Dear ILR Llama Owners,

re: ILR DNA Proposal status

On April 5, 2010, the ILR Board of Directors sent out an eBulletin that outlined a proposal that would have required a DNA sample with each new llama registration beginning January 1, 2011, and requested input from llama owners regarding this proposal. Click HERE to see the proposal e-Bulletin.

As expected, the responses we received varied widely. Those in favor said things like:

 “I think this is a wonderful compromise and I fully support this idea.”

And:

 “We like it....makes sense to us.”

Those opposed said things like:

“I am opposed to mandatory DNA samples on the registration of llamas. There are so many people now who do not register the llamas that adding more criteria [even if it does not increase the cost] will reduce the accurate count of qualifying registered llamas.”

And:

“Why would you even think of adding financial burdens to llama owners in this market?  It seems to me that your proposal will only encourage llama owners (particularly the small farms/ranches) to forego registering their animals. You should definitely rethink this.”

There were also a few misunderstandings and a few questions about the proposal. We encourage you to read some of the additional comments by members as well as the ILR explanations to those misunderstandings and the answers to the questions by clicking here.

After careful consideration of all the comments received, the ILR Board has decided, in light of the current economic situation and the similarly depressed llama market, to postpone further consideration of this proposal until sometime in the future.

However, the Board would like to remind llama owners that the reasons leading to the proposal still exist and to encourage all llama owners to submit DNA samples from their llamas on a voluntary basis. As stated in the original eBulletin, placing the samples in storage costs nothing and once there, they are available if they are ever needed.

Thank you once again for your input,

Sincerely,

The ILR Board

Mark Smith – President, Mary Jo Miller – Vice President, Kristy Brown – Secretary, Kathi McKinney – Treasurer, Bill Safreed – Member at Large