Bizarre, Society

U.S. Agriculture Department: Marty The Magician Must Submit Disaster Plan And Other Paperwork for Casey The Rabbit

170px-Zan_Zig_performing_with_rabbit_and_roses,_magician_poster,_1899-2Marty the Magician may be able to make a rabbit appear from his hat but he might want to start practicing making it disappear. The magician recently received a letter from the Agriculture Department beginning “Dear Members of Our Regulated Community . . .” It was about his rabbit.


Marty Hahne, 54, does magic shows for kids in southern Missouri and performs the classic rabbit trick. However, the U.S. government insists that he needs a license for the rabbit under a provision written for zoos and circuses. As a covered person, he needs a rabbit disaster plan to handle fire, floods, air conditioning outages etc. Magic is apparently not enough.

After the Washington Post ran a story, the Agricultural Department Secretary Tom Vilsack said he would review the policy.

Hahne said that, after a show at a library in Monett, an official stepped out of the crowd, flashed a badge, and demanded “Show me your license.” When he innocently asked for what, the USDA inspector said “For your rabbit.” She hit him with a violation and said that, unless he got a license, the Agricultural Department would make the rabbit disappear.

Hahne has an official USDA license, No. 43-C-0269, for Casey — a three-pound Netherland dwarf rabbit. He has met the requirement of paying $40 a year, taking Casey to the vet and allowing surprise inspections to his home. However, the inspector insisted that she wanted to see long itinerary forms filled out for out-of-town trips and contingency plans. Ironically, all he has to do is periodically eat his rabbits. If you raise them for food, these provisions to do apply. However, he likes Casey and does not want to solve his problems with a Casey casserole.

Another weird twist is that he would not have to fill out these forms if he simply pulled a lizard from this hat. The regulations only apply to warm-blooded animals.

So he is required to complete a non-magical disaster plan and other forms if Casey is to remain in his show. Believe it or not.

By the way, here is Marty in his show:

Source: Washington Post

31 thoughts on “U.S. Agriculture Department: Marty The Magician Must Submit Disaster Plan And Other Paperwork for Casey The Rabbit”

  2. LK

    I was thinking of the same thing about priorities and the food inspection process.

    Sounds more like the old “wild hair” enforcement than anything

  4. Spot on, Lottakatz. Absolute propaganda. God save us from the libertarians.

  5. The inspector was probably attached to APHIS The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), they deal wit everything from puppy mills, circus’ residing in or traveling through states, zoos and performers. If a one person magic act should be exempt then the law should be changed. The lowest level employees probably don’t get a of of positive feedback for using their discretion if they even have any.

    There are bigger fish to fry with the engineered lack of regulation/inspection of animals, both living and dead by USDA and EPA. The move to self-policing continues to the detriment of our food supply. The regulation of and policing of the live animals on CAFO’s and small feedlot owners continues to be done by states and states, as was mentioned on another thread are making laws called Ag-gag laws, criminalizing whistleblowing and undercover journalism in CAFO’s, on feedlots and in slaughterhouses.

    This kind of story is just another propaganda piece, embraced by the MSM that makes the regulatory process a laughingstock.

    (It’s not about tightening regs or adding inspectors, it’s about slashing inspectors by 75%, keep that in mind if you buy a lot of chicken- your smaller and better [for business] government at work)

    “USDA Ruffles Feathers With New Poultry Inspection Policy”

    http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2013/04/usda-inspectors-poultry-kill-lines-chicken

  6. Blouise, that’s a phobia I haven’t heard about before, thanks. If the magician were dressed as a clown that would probably drive some people to pure hysteria. 😉

  8. Gee, do our Ag federales have far too many representatives with nothing to do? No wonder our beleaguered family farmers call them the USDuh. See Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm, “Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal.” Brilliant!

  13. Thats a surprise….Ive lived in Mo most of my life and have never heard of these regs. and there are lots of people here with rabbit hutches….I doubt most/any have licenses BUT they do make the rabbits disappear….right off the dinner plate

  16. Vegas is a tough town for Magosophobics. Magic acts are popular in Vegas because of the many foreign visitors. Magic is a visual act w/ language playing a minor role. That is except for the hilarious Penn and Teller. Penn is a libertarian and quite outspoken about it. The Cirque de Soleil acts are also visual entertainment for all languages. I’ve only seen Love, and it was great. The others hold no attraction to me.

  18. Magosophobia may be at the root of the problems he’s having with this official.

  19. combination of overly zealous, or bored inspector and not considering that some exceptions needed to be included in the law.

  20. This maybe might swing a few people to our ever increasing libertarian philosophy. However, although this publicity is good for the aforementioned reason. This poor SOB may have to contend w/ PETA!

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