| LEGISLATIVE ALERT - 2004 |
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NFSS Members, TAKE ACTION! Your help is needed to influence new regulations governing the care and treatment of birds! This may be the most important thing you can ever do for aviculture. We are asking for your help to keep the keeping and breeding of birds alive and well here in the U.S. - and help us to continue to be able to raise healthy birds for people to buy as pets - please support the NAWA proposals to the USDA - they will benefit birds and they will benefit those who love and keep birds. The comment period is only open until November 1, 2004. To protect our rights to
own birds in the United States, it is important that everyone submit comments
before the comment period ends. Or you can mail them - you must send four
(4) copies - to the address listed on the letters below. |
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Date Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3C71, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238 Re: Docket No. 98-106-4 Dear Honorable Secretary of Agriculture, I have been a breeder of birds for ___ years. I am very concerned about the negative impact that Animal Welfare Act licensing and inspections would have on my ability to continue breeding birds. Birds that are actively nesting are extremely sensitive to disturbances by unfamiliar people. The unannounced inspections required for licensing under the AWA would have a highly detrimental impact on my breeding birds. Such inspections would result in damage to eggs, chicks and possibly adult breeder birds. Due to the Wild Bird Conservation Act of 1992, these birds cannot be replaced when such losses occur. Such losses would therefore threaten my ability to continue breeding birds. I would also like to express my support for the National Avian Welfare Alliance (NAWA) proposal. Sincerely, _______________________ City, State |
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Date Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3C71, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238 Re: Docket No. 98-106-4 Dear Honorable Secretary of Agriculture, I am a bird breeder and wholesaler. I have shipped ___ birds annually for the past ___ years. I would like to urge that there should be NO minimum age standards for the shipping of birds. In my experience, young, unweaned birds are shipped with the same success rate as adult birds, and the younger birds tend to experience less stress since they are accustomed to being in small confined spaces such as shipping boxes which mimic their natural nesting cavities. I would also like to express my support for the National Avian Welfare Alliance (NAWA) proposal. Sincerely, Sign City, State |
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Date Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3C71, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238 Re: Docket No. 98-106-4 Dear Honorable Secretary of Agriculture, I have been a breeder of birds for ___ years. I am very concerned about the negative impact that Animal Welfare Act licensing and inspections would have on my ability to continue breeding birds. I run my breeding facility as a part-time business, and I care for my birds after normal business hours. Because I have a separate occupation away from my facility, there would likely be nobody available for the unannounced inspections required for AWA licensing. I would also like to express my support for the National Avian Welfare Alliance (NAWA) proposal. Sincerely, Sign City, State |
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Date Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3C71, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238 Re: Docket No. 98-106-4 Dear Honorable Secretary of Agriculture, I have been a breeder of birds for ___ years. I raise ___ birds annually for sale into the wholesale pet trade. It would be overly burdensome for me to comply with the record keeping requirements under the AWA. In order to maintain such records, I would be required to hire a full-time staff person just to maintain and update such records. This is something that would be cost-prohibitive and would drive me out of business. I would also like to express my support for the National Avian Welfare Alliance (NAWA) proposal. Sincerely, Sign City, State |
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Date Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3C71, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238 Re: Docket No. 98-106-4 Dear Honorable Secretary of Agriculture, I have been a breeder of birds for ___ years. Birds are often the target of thieves, and breeding facilities are under increasing threat of vandalism from Animal Rights Groups. The publication of licensees addresses under the AWA licensing requirements will create easy access to information for thieves and will lead to opportunities for harassment from Animal Rights terrorists. The publication of licensee information must not be extended to bird facilities and should be stopped for other animal facilities as well. Bird breeders are noted for protecting their privacy and this provision alone will drive many facility operators underground or out of the activity altogether unless the publication of licensee information is eliminated. I would also like to express my support for the National Avian Welfare Alliance (NAWA) proposal. Sincerely, Sign City, State |
