OT ~ Mad Moo Cow in SE WA

Ingrid is such a gem when it comes to stuff like this.

She gives an article URL and did any one read it or just assumed she knows
what she is talking about. The article states that the tongues of Hamsters
showed high level of prions when the abnormal prions were injected into the
Hamster's Brain. The article goes on to say, and I quote;

"This doesn't prove that cows with BSE have prion-loaded tongues, or that
eating these tongues could cause human disease, says Bessen, who works at
Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska."

Also research has not shown the prions to be in nerve ends and ganglia of
muscle tissue of beef. This is usually found in the brains and the spinal
column nervous system. The article also pointed out that mice remained
healthy when injected with nerve tissue from Beef tongue.

All the article said was that because of what happened with Hamsters, it
would support further research in to this avenue, but nothing conclusive as
been found.

Let us all remember that one cow was found to have the disease and it was
found to have come from Canada two years ago. Also there is no human
response to the disease yet here in the US or Canada from what I have heard
in the form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Also something to remember is that when disease was found in Great Britain
in 1994 in humans by the end of the year only 8 people were infected and to
this day only supposition has been given as to how these people got it,
since there was no correlation between these eight people. Now as the
counting continued in 1999, five years later, the accumulated total of
people that succumbed to the disease were 24.

It would seem to me that if you want to get your underwear in a knot about
something why not start stamping your feet about the AID epidemic in Africa
where every third person in Central Africa has AIDS and in southern Africa
every 4th person has it. In provinces in and around South Africa there are
200,000 children orphaned by AIDS taking both Mother and Father. These chi
ldren have no one. There are no social services like here in the US or
Canada. The children have nothing or no one to help.

I find this thread interesting that there is all this pointing of fingers,
and some of Canadian members seem to be gleeful because is has happened here
in the US. If you wanted to be scared about a possible situation, think
what would happen in both the US, Canada and Europe if MCD got into the
Holstein herds. Holsteins produce 95% of the milk worldwide. Hey, milk
has proteins, if milk producing herds had to be destroyed it would devastate
both the US and Canada, not forgetting Europe.

Let's just hope that now something will we done, instead of just pointing
fingers and the making of political accusations.

Tom L.L.
----------------------------------------
wrote in message
...
There is good reason to be cautious Jan. Prions (infectious proteins)
have been
shown to infect muscles like the tongue thru the nervous tissue
(http://www.nature.com/nsu/021230/021230-5.html). Muscles are loaded with
nerves.
But more important is what is NOT KNOWN. For instance, a meat packer in
England got
the human form of BSE even tho he was a vegetarian. They think it was
from handling
the meat.
Most puzzling of all is the epidemic of "mad deer" in Wisconsin and other
states.
Evidently wild game farms were allowed to feed recycled meat products to
their game
farm deer. These deer jumped the fence and mixed with the wild deer
population and
it spread. SPREAD???!!!! nobody seems to have a handle on how it spread
from deer
to deer in the wild, altho wild deer could have been jumping into the farm
and eating
contaminated feed. We do know prion disease has been present in wild Elk
for a long
time.
http://www.wisc.edu/foodsafety/consu...sheets/BSE.htm
suggests that prions can be spread by blood. And you are correct, normal
cooking
temps dont kill it, nor does freezing. Ingrid

~ jan JJsPond.us wrote:

We've been getting some interesting info in our local paper regarding new
machinery called Advance Meat Recovery Systems. This scrapes meat off
very
close to the bone and supposedly can pick up some brain or spinal column
tissue where the prions of (BSE) Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy hangs
out. True, it's not in the muscle meat, but hamburger is definitely
suspect
w/hot dogs being more so. Heat doesn't kill it.... at least not the heat
temps we cook at.

They say the risk is low, but who wants to be that or 1 person? I'm not
scared enough to toss the meat I have in the freezer purchased prior to
Daisy going thru the system, but I'm not eating it, or any beef, till I
get
more answers. ~ jan


On Fri, 26 Dec 2003 23:54:19 -0600, "Tom La Bron"
wrote:

Of course, you must know that the majority of this scare is media
driven.
Mad Cow Disease (MCD) is transmitted trough nerve tissue and unless you
are
eating raw meat you won't get MCD. Plus there are no known cases of
anyone,
I repeat, anyone getting MCD from Muscle tissue, like hamburger, steaks,
etc.

Now if you are into eating Cow Brains in your scramble eggs then you may
be
at risk.

