[gardeners] Re:OT - Mad cow disease in cats

bsk (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Sun, 11 Mar 2001 11:51:38 -0600 

  I don't know all that much about Mad Cow Disease and I think that the
officials also have a whole lot to learn. I understand that the commercial beef
market ( and other meat animals) does have a lot of unknowns for the consumer
when they go to the meat counter and even to Mickey D's. I do feel like there
is a up and coming opportunity for the ranchers to have their own local meat
market with the animals they have grown to be sold to the public. If there is a
test that could be done on healthy cows to confirm no evidence of the dreaded
BSE's this would make his meat "prime" for sure.
    As a cattle grower like us although we just have about 100 head, which is
really small by meat production standards, this is a terrifying thing to have
get into the U.S. What is even worse is the publics own panic over something
they may not know enough facts about to think rationally when making a beef
purchase. This is a huge scare to the U.S. meat industry and I for one would
not feed these feed ingredients just for the simple reason it could wipe me out
and my family would be without income. Why would a person take care of animals
in such a way that not only jeopardizes the public but your family?
     From what I understand there is more of a problem as far as wiping out the
beef industry with hoof and mouth disease than with Mad Cow. I am beginning to
think that mad cow disease in the meat industry is or will be similar to the
AIDS virus when it was first found out by the public. Major terror, some
deaths, eventual education on avoidance, some new meat production rules and
checks then the public will get back to understanding and coping with obtaining
safe meat for the table.Until there is widespread confirmation I would try to
see that the beef I purchase is U.S. beef not something foreign. How to find
that out I just don't know. I am just glad we have our own cattle to butcher
for the table.
     Take any animal or human, submit them to numerous tests and you will find
"something" wrong with them caused by something common . Keep it up and we will
have to use all our knowledge we have gained on this garden list to become
vegetarians so we can haves something to eat. At least that is until they find
something wrong with vegetables that will kill us.

Ranchmama
**************************

Margaret Lauterbach wrote:

> The March 12 Newsweek magazine has a cover story on mad cow disease
> reporting that cats fed beef byproducts in cat food have developed symptoms
> of BSE.   Prions seem to reside primarily in the brain and nerve fibers,
> including the spinal cord. Should Americans stop eating beef?  The article
> certainly gave me more than pause. I still have some Wranglers in the
> refrig which I'll toss out, and I won't buy hamburger again.  They haven't
> found BSE in America, but critics say they would if they looked harder.  Of
> that British ground mad cow feed, it was shipped all over the world, to
> more than 80 countries. Indonesia imported some 600,000 metric tons, and
> Thailand 185,000 metric tons.  These countries are apparently not
> monitoring for disease in animals there.  Scares me. Margaret L