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Date Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3C71, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238 Re: Docket No. 98-106-4 Dear Honorable Secretary of Agriculture, I am a breeder of birds for the pet trade. I would like to express the likelihood that AWA licensing would drive many bird breeders out of the activity. The demand for pet birds in the United States is sufficiently strong that if breeders are reduced in number, it will increase the incentive to smuggle birds into the country from abroad. Such an increase in smuggling will have a direct relationship with an increased risk of exposure to foreign diseases such as Exotic Newcastle Disease. I would also like to express my support for the National Avian Welfare Alliance (NAWA) proposal. Sincerely, Sign City, State |
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Date Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3C71, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238 Re: Docket No. 98-106-4 Dear Honorable Secretary of Agriculture, Birds are an extremely diverse group with equally diverse requirements for survival. Because of this diversity, novel husbandry techniques are often needed to maintain them successfully in captivity. The regulation of standards of care for birds under the Animal Welfare Act would be detrimental to the continuing advancements in knowledge and technology that will ensure development of husbandry solutions to enhance avian captive management. Licensing under that AWA will have a negative impact on the health and welfare of birds in captivity. I would also like to express my support for the National Avian Welfare Alliance (NAWA) proposal. Sincerely, Sign City, State |
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Date Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3C71, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238 Re: Docket No. 98-106-4 Dear Honorable Secretary of Agriculture, The distribution of birds in the pet trade does not follow a similar pattern as the distribution of dogs and cats in the pet trade. The retail exemption is appropriate, but it must be extended to allow for wholesale sales of birds. Without this extended exemption for birds, many small facilities will avoid selling birds into normal pet bird distribution channels. Instead, they will avoid AWA licensing by selling all of their production at retail. This has potential to disrupt the orderly flow of birds through the breeder-wholesaler-retailer channel and reduce accountability to the consumer. Breeders will be in direct competition with retail suppliers of birds. Retail sales over the internet will be become the norm often resulting in birds going into the hands of inexperienced persons after long distance shipping and with the buyer having no recourse when problems arise. This disruption of the pet bird industry would result in the loss of many aviculturists from the field and a negative impact on the welfare of birds in the pet trade. I would also like to express my support for the National Avian Welfare Alliance (NAWA) proposal. Sincerely, Sign City, State |
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Date Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3C71, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238 Re: Docket No. 98-106-4 Dear Honorable Secretary of Agriculture, I am an exhibitor of birds with a trained bird show. In addition to performing for entertainment purposes, I frequently put on educational shows for schools and other organizations. My show features a number of unusual and rarely seen species of birds. My business provides the general public with a greater understanding and appreciation of birds both in captivity and in their native wild habitats. Licensing under the AWA would be overly burdensome on my ability to run my business due to the unique care requirements associated with the types of birds I have and the purpose for which they are used. I would also like to express my support for the National Avian Welfare Alliance (NAWA) proposal. Sincerely, Sign City, State |
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Date Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3C71, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238 Re: Docket No. 98-106-4 Dear Honorable Secretary of Agriculture, I am writing to express my concern that AWA licensing will have a negative effect on aviculture. Bird keeping and breeding is vastly different from the keeping and breeding of animals that are currently regulated under the AWA. Birds should be exempt from regulation under the AWA. I keep birds to preserve species as a safeguard against extinction or extirpation in their home range. I am not alone in this endeavor. Many aviculturists share the same concern and passion for preserving avian biodiversity. Many wild populations of birds are threatened or endangered due to habitat loss, environmental degradation, persecution as pests, and political instability. Private sector American aviculturists have demonstrated a high degree of success at reproducing birds in captivity. Private aviculturists promote an increase in public awareness though exhibition, education, and pet ownership. Revenue from the sale of birds as pets or breeders provides the necessary funding to run private enterprise preservation efforts. Public and zoological institutions admittedly do not have the space or resources to maintain genetically diverse populations of all avian species which may need avicultural support as insurance against an uncertain future. Only through the dedication of the private sector will there be adequate space and incentive to maintain adequate populations of many species of birds to ensure and preserve avian biodiversity for future generations. I would also like to express my support for the National Avian Welfare Alliance (NAWA) proposal. Sincerely, Sign City, State
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Last modified: October 10, 2004
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