Tom L.L.
"~ jan JJsPond.us" wrote in message
. ..
Yup, and jj was in the now infamous Moses Lake, her home town, for
Christmas.

The internet is so nice though, I was able to go right to a website
with
the phone #s of the meat company. They where very nice and I found out
that
Death Daisy isn't in any of the hamburger-in-a-tube that I purchased.
Though I do worry that Daisy might have gone thru the grinder just
before
my burger did, so one pack that is dated well after her demise is
gonna
get
tossed. As always though, it appears our industry needs to do more to
clean
up its act, according to news articles coming out.

Everyone might want to consider buying their beef and freezing it for
a
month before consuming since it took 10 days for them to notify
consumers
after slaughter. We yet to be given information on how long it takes
from
slaughter to the dinner table. Perhaps someone here knows? ~ jan


On 25 Dec 2003 20:17:57 GMT, EROSPAM (Ka30P) wrote:
Well, drat!
Here SE WA is in the news and not a happy
story. The Mad Moo Cow came from a farm
not too far from where jj and k30a live.
And it looks like both jj and k30a had ground
beef from the plant that processed the poor
cow. All ground meat is off the shelves at
our stores, part of the recall.
Not that we're all that worried from what
we've been reading but sheesh!
What a way to waltz into Christmas!
And here I was teasing my CA brother about
his free range turkey at Thanksgiving! ;-)






ka30p
http://www.geocities.com/watergarden...dors/home.html

See my ponds thru the seasons and/or my filter design:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/

~Keep 'em Defrosted~
Tri-Cities, WA Zone 7a
To e-mail see website


See my ponds thru the seasons and/or my filter design:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/

~Keep 'em Defrosted~
Tri-Cities, WA Zone 7a
To e-mail see website



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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http://puregold.aquaria.net/
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Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

"Ka30P" wrote in message
...

Clyde asked
The Question I have is why only one cow in the Middle of Washington
State?

Latest word is the cow came from Canada
and there will be more.
(NOT to get in the middle of the strains
of "Blame Canada" being of Canadian birth
mineself, but that is what we are hearing
now)


ka30p
http://www.geocities.com/watergarden...dors/home.html


I smell a rat... Seems almost to much like a coincidence to me...( BTW I
don't believe in coincidences because things happen for a reason...) I heard
from an employee from a very large Chain store that there was talk about
nixxing the imports because Canada was going to have a problem with thier
domestic beef... Funny how the shoe fits, and how much irritation it has
caused because its a tight shoe... Essshh..

Tim...

Clyde asked
The Question I have is why only one cow in the Middle of Washington State?

Probably the first one that showed a problem and got tested?

Supposedly there were 70 some that came from the same original farm, and
they're tracking all those down. Since they're dairy cows I assume we're
not in dire trouble if none of the others have been slaughtered as of yet.

In Canada, were they dairy or beef cows that tested positive? I'm not about
to place blame either way. What's true and/or what really is we don't find
out till 20 years, since our governments can seem to keep their own
information straight. So far I've heard that "Daisy" was 12 yo, 6 yo, 4.5
yo. Sheesh. I think we can trust she was a cow. ;o) ~ jan

On 27 Dec 2003 21:09:32 GMT, EROSPAM (Ka30P) wrote:

Latest word is the cow came from Canada
and there will be more.
(NOT to get in the middle of the strains
of "Blame Canada" being of Canadian birth
mineself, but that is what we are hearing
now)


ka30p
http://www.geocities.com/watergarden...dors/home.html

See my ponds thru the seasons and/or my filter design:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/

~Keep 'em Defrosted~
Tri-Cities, WA Zone 7a
To e-mail see website

"Tom La Bron" wrote in message ...
Folks,

Of course, you must know that the majority of this scare is media driven.
Mad Cow Disease (MCD) is transmitted trough nerve tissue and unless you are
eating raw meat you won't get MCD.

Excuse me, but that is inaccurate.

The proteins that cause this class of disease can withstand cooking.
It can withstand anything that does not turn it into ashes, which
poses a bit of a problem for surgeons; steam sterilizers are not hot
enough to decontaminate surgical instruments (per a news article on
the subject back when England was having trouble with it).

CWD in deer: One of the posters in misc.rural stated that she had been
told by her vet that chronic wasting desease was carried by rabbits
and deer got it by eating rabbit dung. (That seems an odd thing for
deer to eat, and raises the question as to how deer catch it from
other deer.) She was going to get back to the group on monday. I was
not able to find anything on the net about that link.

