this. How many times have you heard about poultry disease outbreaks in China with millions of birds being slaughtered? Do you want that in our backyard? The systems we have isn't perfect, but we sure could be in a lot worse shape than we are now. Although it may feel invasive, this is to protect ourselves.

 

[Vamvakas]

Some animal shelter cops came and looked at my chickens, they said "somone reported that you abuse your animals", so they (animal cops) checked the chickens out and there were no offences at all. Who ever the person who ratted me out, he/she went on my property and came very close to the coops, that person went on my property without permission, but yet the animal patrol people wouldnt give me a name on who ratted me out... I swear this is a waste of tax payers money... Shouldnt the goverment worry more about jobs than peoples farm animals?

 

[chickened]

Some of us can actually accomplish all this without the government much to some people's dismay. It should be voluntary.

The premise behind all these government run programs, permits, testing, etc are to help protect us. They are all about disease prevention and tracking. Our entire world is so interconnected now, there is the potential for a huge outbreak of disease and devastation to occur.

As a animal owner, why would you want to risk this- financially, emotionally..? I'm an avid pet owner, but also have a background in biology and have worked in the animal field for years. I have seen how "minisucle" disease outbreaks at a site have wiped out a herd of animals when accidently introduced. It's really easy to have happen. Can you imagine how this would play out if the entire nation was affected?

Paperwork isn't fun to do. But I hope you take some time to think about why they are doing this. How many times have you heard about poultry disease outbreaks in China with millions of birds being slaughtered? Do you want that in our backyard? The systems we have isn't perfect, but we sure could be in a lot worse shape than we are now. Although it may feel invasive, this is to protect ourselves.

 

[chigger bait]

I have 4 hives of Russian Honey Bees at the moment and am getting 2 packages of Minnesota Hygienics Italian Bees in April.

I have gone with these bees because of their resitance to mites and not having to use chemicals to combat these deadly pest, which have wiped out our local bee populations several years ago.

All bee new hives of bees have to be checked out by a State Bee Inspector for any health problems.

This also puts you on a list if any one is using pesticides in your area, the beekeeper can shut his bees up for that day and not lose them.

This is fine and good if a farmer informs the state people if he is going to spray a field of Alfalfa for weevils in full blooms, but it is a dice throw if some irresponsible home owner sprays an apple tree in full blooms and fails to let you know.

Also the state can keep you abreast of any diseases problems that flair up in your community.

 

[ntink17]

Some of us can actually accomplish all this without the government much to some people's dismay. It should be voluntary.

Some people can, for sure. But I am making an educated guess that many poultry owners (or any other animal, not specific to chickens) do not have a 100% firm grasp on all the ins and outs of many diseases, how they spread, life cycles of hosts which case infections, etc. Just look at the multitude of times you see questions come up time and time again on this forum about one little topic, say worming for example. All it takes is a small outbreak, which becomes airborn or is transfered on someones shoes to another farm, etc etc. And you have the possibility for a problem. Unfortunately what one person does at their farm or home has the possibility to affect others. There is no way to prevent that. It's the one constant about nature, we aren't in control. All we can do is try our best to prevent it. For me personally, I'd rather we at least try to protect ourselves. But maybe I am weird.

 

[jaj121159]

The results are confidential same as the regular census. The results are published on a county-wide basis, not on a farm by farm basis. I'm a planner and zoning administrator and we use the results regularly for planning and zoning purposes. The regular ag census is done every five years in years ending in a "2" or a "7". If you file farm tax returns, you could possibly get the questionnaire. These numbers are used to determine farmland preservation, residential densities, and even business plans for feed stores and chicken processing businesses. I would encourage you to fill out and return the form.

 

[Cavry]

Sell 1/2 your stock to a good friend. Fill out the form and mail. Then buy your stock back.

 

[Cavry]

Then why would it need a name and specific address on it? Why wouldn't just a zip code do as well?

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

And if no one returns the form, and the powers that be decide that there are no farmers in the area, so agriculture zoning and tax laws and environmental considerations don't have a place in that area...well, that'll be a fine kettle of fish, won't it?

If we-as-animal raisers don't stay visible, we won't stay around.

that's not true, the township I live in decides on farm land or not, they go check to see if you are farming or not. my form go's in that special file too. they all ready know what i have, I live in WI we have NAIS, everything is all ready reported, I'm not doing it for some other noisy lazy agency.