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National Rule and Regulation Making Bodies
National rules and regulations can affect the small holder in that they are the results of lobbying by powerful corporations, industry special interest groups, environmental organizations, etc. They are also, at times, the offspring of international trade agreements, and regulations meant to enhance international trade. International regulatory bodies can and do have a profound effect on the rules and regulations that impact the small holder. These rules/regulations can determine how the small holder cares for/manages their animals (OIE) and how the small holder and others are treated in the event of a foreign animal disease (FAD), emerging or endemic animal disease outbreak. Fortunately, if the small holder is aware of national rules/regulations that will have a negative impact on them, they still have a last line of defense - their Federal Senators and Representatives and their periodic elections. Federal legislators are, to a greater or lesser extent, sensitive to input from their constituents. If the small holder is aware of impending federal rules/regulations that are about to affect them, it can be fruitful for individuals to contact their legislator either in support of or opposition to pending rules/regulations that the small holder is concerned with. The National Animal ID System (NAIS) is an excellent example of grass roots opposition to impending Federal rules/regulations resulting from both international and national pressure which is being fought on both the state and national levels by small holders.
How to contact your legislator in a meaningful and eye catching way. As always, keep you correspondence clear, concise and use logical arguments to back up your position. Mud slinging and name calling only makes you look bad and weakens your argument.
Email - Probably the most convenient way to contact your legislator, it is likely to have the least impact unless a very large number of constituents respond in this manner is a short time. But it's still a good first step.
Phone - Better yet is a phone call. You no doubt will have to talk to a staffer, but it stands to reason that a phone call, especially if you don't have to leave a voice message, you can at least make an impression on the staffer which, if enough people call, may have an effect on the legislator.
Mailed Letter - Perhaps more impact than a phone call, a letter by regular mail shows that you are concerned enough to put in the time to compose a written letter, locate the legislator's mailing address and then stick a stamp on it and send it in. That takes effort and lets them know that your concerns are significant. Even better yet is a hand written letter. If you decide to go this rout. be sure that your hand writing is legible, and that there are no spelling or grammatical errors. in this day of electronic communication, a hand written letter can make a big splash in the eyes of your legislator. A good process you could use would be to compose our letter in a text editor, word processor or even your email program, check for spelling and grammatical errors then print it and copy it by hand for mailing.
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Federal Legislature :: Agriculture :: Pet Animals :: Food/Feed
Unless otherwise noted all content © Joanne Rigutto
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