LISTEN LIVE: Mandatory Microchipping - The Growing Threat To Pet Owner Privacy - 4/27 - 10 AM EST www.WTPRN.com

What's the difference between a sex offender and a dog owner?  Apparently not much - both are ID'd and tracked through a government database.

That's why pet owners need to pay close attention and:

SAVE THE DATE : Friday, 4/27  - 10 -12 AM EST and tune into  www.WTPRN.com 

I'll be a guest on Dr. Katherine Albrecht's new Internet radio show, "Uncovering The Truth "  on We The People Radio Network for an important discussion about mandatory microchipping laws and their impact on civil liberties and privacy for pet owners.

This is not about the volunatary ID of your pet.

Involuntary or Mandatory Microchipping is the forced implantation of an RFID chip into your pet, followed by the capture of your data and registration into a database - just like a sex offender -  and the subsequent surveillance and tracking of your data. 

Mandatory microchipping laws for pets have been passed in Florida, Texas and other communities - and proposed laws are pending in lots of other places - including New York State.

This identification and surveillence - of both you and your pet - is not voluntary.  And mandatory microchipping laws are not about .............

getting Fluffy Home Again. 

Tune in this Friday to hear me with Dr. Katherine Albrecht, the host of "Uncovering The Truth "  and a Harvard graduate, she has been the pioneer in consumer and RFID privacy advocacy.

Dr. Albrecht is also the Founder and Director of CASPIAN, and the Co-author of "SPYCHIPS:  How Major Corporations and Government Plan To Track Your Every Move With RFID". 

In September of 2005, I wrote an essay entitled,  The PAWS Bill - Show Me The Money, Microchips and Political Power - about the possible real reason behind (the recently defeated) Sen. Rick Santorum's (R-PA) so-called "Puppy Mill Bill", and hypothesized this:

The PAWS Bill - A Private Cartel

That government mandated pet microchipping laws were the real motivation behind Rick Santorum's SB 1139 law, and NOT puppy mills - and that this "PAWS" bill would benefit a cartel of private businesses and nonprofit and government agencies that would collect, share and profit from data amongst themselves -  resulting in the virtual surveillance of every pet owner in the land.

That particular post brought all kinds of scary traffic to this blog, not just from dog owners, but from nearly every governmental agency in the land - from the FBI to Homeland Security to the Justice Department, the Dept. of the Interior - not to mention military visitors from the Army to the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (www.dtra.mil) - not my usual readers.

Did it make sense to anyone that Rick Santorum - that right wing crusader was suddenly cavorting with the left wing to stop puppy mills?  Was Rick Santorum suddenly some sort of social justice advocate - crying out for justice for puppies?

This is not to infer that right wing conservatives support puppy mills, they don't, as pointed out by DP reader Barbara.

And in fact - while Dems were gunning for ole Rick - I would say it took a great deal of support of the conservative voters in PA to boot Mr. Santorum from office last fall - that, plus a rare, pro-life Democratic opponent - Bob Casey, Jr.

Before his ouster in the November mid-term elections, Rick Santorum was the third highest ranking Republican in the Senate.  He  was the keeper of the gate in the K Street crowd - brokering deals with lobbyists and negotiating private sector jobs for associates who would leap into lucrative  roles with defense contractors and lobbying firms - like microchip or RFID contractors - or so we hear.

So maybe it won't surprise you that former key Bush Admin Cabinet Members, like former Homeland Security Chief Tom Ridge now works for an RFID manufacturer.

And maybe it won't surprise you either that another first term Bush Cabinet Member - HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson - has been working for VeriChip - the major pet and human chip manufacturer.

And in case you didn't already know - Mr. Thompson - the hired frontman for human and animal microchipping  - has just resigned his post at VeriChip to run for President.

The PAWS Bill & NAIS - Is There A Connection?

Is there a connection between NAIS and the Paws Bill? Duh. 

Let's see - if you count Rick Santorum - who chaired the USDA Subcommittee on Research and Nutrition - and that same subcommitte was responsible for both the PAWS bill AND NAIS - I'd say yes.

And if you count on the fact that NAIS was the brainchild of the USDA - meaning Rick Santorum, the Department of Homeland Security - meaning Tom Ridge, and the Department of Health and Human Services - meaning Tommy Thompson - I'd say yes.

And - if you count the fact that VeriChip is at the very center of both NAIS - as the chip manufacturer as well as the outsourced vendor likely to be selected manage the giant animal and animal owner database - AND that VeriChip would reap a huge windfall should every pet in the land be chipped  - I'd say yes.

And - if you count the fact that Santorum's buddies - like Tommy Thompson - went to work for VeriChip as the posterboy for chipping people and animals - AND would probably stand to reap a significant financial reward as a result - I'd say yes.

Surveillance & Civil Liberties

Whether you're a citizen concerned about the expansion of spy powers under the Patriot Act or a small family or organic farmer that's threatened by government surveillance under NAIS -the National Animal Identification System  or small home breeder or just a dog owner concerned about the potential surveillence under the PAWS Bill (or the soon-to-be-reintroduced-new-and-improved version of PAWS)   - you'll want to tune in this Friday, 4/27 at 10 AM on www.WTPRN.com when we discuss Mandatory RFID for Pet Owners.

To clarify for some readers - this is not about microchipping animals as a means to recover lost pets. 

This is about the privacy issues and the threats to civil liberties, such as:

• Who wants your data and why?
• Is involuntary surveillance of this kind legal?
• Does mandatory microchipping impact your civil liberties?
• Will your local government give your data to special interest groups?
• How mandatory microchipping may impact your insurance rates or housing?
• Do you have any protections under the law?
• What actions pet owners need to take to stop mandatory microchipping laws and involuntary surveillence in their communities

Local Goverments - Who's Watching You?

