Vermont Representative Peter Welch's Office Addresses the USDA's Bunny Tyranny

Interesting, John Dollarhite's congressman Billy Long has been virtually silent on the USDA's bunny tyranny and has never issued any sort of statement. However, Vermont Democrat Peter Welch has offered a few words, even suggesting the Dollarhites are guilty all without a trial.

The No-NAIS Web site has published a letter it received from Representative Welch's office.

From: Jake.Oster@mail.house.gov [Of Peter Welch’s Office -WJ]
Subject: RE: Rabbits and the USDA
Date: July 1, 2011 12:55:56 PM EDT
To: walterj

Walter,

Of course. [I had asked him to email me instead of phone. -WJ]

I spoke to the USDA about the case yesterday. The person raising the rabbits ran afoul of the Animal Welfare Act when they sold more than 500 rabbits from their home. That level of sales requires a permit.

USDA has been in touch with the seller and agreed to excuse the fine if the seller reduced his sales below the 500 animal threshold. The resolution is still pending so none of this information if set in stone but that is the current status of the case.

I hope this helps. I am happy to provide more information if you have further questions or new developments occur in the case.

Best,

Jake Oster

Representative Welch and Mr. Oster, what in the Constitution grants the federal government and the USDA the power to restrict how many rabbits a person can sell through intrastate commerce in the state of Missouri?

That's a question no one with federal stripes wants to answer. Do you know why?

Because the Constitution only grants the federal government power to regulate in matters of interstate and international commerce. Clearly John Dollarhite's operation doesn't fall under federal jurisdiction.