First U.S. mad cow case confirmed

[quade 4]

Especially disturbing since the cow in this case appears to have come from Canada.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20031227/D7VMRP180.html

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[Guest]

Quote

My cousin and I were at a golf club that he was a member of. A guy starts with the "dumb hick" attitude. In a condescending tone, he says "So I understand that you people breed cattle". My cousin dry replies, "No, we just watch. They do that themselves."

I snarfed half my drink out my nose.

As I just did, spewing on my monitor. THAT was funny!!!

"The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat."

[jumpinfarmer 0]

Especily in the northern states it's very common for dairy cows to come from Canada. Thats why there markets took such a hit when our border was closed to there cows in May. The Canadian case also happend in Alberta where the Washington cow is said to have come from.

[Faber 0]

the rest of us has known it a loong time..

your president were one of the first cows to get it i even think he imported it

serrius not a funny desice,i just couldnt resist

Stay safe
Stefan Faber

[freeflybella 0]

Quote

The only ones (besides country folk) that tend to know are the hard-core Vegitarians, then they only know what their propaganda tells them. Worthless, absolutely worthless.

That's a pretty bold statement there, big chief.

WE, as Americans, don't know a whole lot about our food supply by design. The folks who supply our food don't want culpability - and WE who eat our food want plausible deniability. When everyone tells, and knows what really goes on - no one can claim ignorance and innocense.

There's propaganda on both sides of that there electric fence.

Action expresses priority. - Mahatma Ghandi

[swilson 0]

Quote

Especially disturbing since the cow in this case appears to have come from Canada.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20031227/D7VMRP180.html

That this animal was infected when it left Canada still remains to be proven. It may be a case of irresponsible media speculation fueling the fire (not that this has ever happened before). After all, neither side of the border can even agree on the age of the animal.

Until more testing is done on the herds in question, it is impossible to determine where this animal contracted the disease. The short story on BSE is that it is caused by the mutation of prions. One of the known causes of infection is "cannibalization" through infected feed. Another less known cause is through exposure to certain chemicals widely used in the cattle industry for parasite (ie: lice) control.

The US thinks they were "mad cow free" and it's Canada's fault? I bet that if enough tests were done on enough animals in the country (the hitch is that an animal has to be dead to test it), you'd find it's there and always has been. At the same time, I'm not saying we're entirely innocent, either, but if you look hard enough for something, you'll usually find it. (Except possibly in the case of WMD)

Another (and more likely) reason that it has not been found until now is that most farmers, when they have a crippled animal, do the humane thing and put the animal out of its misery. Then they bury it themselves. It would be written off as a loss, and life would go on. There is no FDA or Ministry of Agriculture involvement and no tests are done. It is a sign of hard times in the farming community when they are willing to take a crippled animal to slaughter knowing full well that they will only get pennies per pound for it BECAUSE it's crippled and will only be used for dog food.

The finger pointing should wait until the test results are in.

To quote Canpara, "Knowledge dispels fear."

[jumpinfarmer 0]

Great post.
I hope anything I said didn't offend you. I don't think that it's a Canadian or US problem, it's just something that happens. Know one realy knows how BSE gets started. The cronic wasting in deer and elk in the western states is thought to be spontaniuos. Maybe BSE is the same way. One thing is for sure the farmer who sold that cow did all US farmers a great dis service. His greed may cost the ag industry billions this year, and for what a few dollars on a cull cow thats already made him his money in milk.