Am I Buying a Registered Meishan… or not?

Sadly, these calls are coming in almost weekly.

“I just bought a pig and was told I could get it registered, how do I do that?”

Odds are, you can’t if that’s where you’re starting from. 

Registered Member Breeders don’t really tell their customers that. 

In fact, they are generally amazing about working with their farms and reaching out to the association with any questions. 

Are there other things you can check to see if the hogs are registered or registrable? Yes:

1. Ask for pedigree copies. It should be available on the parents, at least, If not, proceed with caution. The association only works with original certified Certificates of Registration so there’s no worry that a copy could change ownership of a hog. 
2. Are the ear tags verifiable? Sometimes they are difficult to read but, a means of identifying one hog from another IS a member in good standing requirement. So, it is a reasonable request. Although, in our members defense, it can be easier to wrestle a bear than to corner a grown hog and clean that tag off…SO – if ear tags aren’t there at all – or the seller doesn’t use them and has multiple hogs and litters, moving forward with great caution is the best plan in this case. 
3. Reach out to the association and ask about the seller’s status. Are they a member? A member in good standing? What hogs do they have registered to them? Have they filed a Litter Registration for the litter you are interested in?
4. Join the association at the base or Associate level ($35) and look at the herd book yourself for Members name as assigned to a hog. Outside of a members name, other information is released at the discretion of the AMBA per members requests. 
5. Are the sellers the last listed owner for the hog? The owner is listed in the top portion of the pedigree directly under “Breeder.” Do the names match your sellers or not? It’s a HUGE red flag if these names don’t match. This breaks chain of custody and creates a full stop in the process to review chain of custody and evaluate if it can be rebuilt. Also, any fees that were ‘skipped’ will be required, including a membership fee for interim owners and all transfer fees before pedigrees could be considered for release in this scenario.
6. Does the pedigree have the AMBA seal at the bottom under the registrars name? Is the pedigree printed on heavy card stock or just copy paper? The registry only works in original certificates of registration with the AMBA seal of approval under the bottom right signature. If those aren’t there, you’re looking at a copy. 

What we can tell you from experience is that, if you’re getting a deal that’s too good to be true with just talk of the right paperwork – odds are you can’t really register the hogs. 

Sticking with legitimate AMBA Members in good standing that are on top of their paperwork and that can get answers on paperwork flow are worth every penny you’re investing.