(There's many different prion diseases, and if this is the same one
that caused a few human deaths, then how come there have not been a
lot more human deaths? Lots of wild rabbits get eaten every year.)

The posters in misc.rural are pretty concerned as several of them
raise cattle. The group has a chronic problem with trolls cross
posting to the animal politics groups and the veggy groups, so you
will need to pick and choose which to read. The main thread is "Holy
****" G.

She gives an article URL and did any one read it

I didn't read it, because what she had to say was good enough for me. ;o)

Let us all remember that one cow was found to have the disease and it was
found to have come from Canada two years ago. Also there is no human
response to the disease yet here in the US or Canada from what I have heard
in the form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Well it's a little too soon to track that. But there have been cases
(not-trackable to cause) of CJ disease in the US.

Also something to remember is that when disease was found in Great Britain
in 1994

Is that the year they admitted to having it or actually found it? My
understanding from articles is GB kept it quiet for some time and that is
why they suffered the deaths and financial losses that they did.

stamping your feet about the AID epidemic in Africa
The children have nothing or no one to help.

Let's not go there, start a new thread about it if you wish, else I'm apt
to say something really stupid and insensitive like "They have Oprah" and I
don't want to do that. We can discuss MCD if we want, for goodness sake.

some of Canadian members seem to be gleeful

I didn't get that impression at all. I sure can understand the feelings of
"what goes around comes around" as far as how Canada was treated like it
had the plague and our officials are pooing pooing our problem and saying
"low/minimal risk". Like excuse me, I possibly ate this GD cow and there is
no test or cure and the disease is like really awful to die from? Don't be
telling me "low risk, or even very low risk" after I've eaten the dang
thing!!! I like to make a choice when it comes to risky behavior.

what would happen in both the US, Canada and Europe if MCD got into the
Holstein herds. Holsteins produce 95% of the milk worldwide.

Hate to burst your bubble, Tom, but apparently you haven't been keeping up
with this current story. 1) It was a Dairy Cow and 2) It doesn't get into
the milk (at least that is what they're telling us). All farms under
quarantine right now are Dairy Farms.

Let's just hope that now something will we done

On that note, I fully agree!! Micro Chip those doggies, E I E I O!
~ jan

~Keep 'em Wet~
Zone 7a

"~ jan JJsPond.us" wrote in message
...
Clyde asked
The Question I have is why only one cow in the Middle of Washington
State?

Probably the first one that showed a problem and got tested?

Supposedly there were 70 some that came from the same original farm, and
they're tracking all those down. Since they're dairy cows I assume we're
not in dire trouble if none of the others have been slaughtered as of yet.

In Canada, were they dairy or beef cows that tested positive? I'm not
about
to place blame either way. What's true and/or what really is we don't find
out till 20 years, since our governments can seem to keep their own
information straight. So far I've heard that "Daisy" was 12 yo, 6 yo, 4.5
yo. Sheesh. I think we can trust she was a cow. ;o) ~ jan

On 27 Dec 2003 21:09:32 GMT, EROSPAM (Ka30P) wrote:

Latest word is the cow came from Canada
and there will be more.
(NOT to get in the middle of the strains
of "Blame Canada" being of Canadian birth
mineself, but that is what we are hearing
now)


ka30p
http://www.geocities.com/watergarden...dors/home.html

See my ponds thru the seasons and/or my filter design:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/

~Keep 'em Defrosted~
Tri-Cities, WA Zone 7a



To e-mail see website

Check the cbc.ca website... There seems to be a problem on the age of the
animal.. Apparently no one can decide on the age of the cow... I think the
article mentioned that the US records show the animal to be a little over
four years old, and the rancher they are interogating on the Canadian side
mentioned it was born in 1997.. About two years difference... Something has
gone astray here and there is going to be a bit of a wait.. At least the
Canadians never shut of the imprtation of the beef from the younger animals,
which has to be a bit of relief for the US ranchers.. Also, I thought the
other day Mr Limbaugh had a guest on talking about this situation... I
thought he mentioned something along the lines about cattle being this old
are generally have thier meat ground, typically used for Pooch food, and
often sold to fast food restaurants for patties or taco meat.. Makes me
think about a certain restuarant a few years back, using imported meat from
Oz.. Did anyone mention it was Kangaroo?

I think we need to sit back a bit and see what comes from this.. Theres
something not being said ( well D'uh, hard to trust any news source... thank
you big bro... ).. Its nice to vent some steam but I know we are semi
reasonable ( or at least I try to be ) and we can wait out the ride.

