Premise Identification
For those who are asking us about the new premise ID, Horse ID and transport regulations we have contaced Bill desBarres and he tells us they are waiting to get further clarification form the government. He says he was told the fifteen thousand dollar fines that were mentioned will not be enforced at this time. We will post any new news about this as soon as we receive it. If you have any questions please feel free to post a comment and we will do our best to get you the answers.
January 19th, 2009 Lynn 2 comments
Lynn,
People can contact Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development’s Ag-Info Centre for clarification on Premise ID, the Livestock Identification and Commerce Act, and the Animal Act as they pertain to horses. The operative word for horse owners is just relax and enjoy their horses.
Provincial Government arm creates shock and upset for unsuspecting horse owners! First of all, what happened to information ‘protocol’? Possibly gather, edit, print, announce and distribute and on the SAME day! So what DID happen?
Misinformation has been passed along with no hard material to
back it up creating growing mistruths and panic as the word travelled. This is the manner in which I received it and my phone has been ringing off the hook! So at my high tech info highway I spent the better part of a day researching and have in hand the new Animal Health Act (AHA) and the Premise
Identification application.
The new Regulations may be somewhat vague for the average backyard horse layperson and the Premise Identification application is geared mostly toward cattle producers, leaving the typical horse owner wondering if he/she need apply! After exhaustive rereading, I am certain that I am right and confirmed my conclusions with a Canadian Food Inspections Agency (CFIA) Vet this morning. Although that individual
admitted that there is still some confusion and could foresee issues and had questions, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will be clarifying them soon. There is no doubt in my mind that the Ministry did a very poor job notifying the public and in a timely manner too.
I cannot help but wonder why Alberta is standing alone on this and why it was not the CFIA that developed and controlled a Federal regulation governing the movement of all livestock in the Nation. Mmmmmm, the leader of the pack does not
necessarily win the race, comes to mind. Even though the AHA is in effect, there seems to be no known body to enforce it and at this time, the new Regulations have not even been proclaimed’!
Ever increasing government control without our input has become routine in our stressful lives and in this case the only benefit that I can realize is the retirement of the
‘manifest’. I understand that it is still required for the movement of sale or slaughter horses though. So what does one do? I for one will just humbly straggle along and send my application in today.
Carolyn