Will the government take away your chickens?

[GardenerGal]

There probably would be a revolution and anarchy if states started taking away the right to own livestock and poultry. It infringes on the most basic human right and need to be self-sufficient in raising food. A totalitarian state would of course want to be in control of everything, but it is not sustainable and eventually will be overthrown by "the masses." There will always be those who revolt, which is why there was a revolution in 1776 - to free the majority of colonists from the tyranny of foreign rule and taxation that would impede the "pursuit of happiness."

The trick is, to keep an eye on those who would rein in our freedom a little at a time, and by the time we realize we are trapped, it's too late ... like the frog-in-the-pot story.

 

[MustLoveHens]

All I can say is that anyone trying to take my Girls from me will meet my posse: Mr. Smith, Mr. Wessin, Mr Browning, and being an equal opportunity posse, we also have a Savage. BTW....watch out for the Savage...that one is kinda crazy....
Of course that is assuming the Evil Chicken Thieves some how manage to get past The Pack alive....

 

[newfoundland]

Does anybody seriously fear the government will take their chickens? What sort of national emergency do you envisage that would require the general public to hand over their chickens to the government? Surely, in this sort of emergency people will be encouraged to breed and care for more chickens, they may even be incentives. That's what happened in WW2 in Britain during rationing. Isn't the registering of livestock necessary to monitor the movements of animals, important for disease control? Anyone who has witnessed the devastation caused by the spread of foot and mouth disease would not question the need for registration and movement monitoring of livestock. It is the only disease control that is effective.

 

[RHRanch]

Does anybody seriously fear the government will take their chickens? What sort of national emergency do you envisage that would require the general public to hand over their chickens to the government? Surely, in this sort of emergency people will be encouraged to breed and care for more chickens, they may even be incentives. That's what happened in WW2 in Britain during rationing. Isn't the registering of livestock necessary to monitor the movements of animals, important for disease control? Anyone who has witnessed the devastation caused by the spread of foot and mouth disease would not question the need for registration and movement monitoring of livestock. It is the only disease control that is effective.

I don't fear them taking my chickens - I do think if there was a pandemic outbreak in my area, I would end up having my flocks culled, but thats not the problem in my opinion. I think it would be impractical to monitor the movement of privately owned small operation (hobby) farm livestock/poultry. Tracking the movement of large distributors for disease or contaminant outbreak makes sense, but me driving a chicken across town to Bob's house is not as likely to cause the rampant widespread distribution of either disease or contaminant to the food supply. Most local gov'ts already monitor that anyways - so making me register and report ever thing I do with my privately owned livestock is a waste of time and money and an infringement on my rights.

They could test those big commercial flocks as a means of control and most likely avoid break outs that way, also. Instead they just wait and see if a disease gets spread or if anyone gets sick. Most of us are not commercial farmers who move hundreds if not thousands of animals from state to state. Most of us are either hobbiests or are people who raise animals for food for ourselves and a small number of people. Foodborne illness outbreaks that are large scale tend to come from processing center contamination - so thats not a concern they should have about small scale producers who tend to raise and process and distribute thier animals locally - in that case no tracking is needed, its pretty obvious where the food comes from.

 

[rufus]

Remember the Kulaks? Stalin starved the Ukraine into submission. The Soviets confiscated every grain of wheat, every chicken and duck. The people that produced the food starved, and those that survived were punished for not meeting their quota. History repeats itself in a most painful manner. Never trust government. They say they will do things for you, and then they do things to you.

From each according to their abilities (that is us), to each according to their needs (government lackys).

Never trust government.

Rufus

 

[newfoundland]

History only repeats itself if we don't learn from it's lessons. You surely don't see any parallel between your own government and that of Stalin? Apart from the massive difference in ideologie, the population today is informed, mobile and has historic freedoms that the soviet population could only dream of. A freely elected government can never get away with extreme politics because their term of office depends on their ability to get it right in the eyes of the electorate. No need to fear having your chickens requisitioned.

 

[cassie]

I cannot imagine why the government would want my chickens. I guess if you want something to worry about, this is as good a reason as any. That said, some years ago there was a Newcastle disease outbreak in California and the feds, probably from a department of agriculture, were going door to door and checking and vaccinating everybody's chickens. An acquaintance of mine in Buelton had a number of feral chickens free ranging on her place. The feds came to her door and told her she had to catch and pen up her chickens so they could be inspected. She told them she could not catch the chickens. She was right. She couldn't. No one could. They then said that in this case they would just have to destroy her chickens. She handed one of the feds a shotgun and the other a 22 rifle and told them to have at it. At that point the agents decided her five chickens did not pose a threat to avian health, and they left. For some reason, I thought this was very funny at the time. Still do.

 

[rufus]

Wait and see. Do we have a well informed populace or a well indoctrinated populace? Will people surrender their freedoms for free health care, food stamps and social welfare benefits? Time will tell.

Rufus

 

[newfoundland]

I am amazed that you see socialised medicine paid for out of universal contribution as an erosion of freedom. Without the provision made by the welfare state, in times of unemployment, my children would be free to starve or die from a treatable disease. Too high a price to pay for me!

 

[krisboro]

And therein lies the problem...

Quote:

Governments love welfare. It's the easiest form of control over a populace. Has this world learned nothing from history? Apparently not.

Isn't it clear by now that politicians don't care what the people think? They no longer even try to hide their utter disdain for us. Tyranny is upon us. Globally. I feel sorry for the people that cannot recognize this for what it is.