Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (21626)	12/26/2003 11:46:03 AM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793838

This sounds rational to me. But if they jump on it, they will get attacked with "why didn't you do this before?" A good example of the Industry controlling the regulator. The politics of cattle slaughter By Wayne Pacelle Special to The Seattle Times Wayne Pacelle is a senior vice-president of The Humane Society of the United States. www.hsus.org. The "mad-cow" threat to public health and the potential economic disaster that now looms could have been prevented if the U.S. Congress, the Department of Agriculture, and the American beef and dairy industries had agreed to a single, simple step: Ban the slaughter of diseased cattle for human consumption. Animal-welfare and food-consumer groups have long warned that the agriculture department has been playing Russian roulette with the nation's meat supply by allowing "downer" animals — cattle too sick to stand or walk — to be slaughtered for human consumption. Most downers are spent dairy cattle, and are the prime carriers of "mad-cow" disease. (The Holstein in Yakima County that tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was unable to walk due to complications from a pregnancy.) A 2001 study in Germany found that downed cows were up to 240 times more likely to test positive for BSE. The USDA itself has warned that downers "represent a significant pathway for spread of disease if they are not handled or disposed of with appropriate safeguards." Despite this known threat, an average of only 10 to 15 per cent of downers are tested for BSE in this country. The alarming economic consequences from the discovery of a single, infected dairy cow are unfolding now — import bans on American beef, consumer confidence rattled, cattle quarantined and destroyed. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman and beef-industry representatives blithely assure the public that our food supply is safe. Yet the continuing boycott of Canadian beef by the U.S. and some 30 other countries that so far has cost Canada almost $3 billion makes that claim ring hollow. If we won't buy Canadian beef, why should other nations buy ours when the mad-cow scenarios are identical? Congress and the USDA must share the blame, and face the fact that the threat of mad-cow disease can be strongly mitigated by not processing the meat of animals most likely to be carrying BSE. Each year, about 200,000 sick or injured downed cattle are shipped to slaughter, a tiny fraction of the roughly 35 million head that will be killed and butchered this year. To prevent a future BSE catastrophe and at the same time ensure more humane treatment, a law should be passed requiring all downed animals to be euthanized on the farm or feedlot instead of being sold and shipped to slaughter. Such a measure was approved last year in the U.S. House and Senate, but was killed in conference committee after the dairy industry lobbied against it. The Senate passed an even stronger measure this year but a conference committee again dominated by members obedient to the dairy and cattle industries defeated it once more. Farmers continue to sell these crippled, low-value animals for processed meat or hamburger, instead of euthanizing them. A study by California Department of Agriculture veterinarian Pam Hullinger found that their average net value to the farmer is just $28.70 per animal after shipping and other costs are factored in. The fast-food industry — led by McDonald's, Wendy's, and Burger King — considers downer meat too dangerous for its customers and no longer buys it. So do mink farmers who refuse to feed it to their animals. Three years ago, the USDA banned it from the National School Lunch Program. Several states including California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Ohio, Vermont and Wisconsin prohibit downers from being sold or killed at state-inspected abattoirs, but have no control over federally regulated slaughterhouses that process most of these disabled animals. Following its recent outbreak that involved a single, aged dairy cow, Canada is on the verge of banning the slaughter of downed cattle. That's exactly the preventive action Veneman should have ordered months ago when the discovery of BSE north of the border signaled its virtually certain appearance here. Veneman needs to take immediate action for economic and humane reasons. Euthanizing broken-down cattle instead of cruelly squeezing a few more dollars out of them is a small cost to bear for protecting our health, the beef industry, and the nation's economy. Copyright © 2003 The Seattle Times Company

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (21626)	12/26/2003 1:15:58 PM
From: kumar	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793838

it will be more interesting to see what countries offer aid in the first place. without an offer, there is nothing to refuse. So far, Germany, Spain, Russia , Britain have offerred aid.