Tim...

"~ jan JJsPond.us" wrote in message
...

some of Canadian members seem to be gleeful

I didn't get that impression at all. I sure can understand the feelings of
"what goes around comes around" as far as how Canada was treated like it
had the plague and our officials are pooing pooing our problem and saying
"low/minimal risk". Like excuse me, I possibly ate this GD cow and there
is
no test or cure and the disease is like really awful to die from? Don't be
telling me "low risk, or even very low risk" after I've eaten the dang
thing!!! I like to make a choice when it comes to risky behavior.


On that note, I fully agree!! Micro Chip those doggies, E I E I O!
~ jan

~Keep 'em Wet~
Zone 7a

This is exactly our point up here in Canada Jan.... WHen it happened to us
the US AG dept was all over it spouting the "risks". Now that it's on US
soil its nothing to worry about. As for your microchip comment you don't
know how true that is!!! Here in Canada a cattle health registry was formed
in response to 2 things.The BSE and H&M outbreak in Britain and the EU
demanded that any country that wanted to export to the EU must have one in
place. What this means that in our case here in Canada when an animal leaves
its farm of origin it must be tagged with a registry tag. The tags can only
be bought from authorized dealers and they contain a barcode. When the tag
is put on an animal a stack of paperwork must be filled out with a history
on the animal. That tag stays with the animal right to the packer. If there
is a problem it can quickly and accurately be traced through the system. No
animal can move through an auction or sale without a tag.
Now the US does not have any such program in place. This is due to the
lobbying of the US Cattlemens Assoc. They have been stalling this for at
least 5 years, if not longer. The EU keeps giving the US an extension based
on the bogus word of the Cattlemens Assoc saying that they are "working" on
it. The Canadian program has offered to go down to the US, offered it's
research into tag life, offered it's tracking software... Even gone so far
as to offer to set the damn program up from start to finish and the US
Cattlemen have refused! Why?? Stubborness (sp?) is my best bet. They are
holding on to a century old way of thinking that they know what's best for
the industry, all the while burying their collective heads in the manure
pile...
Janet

Well Janet, you aren't gonna appreciate the latest news. They're
(newspaper) saying since they've (USDA, I assume) figured out this
"Holstein" cow came out of Canada that we can still consider the US disease
free. That importing nations should (trust in us) open their borders to our
beef. IMO, if I was an import nation I'd be saying, "I don't think so,
bub!" I want to know where those 73 other cows are (that came in with
Daisy) that they've yet to track down! I'm not eating any beef till I know,
and I want them all tested to see if Daisy was (most likely) a singular
incident (as they are also claiming).

As far as head in the manure, I sure hope they're paying attention to the
rancher who may have to kill all 400 calves because he didn't tag them.
Seems one of Daisy's offspring is among them, but they don't know which
one. I can't imagine running a business like that, not knowing where your
critters come from. Thank goodness our government will compensate these
people, since it is they who make and decide on the rules. Time to kick the
Cattlemen's ASSociation in the rump roast if you ask me. ~ jan
Zone 7a

This is exactly our point up here in Canada Jan.... WHen it happened to us
the US AG dept was all over it spouting the "risks". Now that it's on US
soil its nothing to worry about. As for your microchip comment you don't
know how true that is!!! Here in Canada a cattle health registry was formed
in response to 2 things.The BSE and H&M outbreak in Britain and the EU
demanded that any country that wanted to export to the EU must have one in
place. What this means that in our case here in Canada when an animal leaves
its farm of origin it must be tagged with a registry tag. The tags can only
be bought from authorized dealers and they contain a barcode. When the tag
is put on an animal a stack of paperwork must be filled out with a history
on the animal. That tag stays with the animal right to the packer. If there
is a problem it can quickly and accurately be traced through the system. No
animal can move through an auction or sale without a tag.
Now the US does not have any such program in place. This is due to the
lobbying of the US Cattlemens Assoc. They have been stalling this for at
least 5 years, if not longer. The EU keeps giving the US an extension based
on the bogus word of the Cattlemens Assoc saying that they are "working" on
it. The Canadian program has offered to go down to the US, offered it's
research into tag life, offered it's tracking software... Even gone so far
as to offer to set the damn program up from start to finish and the US
Cattlemen have refused! Why?? Stubborness (sp?) is my best bet. They are
holding on to a century old way of thinking that they know what's best for
the industry, all the while burying their collective heads in the manure
pile...
Janet

