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Livestock Owners Urged to Register Premises Now
VERONA, WI (October 24, 2005) It’s time. The Wisconsin Premises Registration Act, which is effective November 1, 2005, requires all those who keep, house, or co-mingle livestock to register their premises. This is an important deadline for livestock owners statewide.
“Livestock,” as defined by the Wisconsin Premises Registration Act rules, includes aquaculture, bovine (bison, cattle), camelids (llamas, alpacas), cervidea (deer, elk, moose, caribou, reindeer and the subfamily musk deer), equine (horses, donkeys, mules), goats, captive game birds (pheasants, quail, wild turkeys, migratory wildfowl, pigeons, and exotic birds), poultry (chickens, turkeys, geese, ducks, guinea fowl), ratites (rheas, ostriches, emu, cassowary, kiwi), sheep, and swine.
Premises registration is the first of three major steps to implement the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) in Wisconsin. The NAIS will help protect animal agriculture by providing livestock owners and animal health officials the infrastructure to reduce the financial and social impacts of a potential animal disease outbreak.
WLIC is a non-profit livestock organization serving as the agent of the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) to implement a new state law which requires all premises where livestock are housed to be registered effective November 1, 2005.
“Premises registration applies to all livestock owners, not just commercial farms. Any person housing livestock for hobby purposes is also included, regardless of the number of animals,” says Robert Fourdraine, WLIC’s Chief Operating Officer, “Signup is fast and simple.”
There are several ways to register premises at no cost: register online at www.wiid.org or, after November 1 at www.datcp.state.wi.us/premises/ and click on the link for Premises Registration; registrants without computer access may call WLIC at 1-888-808-1910 to request a form; a premises may also be registered through a WLIC agent who, with permission, registers on an applicant’s behalf (for a list of WLIC agents visit www.wiid.org); or one may visit a county Farm Service Agency (FSA) office for on-line registration or to pick up a paper form.
There is a compliance window for registrations. Premises not currently licensed by DATCP are required to register by January 1, 2006. Those premises currently licensed by the Department must register as part of the annual license renewal date. After the compliance windows have closed, penalties for violations are set by statute and are equivalent to other animal health and food safety laws.
“We registered our premises because we believe it is critical to achieve 48-hour trace back capability to minimize the economic impact in the event of an animal disease outbreak. This capability protects the Wisconsin herd as well as our livestock industry,” says Deb Reinhart, dairy farmer and WLIC board chair.
WLIC and its partner organizations have taken an active role in aiding voluntary premises registration. The WLIC is a multi-species effort led by Wisconsin’s livestock and industry organizations in cooperation with DATCP, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the University of Wisconsin-Extension.
http://www.wiid.org/index.php?action=newsnew_release_text&int_release_id=46