Representative Introduces Bill to Modify Downer Animal Regulation

Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Montana) recently introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would allow some downer cattle to enter the food supply.

Rehberg’s Consumer and Producer Protection Act of 2004 would allow downer cattle who cannot stand or walk on their own due to physical conditions such as a broken leg or temporary paralysis to be slaughtered and processed.

The bill would change the definition of a “non-ambulatory” animal (emphasis added),

The term ‘non-ambulatory’ shall apply to any cattle that, at the time of examination and inspection under section 3(a), is unable to rise from a recumbent position or unable to walk for any reason, including metabolic conditions or central nervous system disorders, unless the reason for such inability is fatigue, stress, obdurator nerve paralysis, obesity, or one or more broken or fractured appendages, severed tendons or ligaments, or dislocated joints.’

The bill is currently being considered by the House Agriculture Committee.

Source:

Rehlberg wants downer cattle redefined. Jo Dee Black, Great Falls Tribune (Montana), May 18, 2004.

U.S. House Resolution 4121 – Consumer and Producer Protection Act of 2004 (Downer Animal Bill)

Consumer and Producer Protection Act of 2004 (Introduced in House)

HR 4121 IH

108th CONGRESS

2d Session

H. R. 4121

To amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act to help ensure a healthy food supply, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

April 1, 2004

Mr. REHBERG (for himself and Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture


A BILL

To amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act to help ensure a healthy food supply, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the `Consumer and Producer Protection Act of 2004′.

SEC. 2. PREVENTION OF SLAUGHTER FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION OF CERTAIN CATTLE.

    (a) Non-Ambulatory Defined- Section 1 of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 601) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

    `(w) The term `non-ambulatory’ shall apply to any cattle that, at the time of examination and inspection under section 3(a), is unable to rise from a recumbent position or unable to walk for any reason, including metabolic conditions or central nervous system disorders, unless the reason for such inability is fatigue, stress, obdurator nerve paralysis, obesity, or one or more broken or fractured appendages, severed tendons or ligaments, or dislocated joints.’.

    (b) Prohibition on Allowing Certain Cattle to Pass Inspection- Section 3(a) of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 603(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: `All cattle found on such inspection to be non-ambulatory, to test positive for central nervous system disorders, to exhibit signs of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (including moribund condition, tetanus, or emaciation), or to be dead prior to examination and inspection shall be found to be adulterated for purposes of section 4.’.

PCRM Wants Schools to Stop Serving Beef

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine issued a press release in February urging schools across the United States to stop serving beef. It is sending letters to the 50 biggest school districts in the United States urging them to drop beef and go vegetarian.

In the press release, PCRM’s Jennifer Keller said,

The alarming reality is that because of lax regulations, poor enforcement, and very limited testing, the extent to which mad cow disease has entered the human food supply is unknown.

Veggie burgers, soy hot dogs, and other meatless menu choices are low in fat, high in fiber, aid children in achieving and maintaining a healthy weight, and are free of prions, the infectious agent in mad cow disease and vCJD.

A healthy vegetarian menu is a win-win situation for kids and adults.

According to the press release, “PCRM recommends that school lunch programs replace beef with soy, textured vegetable protein, and beans in menu items to assure that children in our schools have safe, healthy and tasty menu choices.”

Apparently since there wasn’t much hysteria over the discovery of a cow with mad cow disease in the United States, PCRM is going to do all it can to try to manufacture a little bit on its own.

Source:

PCRM calls on schools to drop beef from lunches due to mad cow threat. Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Press Release, February 10, 2004.

Americans Show Little, If Any, Let Up In Beef Eating

So far there doesn’t seem to have been any appreciable rush by people in the United States to abandon beef in the wake of the discovery of a cow with Mad Cow Disease in Washington State.

A January poll conducted by IPSOS U.S. Express for the American Farm Bureau Federation found that 74 percent of Americans said their beef consumption was about the same as it was before the Dec. 23 announcement of the infected cow.

Fifteen percent said their consumption of beef was down slightly or significantly, while 7 percent said their consumption of beef was up slightly or significantly. Four percent of respondents either did not eat beef or said they did not know whether their consumption of beef had increased, decreased or remained about the same.

Certainly fast food restaurants like McDonald’s were unfazed by the announcement. Sales at McDonald’s increased 12.2 percent in December — the ninth month in a row of increased sales for the fast food chain that had experienced slow growth the past couple years.

Source:

Poll: U.S. Still Eating Beef Despite Mad Cow Case. Reuters, January 12, 2004.

McDonald’s posts strong year-end sales. Dave Carpenter, Associated Press, January 27, 2004.

vCJD Deaths Increased Slightly in 2003

For the first time since 1998, the total number of people who died from variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease increased in 2003, but the total number of deaths from the disease is still consistent with a decline in cases of he disease according to Great Britain’s Department of Health.

In 2003, 18 people in Great Britain died from vCJD compared to 17 in 2002. Cases peaked in 2000 when 28 people died from the disease. Altogether, 139 people have died from vCJD in Great Britain and another 10 people outside that country since the Mad Cow Disease scare began. There are currently six known cases of people alive in Great Britain today who are believed to be afflicted with the disease.

Sources:

U.K. deaths from mad cow rise for first time since ’98. Heather Timmons, The New York Times, January 6, 2004.

Human form of mad cow killed at least 18. Morning Call (Allentown, PA), January 18, 2004.

Deaths up but human ‘mad cow’ data consistent with decline. Emma Ross, Associated Press, January 6, 2004.

Vegetarian Admits Joy Over BSE

Vegetarian Rani Sheen opens an op-ed for Eye Weekly about the BSE/vCJD scare thusly,

As a lifelong vegetarian, I can’t help but feel perversely jovial about the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE, or Mad Cow disease) crisis in the Canadian beef industry.

. . .

The mechanics and demands of meat industries are selfish, without concern for animal or human suffering, and ultimately unsustainable. If the threat of BSE can give people a scare, and a chance to reflect on the many problems inherent in consuming the products of meat farming, then bring it on. And now I feel too vegetarian for words, so I will go quietly back to my (disease-free) salad, where I belong.

I cannot imagine many other people admitting to feeling even perverse joy over the deaths of more than 100 people. It must take a special sort of person to maintain such high standards.

Source:

The bright side of Mad Cow. Rani Sheen, Eye Weekly, August 21, 2003.