I was just reading that Jan... Up here we are getting that our Canadian
AG Dept. is not sure that the tag in question belonged to "Daisy". The
information doesn't match. According to the tag she was supposed to be 6 but
the US AG dept is saying that she was only 4 or 4 /12 (and standing by that
"fact"). DNA testing is now being done to try to verify "Daisy's" identity.
Now that leaves a real dilemma doesn't it !?! That would mean at least 2
more of her calves are out there somewhere if she does prove to be 6!
Apparently our media is reporting that it's common practice for tags to be
removed (contrary to our law) when cattle cross the border from Canada into
the US. This is why the tag is in question. American ranchers and dairies
remove them to insert their own herd id. Apparently from what our media is
reporting that the dairy kept the tags of the imported cattle but took them
out and put them back in when either shipping them back to Canada or sending
to slaughter! O It's looking like he didn't get the right tag back in
possibly... The problem arises in a case like this and when millions of
animals a year are moving across the border and back again....

I am of the opinion that the US Cattlemens Assoc doesn't give a rat's ass
for the little guy with a herd of a couple dozen grazing his back 20. They
have planted themselves firmly in the pockets of the big 3 packers that
control everything.... You'd be surprised Jan and how most ranchers operate.
Many seem to be firmly planted in running the ranch like great-grandpappy
did. O They feel if it was good enough for him it's good enough for YOU to
eat! Needless to say when one mentions the way beef cattle are moved to
several farms often in 2 seperate countries over their short lives (less
than 2 years in most cases) and what that can mean if there is a disease
outbreak they laugh and say "It ain't gonna happen here"..... I guess it did
huh?
Janet


"~ jan JJsPond.us" wrote in message
...
Well Janet, you aren't gonna appreciate the latest news. They're
(newspaper) saying since they've (USDA, I assume) figured out this
"Holstein" cow came out of Canada that we can still consider the US
disease
free. That importing nations should (trust in us) open their borders to
our
beef. IMO, if I was an import nation I'd be saying, "I don't think so,
bub!" I want to know where those 73 other cows are (that came in with
Daisy) that they've yet to track down! I'm not eating any beef till I
know,
and I want them all tested to see if Daisy was (most likely) a singular
incident (as they are also claiming).

As far as head in the manure, I sure hope they're paying attention to the
rancher who may have to kill all 400 calves because he didn't tag them.
Seems one of Daisy's offspring is among them, but they don't know which
one. I can't imagine running a business like that, not knowing where your
critters come from. Thank goodness our government will compensate these
people, since it is they who make and decide on the rules. Time to kick
the
Cattlemen's ASSociation in the rump roast if you ask me. ~ jan
Zone 7a

This is exactly our point up here in Canada Jan.... WHen it happened to
us
the US AG dept was all over it spouting the "risks". Now that it's on US
soil its nothing to worry about. As for your microchip comment you don't
know how true that is!!! Here in Canada a cattle health registry was
formed
in response to 2 things.The BSE and H&M outbreak in Britain and the EU
demanded that any country that wanted to export to the EU must have one
in
place. What this means that in our case here in Canada when an animal
leaves
its farm of origin it must be tagged with a registry tag. The tags can
only
be bought from authorized dealers and they contain a barcode. When the
tag
is put on an animal a stack of paperwork must be filled out with a
history
on the animal. That tag stays with the animal right to the packer. If
there
is a problem it can quickly and accurately be traced through the system.
No
animal can move through an auction or sale without a tag.
Now the US does not have any such program in place. This is due to the
lobbying of the US Cattlemens Assoc. They have been stalling this for at
least 5 years, if not longer. The EU keeps giving the US an extension
based
on the bogus word of the Cattlemens Assoc saying that they are "working"
on
it. The Canadian program has offered to go down to the US, offered it's
research into tag life, offered it's tracking software... Even gone so
far
as to offer to set the damn program up from start to finish and the US
Cattlemen have refused! Why?? Stubborness (sp?) is my best bet. They are
holding on to a century old way of thinking that they know what's best
for
the industry, all the while burying their collective heads in the manure
pile...
Janet

Common sense does not seem to be to common.. You would think to insure the
integrity of the heard they would leave the tags alone and use another tag
along side of it... The problem with not knowing where Daisy came from is
going to be an intresting case ( like I mentioned at the bottom of the
thread ). Not trying to point fingers, but when there is a removal of the
takes it defianatly upsets the apple cart, making things a lot harder to
prove and yes, much more expensive to the tax payer in eithier country.. As
far as the US being BSE free, people must remeber the one that was found in
Canada originated from the US which was proven beyond a shadow of doubt...
But then again, it doesn't happen here in the US of A does it??

