Alert to Horse Owners And/Or Small Farm Owners!

In case some horse owners and/or small farm owners aren't yet aware of it, there is a push on to require all of us to register all of are livestock (and I don't consider horses as livestock for the simple reason that they are not food animals in any way, shape or form, and are certainly considered by most horse owners as personal property) with the National Animal Identification System (NAIS). This will require us to have I.D. cards for all of our animals, will lead to micro chipping so our animals can be tracked (how would you like to be on a trail ride knowing that you can be tracked wherever you are at?) including our horses, and without one, we will not be able to ride off our own property, take our horses to horse shows or other events, etc. Of course, this all costs money too, so get out your wallet!
This program was originally proposed as a way that the big livestock breeders could trace the animals that go into the food chain in case of an outbreak of disease so it could be taken care of sooner-rather-then-later. Now however, the small farms that raise a limited number of food producing animals (or evening people who raise animals for their own personal consumption) have gotten caught up in the net, and also us horse owners just because it's a way to control us and harvest more money from us in an already sagging economy. Big Brother just keeps reaching into our pockets time and time again, while continuing to take away our freedoms.

Below, I've compiled several websites that explain the issue more fully. If we act now, we may still be able to stop this from happening to the degree to which the proponents of the NAIS will take it if given half a chance:

http://www.rddavis.org/equitation/freedom-vs-id.html

http://press.xtvworld.com/article10189.html

http://www.thegaitedhorse.com/nais.htm

http://www.horsegroomingsupplies.com/horse-forums/usda-plans-use-breed-registries-implement-nais-178573.html

These folks are actually proponents of the NAIS, but I've included it because it is always good I feel to hear both sides of any issue so you can make more educated decisions:
http://www.equinespeciesworkinggroup.com/

http://www.ruralheritage.com/stop_nais/horses.htm

The links I've supplied will get you started on researching NAIS and will help you begin making decisions on how you feel about this issue. For more info, just Google "nais horses" and alot more info will come up.