Other questions about involuntary or mandatory microchipping include:

• Should local governments be able to pinpoint anyone in their community with a pitbull, Rottweiler,  Doberman, German Shepherd, Siberian Husky - or any other targeted breed?
• Will mandatory microchipping facilite the enactment of more breed-specific or other anti-dog laws?
• Will owners of such breeds be automatically singled out for higher licensing fees, insurance requirments etc.
• Using mandatory microchipping as a means to track breeders, hunters  -or anyone with intact dogs - or as a means to enforce mandatory spay/neuter laws?
• Is mandatory microchipping a gift to the pharmaceutical industry?
• Who has access to the data - Insurance companies?  Animal rights groups?  Anyone that files a FOIA?
• Will the data collected be protected? 
• Who will manage that database - or will it be outsourced to VeriChip - or perhaps the HSUS or the ASPCA?
• Will your local government crossmatch this data with other government databases - such as driver's licenses, criminal records, voting records, etc?

Don't miss out -tune in on  Friday morning to www.WTPRN.com  -that's We The People Radio Network - and listen to  "Uncovering The Truth "  when we cover pet mandatory microchipping laws , civil liberties and privacy:

• Uncovering The Truth
• Friday, April 27th
• 10 -12 AM EST 
• www.WTPRN.com 

The Sleeper Threat

BTW - look at that photo at the top again and try to guess which of those chips pictured above is meant for pets and which is meant for humans? 

Or maybe it doesn't matter - since both chips can be used to track and identify the same data points -whether human or animal.

And you did know that the Home Again Chip and the human implantable chip are licensed in the U.S. by Schering Plough  - and both manufactured by VeriChip?

Given the fact that close to 80% of all household in the U.S. owns a pet, mandatory microchipping may just be one of the biggest sleeper threats to privacy, civil liberties and freedom in our history.

And here you thought that nice little RFID chip implanted  in Fluffy would just make sure Fluffy comes Home Again.

Comments

[ebenreilly]

I stumbled on to this site when researching what I thought was a defunct ban of pitbulls in CO.
Boy was I asleep at the bat. Also,
my initial gut reacton that targeting and euthanizing certain breeds was just a flexing of the govt's arm: how far can we go in the policing of the State. Hmm, never dreamt of microchipping. Maybe it is time I-- and many others wake up to an eminent threat
to our civil liberties.
Specifically: what can individual's do beyond vote in
bogus elections???

[Crystal Wilson]

There really must be something done about all of this. This IS conditioning for future efforts to place them in us (all of us). ALOT of us just sit back and think about how wrong it is. But that is all that we do. Why is this not suspicious? Is it because of the cute doggies and the little jingle song in the commercial? No one cares about your lost dog. I do not fret if the neighbor has lost its dog. Neither does anyone else. Let the dog be a dog and not a prisoner. If the dog runs off, "well my last dog ran away". Let the dog go so that humans do not have to be the next in line to be tagged. IF we allow this, it WILL lead to what is planned and will be mandatory. Please tell me how in the past we have made a difference. How can we stop this? Our government seems so far away to reach, almost intangible. We need much more say so and more powerful voices to do so with in our free land that controls our lives. On my last and most important note, I will draw attention to the bible. That is all I have to say and you know the rest and how it ends. I dread the stupidity of our future.

[Betsy Fickel]

May I glean many of these comments in preparation for a presentation to our local Farm Bureau annual meeting in August?
My FB aagent had never heard of NAIS and neither have a lot of other pet owners that I talk to.And FB endorses NAIS. When I explain just a tiny portion of it, their jaws just drop.
Welcome to Big Brother.
Thank you for doing an awesome job at digging out the truth and education.

EDITOR's NOTE: Please do. Here re other great resoures for you - www.NoNAIS.com, Farm For Life (google them) and www.SpyChips.Com

[Barbara Hollands]

You raise some frightening questions, that I will be researching. It is upsetting however that you brand right wing conservatives as not interested in stopping puppy mills just because you don't like Santorum. I know lots of people, myself included who are right wing conservatives and we are extremely interested in fighting puppy mills. The left doesn't have a monopoly on decency. There are people of all political bases that abhor puppy mills. Your message will go further if you stick to the truth. The truth is bad enough.

EDITOR's NOTE: I think I said, "Did it make sense to anyone that Rick Santorum - that right wing crusader was suddenly cavorting with the left wing to stop puppy mills"?

Perhaps that language needs clarification, Barbara. What I tried to infer was that it would seem that very few politicians conservative politicians cavort with the left wing animal rights groups to stop puppy mills - and that the issue of puppy mills as it relates to Rick Santorum stuck out like a sore thumb.

This in itself should not be taken to infer that conservatives support puppy mills.

[Dawn Ashby]

Last week I had a call from someone who has helped me rescue in the past. They found a dog dumped by the side of the road by the lake. The dog was reluctant to leave her post, still waiting for her master to come back for her. They took her to the vet and had her micro-chip scanned. They called the owner and he became very irate and denied ever having a dog. The family felt so terrible for this Golden girl, they immediately had the information changed to their's and adopted her.
I know this doesn't give an opinion one way or another and I do micro-chip my dogs because I never want to loose them, but for some people, micro-chip or no micro-chip they are mean and selfish, I thank God for the people who are not.

EDITOR's NOTE: While there is no doubt that microchipping a pet has its benefits - we are not talking about the recovery of lost animals - which represents a very small percentage of shelter population.

We are discussing the privacy issues and threats to civil liberties that are brought about by mandatory laws and the lack of privacy protections for pet owners and consumers.