Got animal?

My wife and I got this in the email today from a friend. We thought it had to be a hoax this seems so rediculous. But, check it out.....

ATTENTION LIVESTOCK OWNERS
and FRESH FOOD CONSUMERS
DO YOU PURCHASE LOCALLY GROWN EGGS, MEAT OR MILK OR DO YOU GROW YOUR OWN?
Do you know that the USDA plans to make every owner of even one horse, cow,
pig,
goat, sheep, chicken, turkey, pigeon, llama, alpaca register in a government
database
and subject their property and animals to Federal and State surveillance?
It's called the
National Animal Identification System (NAIS) and under the present USDA
plan, it will be
mandatory by January 1, 2008. There is also an equivalent in every state.
Most
states are implementing their plans now on a voluntary basis but all will
have to abide by
the mandatory requirements.

PENALTIES for non-compliance of up to $1,000 per day. You might not
register, but if you go to the
vet with your animal (or have them come to your farm), and it doesn't have
the proper identification,
the vet will have to report you by law. This is a violation of the 1st, 4th,
5th and 14th Amendments of our
Constitution. These penalties are in addition to the annual fees that every
Premise ID will require.
The fees and  paperwork involved with NAIS will drive small farmers out of
business, destroy the Buy Local
movement and prevent us from raising our own food without government
interference.
There are NO EXEPTIONS! Under NAIS you will be required to register, tag and
report your animals
even if you just have a single chicken for eggs.

EVERY OWNER MUST OBTAIN a 7-digit USDA ID number keyed to Global Positioning
System
satellite surveillance coordinates, with all the property and owner's
information stored in a USDA
database. There is no guarantee to the confidentiality. Do you accept this
invasion of your privacy?

EVERY ANIMAL MUST BE TAGGED with an approved tag (they suggest a Radio
Frequency tag or
chip), readable at a distance, with a 15-digit USDA ID number. All costs
associated with labeling
animals are the responsibility of the owner. Big Agri-Corps get to use one
ID for 10,000 or more
animals. Small farmers and homesteaders will be forced to track every single
animal. Is that fair?

OWNERs MUST REPORT, within 24 hours, every sale or purchase of an animal,
every death or
slaughter, every missing animal, every placement or loss of an ID tag, and
every time an animal leaves
or returns to the owner's property. That includes taking your animal to the
vet, going on a trail ride with
your horse, going to a 4-H show, when your goat gets out of its fence, when
one of your chickens gets
killed by a fox or hawk, etc. Can you imagine filing hundreds of 'event'
reports per year?

Get the facts at http://NoNAIS.org and educate yourself by reading the
USDA's "Draft
Program Standards" and "Draft Strategic Plan" at
http://www.animalid.aphis.usda.gov
on the web. You will see that this plan was developed by the livestock
"Industry" and
RFID tag equipment companies . Call and write your representatives and ask
them to
protect you by not making this program mandatory. Make your opposition
known!

I know the last link doesn't work.....hmmm, curious.
Anyway, if this follows the usual trend what may wind up happening is this bullshit regulation will fall somewhere in the middle, not so extreme. "Okay, so not all animals we listed, but most of them. Especially the ones you little farmers are raising." Organic foods and large scale commercial food is already getting more expensive. However, the local homegrown foods and small scale wholesome/natural/organics will become more and more unaffordable, or even completely. All but the large and profitting industry will suffer and/or go extinct.
I am not into fear mongering junk and "spreading the word" like some crusader, but this we may want to watch. Unless, of course, all of this does turn out to be complete bunk. So, if someone learns of something more please share. I will.