Tim..
-
"Janet" wrote in message
...
I was just reading that Jan... Up here we are getting that our Canadian
AG Dept. is not sure that the tag in question belonged to "Daisy". The
information doesn't match. According to the tag she was supposed to be 6
but
the US AG dept is saying that she was only 4 or 4 /12 (and standing by
that
"fact"). DNA testing is now being done to try to verify "Daisy's"
identity.
Now that leaves a real dilemma doesn't it !?! That would mean at least 2
more of her calves are out there somewhere if she does prove to be 6!
Apparently our media is reporting that it's common practice for tags to be
removed (contrary to our law) when cattle cross the border from Canada
into
the US. This is why the tag is in question. American ranchers and dairies
remove them to insert their own herd id. Apparently from what our media is
reporting that the dairy kept the tags of the imported cattle but took
them
out and put them back in when either shipping them back to Canada or
sending
to slaughter! O It's looking like he didn't get the right tag back in
possibly... The problem arises in a case like this and when millions of
animals a year are moving across the border and back again....

I am of the opinion that the US Cattlemens Assoc doesn't give a rat's
ass
for the little guy with a herd of a couple dozen grazing his back 20. They
have planted themselves firmly in the pockets of the big 3 packers that
control everything.... You'd be surprised Jan and how most ranchers
operate.
Many seem to be firmly planted in running the ranch like great-grandpappy
did. O They feel if it was good enough for him it's good enough for YOU
to
eat! Needless to say when one mentions the way beef cattle are moved to
several farms often in 2 seperate countries over their short lives (less
than 2 years in most cases) and what that can mean if there is a disease
outbreak they laugh and say "It ain't gonna happen here"..... I guess it
did
huh?
Janet


"~ jan JJsPond.us" wrote in message
...
Well Janet, you aren't gonna appreciate the latest news. They're
(newspaper) saying since they've (USDA, I assume) figured out this
"Holstein" cow came out of Canada that we can still consider the US
disease
free. That importing nations should (trust in us) open their borders to
our
beef. IMO, if I was an import nation I'd be saying, "I don't think so,
bub!" I want to know where those 73 other cows are (that came in with
Daisy) that they've yet to track down! I'm not eating any beef till I
know,
and I want them all tested to see if Daisy was (most likely) a singular
incident (as they are also claiming).

As far as head in the manure, I sure hope they're paying attention to
the
rancher who may have to kill all 400 calves because he didn't tag them.
Seems one of Daisy's offspring is among them, but they don't know which
one. I can't imagine running a business like that, not knowing where
your
critters come from. Thank goodness our government will compensate these
people, since it is they who make and decide on the rules. Time to kick
the
Cattlemen's ASSociation in the rump roast if you ask me. ~ jan
Zone 7a

This is exactly our point up here in Canada Jan.... WHen it happened to
us
the US AG dept was all over it spouting the "risks". Now that it's on
US
soil its nothing to worry about. As for your microchip comment you
don't
know how true that is!!! Here in Canada a cattle health registry was
formed
in response to 2 things.The BSE and H&M outbreak in Britain and the EU
demanded that any country that wanted to export to the EU must have one
in
place. What this means that in our case here in Canada when an animal
leaves
its farm of origin it must be tagged with a registry tag. The tags can
only
be bought from authorized dealers and they contain a barcode. When the
tag
is put on an animal a stack of paperwork must be filled out with a
history
on the animal. That tag stays with the animal right to the packer. If
there
is a problem it can quickly and accurately be traced through the
system.
No
animal can move through an auction or sale without a tag.
Now the US does not have any such program in place. This is due to
the
lobbying of the US Cattlemens Assoc. They have been stalling this for
at
least 5 years, if not longer. The EU keeps giving the US an extension
based
on the bogus word of the Cattlemens Assoc saying that they are
"working"
on
it. The Canadian program has offered to go down to the US, offered it's
research into tag life, offered it's tracking software... Even gone so
far
as to offer to set the damn program up from start to finish and the US
Cattlemen have refused! Why?? Stubborness (sp?) is my best bet. They
are
holding on to a century old way of thinking that they know what's best
for
the industry, all the while burying their collective heads in the
manure
pile...
Janet