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Wisconsin requiring registration of spots where livestock kept 
By JOHN HARTZELL 

AP Alert - Wisconsin , Monday , October 31, 2005 

MILWAUKEE - Wisconsin becomes the first state in the nation Tuesday to
require registration of livestock locations, the first of three steps
to help governments prepare for an animal disease outbreak, officials
say.

"People saw what happened when foot-and-mouth disease broke out in
Europe several years ago and asked, 'What's going to happen in
Wisconsin?'," said Robert Fourdraine, chief operating officer of the
Wisconsin Livestock Identification Consortium, which is spearheading
the law's implementation. 

It includes livestock and industry organizations, the University of
Wisconsin Extension and state and federal agriculture departments.
The Wisconsin Premises Registration Act goes into effect Tuesday and
requires all who board livestock to register their premises, regardless
of the kind and size of the operation.

Wisconsin received a $2.75 million, three-year grant from the U.S.
Department of Agriculture to develop the system, which 35 other states
are also adopting, consortium spokeswoman Leanne Ketterhagen said.

The steps are needed to respond to an animal disease outbreak within 48
hours, according to the consortium.

"If there was a case of avian influenza in Wisconsin, that's where a
system like this would be so beneficial," Fourdraine said. "We've known
very little about who we need to contact."

Dore Mobley, a spokeswoman for the USDA's Animal and Plant Inspection
Service, said the livestock location system is the first of three steps
planned in the states and nationwide. The next will be to register all
animals and the third is to track animals throughout their lives, she
said.

More than 22,000 people who board livestock have voluntarily registered
since the system was started in October 2003 in Wisconsin, but now all
are being required to participate, Ketterhagen said. Fourdraine said
they don't know how many need registering.

Terry Quam, who raises beef cattle and dairy heifers at Lodi, said if
officials have good information about the animals' location, the size
of a quarantine area in the case of an outbreak could be greatly
reduced.

"If we don't know where they are, the quarantine could be hundred of
miles, a whole county or the entire state. It could make the difference
economically" for many farmers, he said.

But Dave Matthes, state chairman of the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal
Fund of the United Stockgrowers of America, said that grass roots
organization of farmers and ranchers has concerns about mandating the
requirement. Matthes, of Viola, said current procedures were effective
in tracking diseased animals.

"We've traced back and stopped every disease," he said. "They haven't
shown what (disease) we're trying to protect against."

Numerous animals are covered under the law including cattle, llamas,
deer, horses, goats, pheasants, exotic birds, chickens, turkeys, geese,
ostriches, sheep and swine.

The new state law will require anyone keeping livestock who is not
licensed by the state -- including hobby farmers and those who have a
few animals -- to register by Jan. 1. Dairy farmers and operators of
large feed lots for beef cattle are among those licensed by the state
and must register by their license renewal date, the consortium said.

Those who fail to register could face a fine of $200 to $5,000,
Ketterhagen said. They would also be ineligible for state and federal
payments they could otherwise receive for any livestock that die as
part of a disease outbreak.

The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection
is enforcing the regulations, said spokeswoman Donna Gilson said.