SPPA participates in working group to set standards
By Christine Heinrichs, SPPA Publicity Director
The United States Department of Agriculture is setting up a system to track all agricultural animals, including poultry. The Society for the Preservation of Poultry Antiquities sent a representative to its September Poultry Working Group meeting to express the concerns and needs of small flock owners.
SPPA President Craig Russell attended the September 28 meeting at Animal and Plant Health inspection Service Headquarters in Riverdale, Md.
I was amazed at how well we are known,” he said. Many people commented that they had read about us.
The National Animal Identification System will identify animals as individuals or as groups for purposes of tracking disease. The goal is to be able to trace an animal's path within 48 hours if it turns out to be sick.
While foreign diseases prompted this proposal, the system would be used in any outbreak.
Full information is available on the APHIS Web site.
The recent Mad Cow Disease episode has sensitized the government to the issue.
Donnis Headley will act as SPPA’s representative on this issue. Interested SPPA members and others are encouraged to contact her with their views and participate in other working group meetings to be held nationwide. Telephone her at 412-384-0962, e-mail at donnisheadley1@comcast.net, or send printed statements to 2886 Pangburn Hollow Rd., Monongahela, PA 15063.
NAIS will be voluntary while it is being developed, first identifying premises of origin and then individuals. It will move toward becoming mandatory as its various aspects are tested and refined.
Flocks can be identified as groups, provided that identification allows them to be traced within 48 hours if one of the group turns up sick.
Mrs. Headley advises small flock owners to get aerial photos of their facilities to document their distance from commercial close-confinement operations. Maintain as much documentation of the rarity of the breed and the intrinsic and monetary value of the flock as possible.
"The SPPA might do well to join other organizations of fanciers and rare-breed owners to hire a lawyer," she said. "We may need a big, strong, expensive legal firm."
Mr. Russell was pleased with the open communication among industry, government, veterinary and small-flock representatives, but emphasized the need for small flock owners to organize.
"The SPPA should take the lead in protecting the interests of preservationists, fanciers and small flock owners in general," he said.
High-density commercial poultry operations are more at risk for any pathogen. Their interests are not necessarily the same as those of small flock owners.
"We need to educate small flock owners and the general community about poultry diseases and prevention," he said. "Poultry diseases need to be addressed with more science and less emotion."
Lack of information about poultry diseases can derail good decision-making. Preconceived notions about poultry diseases are often not supported by verifiable facts.
For example, East Coast livestock markets continue to be monitored, as they have been for nearly 20 years, for Avian Influenza virus. Although testing has not identified AI there, some regulators continue to insist that these markets must be the reservoir for the virus that surfaces at live poultry markets in Eastern cities.
To join SPPA and add your strength to its numbers, send $12.50 for a year's membership to Glenn Drowns, 1878 230th St., Calamus, IA 52729.
