Issue 2 in Ohio

[Pathfinders]

Can we discuss Issue 2 here?

[MattL]

Yes. legislation that affect the hobby can be discussed here.

[Pathfinders]

Ok, so I need some cogent arguments to toss back at the PETA and HSUS lovers who think it would be such a good thing for Issue 2 to fail.

OMG, these people are so disconnected it's scary. Help me out here. Thanks.

[tojones]

What is Issue 2?

[Patrick]

Yes, it would help if we knew what the heck it was if we're to give you any of the suggestions you're looking for.

[MattL]

Join the campaign to support Issue 2 on November 3rd! It creates an Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board to ensure food safety, locally grown food and proper management of animal care.

Out-of-state activist groups (PETA AND HSUS) have signaled they would like to bring an initiative to Ohio that would set rigid, inflexible and impractical rules for how livestock and poultry are housed.

Proposed Members of the Board
Director of the Ohio Department of
Agriculture - Chair
Food Safety Expert
family farmers
Organizations representing farmers
Licensed OH Veterinarian
The State Veterinarian
Dean of Agriculture of OH College
or University
OH Consumers
County Humane Society Representative

Ohio families need the safe, nutritious, affordable, locally grown food that Ohio farmers provide each and every day.

[Patrick]

I'm confused. You say that you don't want the huggers to have a say in how animals are cared for, yet you are asking for support for a program which outlines rules which do just that.

From what little information has been provided, I suggest that you work to discourage all initiatives which outline just what "they" consider to be proper care. Be careful of what you ask for, because you may get it. Once the program and rules are in place, it's much easier to add to or tighten them up. In some cases it may benefit you if there are no rules, so that you can defend certain practices which otherwise might be spelled out, leaving you little wiggle room. Don't forget too that someone, a state bureaucrat perhaps, will be responsible for interpreting and enforcing those rules, and his or her biased or ignorant interpretation may not not be what you interpret the rule to mean. You might be right, but you'd have a hell of a battle on your hands to prove it.

[MattL]

Patrick,
Issue 2 was a proactive measure put on the ballot this Nov. to stave off the other groups. Animal Care regulation is coming, like it or not, the Ohio producers preferred to be proactive on how it is written and enforced. Once this board is created, it will be more difficult for others to get legislation on the ballot and thru the State House.
MattL

[MKG]

Good luck with that. It may work until the PETA nuts worm their way onto the board. I'm sure they will view passage of Issue 2 as a "first step" toward what they ultimately want. The first version of our modern-day income tax, initiated in 1913, affected about 2 percent of the population. How many does it affect today? It will be the same way with government controlled healthcare. Watch your step - it's a slippery slope! By the way, if Ohio only has 2 issues it must be a great place to live! I think we have at least a half-dozen here in the land of beer and cheese. Yeah, I wish.