For and Against a National Animal Identification System in the U.S - Essay Example

For and against a national animal identification system in the U.S Animal identification is the purpose of the national animal identification systems (NAIS). Animals that are identified are the ones that enter the commercial world or animals that mix with others. This takes place in sales yards or national exhibits and shows. The identification system provides the owners and producers with uniform and unique numbering systems to enable them identify their animals properly. An individual Animal identification number (AIN) is a fifteen digit number that is unique and is supposed to stay with the animal for the whole life time of the animal.

This number links the animal back to the original owner and the place where it was born. It can be combined with the animal tracing system to enable the owner to track the animal on the event that it gets lost. The AIN also connects the animal to any place it has ever gone. The Group Lot identification is also a fifteen digit number which uniquely identifies the premises with seven out of the fifteen digits. If an animal is moved from the lot, it will be identified as making portable movements.

The Group lot Identification is easily identified by the owner of the animal lots. Animal identification is an immensely valuable tool for easy animal management, marketing opportunities of the animals are made easier, and the genetic improvement of the animals becomes simpler and easier (William 65). The process of buying the animal identification number gadgets is a straightforward one, but the owner should first determine the gadgets that will suit them best for the identification of the animals.

To acquire the devices, a person will need to have the premise identification number, and then the person will contact the authorised AIN gadget manufacturer for the gadgets in the region. USD will then maintain the number that has been provided to the person for future references (Ondersteijn 80). The National Animal Identification system is an ongoing project to safeguard animals and livestock in America. This system is an up to date system that will assist animal owners and health officers to respond quickly to animals in the event of diseases that affect livestock.

This system is supposed to help the government, and the owners of livestock and animals to curb disease spread and maintain confidence among consumers that the animal products are safe to consume, and this will maintain the foreign and domestic markets for animal products. In some states, participation in this national animal identification system is a voluntary thing whereas in other states, participation is mandatory. People who take part in this system officially become members of the disease response network; this makes sure that they are likely to get information on diseases and methods of assisting their animals in case of any disease outbreaks in a reasonable time.

This in turn, gives owners of the animal’s quality control over their animals during disease outbreaks, and the response of the treating the animals is done in a remarkably quick one. This in turn, helps the owners to protect their investments and their animals in general (Ladd 85). The program has got several objectives, which include; to rapidly assisting in disease control and maintenance, to focus the scope of the response to the affected animals, and to trace the sources of the disease within a sheer short time of period.

The system aims at making the animal products in United States to be more marketable in the country and internationally. The cost or benefit study of the National Animal Identification System shows that the small scale farmers will have a difficult time to implement the system because it is costly. This might also put these farmers out of the farming business. Animal health complications are a result from high, densely populated areas that have gotten many animals in one location and the food safety issues start from the slaughterhouses.

This is where the tracing of the national animal identification system process ends. The study also shows that a small scale farmer will have to pay more than twice for any animal to take part in the identification system; hence making it quite difficult for small scale farmers to take part in this system. The small scale farmer cannot be able to buy the gadgets that are to be used in identifying animals; hence they need the services of other people who are able to buy this equipment to come and do the identification process.

This in turn, makes identifying animals to be even more difficult for them since they will be leasing the equipment from time to time (U. s. Government 56). Works Cited Joseph Mercola, Pam Killeen. The great bird flu hoax: the truth they don't want you to know about the "next big pandemic". Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Inc, 2006. Print Ladd, Joshua. Large-scale Computational Analysis of National Animal Identification System Mock Data, Including Traceback and Trace Forward. Ann Arbor, Michigan: ProQuest, 2008.

Print Office, U. s. Government Accountability. National Animal Identification System. Newfoundland: Nova Science Pub Inc, 2008. Print Ondersteijn, Christien J. M. Quantifying the Agri-Food Supply Chain. London: Springer, 2006. Print Shames, Lisa. National Animal Identification System: USDA Needs to Resolve Several Key Implementation Issues to Achieve Rapid and Effective Disease Traceback. Washington: DIANE Publishing, 2008. Print States, National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on the Economic Development and Current Status of the Sheep Industry in the United.

Changes in the Sheep Industry in the United States: Making the Transition from Tradition. Washington: National Academies Press, 2008. Print William D. McBride, William D. McBride (au), Kenneth Matthews, Jr. (au). Diverse Structure and Organization of U. S. Beef Cow-Calf Farms. Washington: DIANE Publishing, 2011. Print