A meeting to adopt the proposed rules for the National Animal Identification System in Texas was held in Austin yesterday. For the first time in 10 years the Texas animal Health Commission, who chaired the meeting, moved the location to a hotel ballroom. "we normally hold our meetings in a room that can hold about 10 people" said chairman Richard Traylor. They received about 700 write-in comments before the Feb 6th deadline which led them to believe there would be a big turnout.
Several hundred people attended the meeting, filling not only all the chairs but also the walls and hallways. The proposed rules are clearly spelled out in this document,
http://www.tahc.state.tx.us/animal_id/2 ... tSheet.pdf,
so I won't try to explain it again here.
About 100 people provided input to the commissioners. As I was speaking a big clock was counting down my 3 minute allotment. The energy in the room was high and the content of most of the speakers was very serious and their messages straight from the heart. The public input session started at 10:00am and finished at 4:00pm.
Now it was the commissioners time to talk. There was a quick vote taken and 100 % of the commissioners agreed to postpone the decision to implement the proposed Texas NAIS until the next meeting. They said they had no idea there was this much opposition to the system and needed some additional time to think about our input.
They were clear to add that NAIS is not dead and urged us to write our elected officials here in Texas as well as those in Washington. Don't forget to include Rick Perry.
Please write your legislators if you oppose this new form of government intrusion and the associated new taxes. If you have questions, please pm me or ask away.
Tony M