BSE. Mad Cow. Utter nonsense.
The craze that has all but incapacitated the Canadian cattle industry in America has struck again. For those of you that do not recall, or do not care in the least, a diseased cow of Canadian origin was found integrated with a herd of untainted US cattle back in 2003. This typhoid heifer spread more panic than degenerative health through the beef industry populus, but the economic effects still find resonance for Canadian beef merchants at present.
Today, it seems that a new case of Mad Cow was found in the United States, but this time the origin of the bovine was not been disclosed. Interesting that there is not more information available as of yet, considering the severity of the consequences. According to some news outlets, the Canadian beef industry lost nearly 7 billion dollars due to the closing of the cattle trade border... a result of fear over one cow rather than the fact of its source. An inquiry into the 2003 case saw possibilities of the cattle feed (highly probable that it was US produced) being the cause of the ill-fated cow's condition, but more publicity was afforded to the passport and nationality of the diseased one. The safety standards and practice of operation for Canadian ranchers were shot to the ground, and trust in many exported products to the US began to wan.
During the press conferences back then, the USDA officials and investigators were absolutely unwavering in their speech to avoid implicating blame towards any domestic fronts. All of the responsibility went North of the border. The event was almost as costly as the World Health Organization declaring Toronto an unsafe travel destination a few years ago due to the SARS "epidemic".
Regardless, whether any of those past dealings and inquiries were fair does not matter at this point. If it is found that this new strain of BSE and the cow itself can all be attributed to US raising and supervision, I hope that the information is divulged to confirm this time around. Seeing as Tom Cruise's outburst during a Matt Lauer interview has taken precedence over this story in nearly all news services, my optimism for transparency is pretty low.
My Cow Tip of the day... if it's underhyped, it's probably a cover-up.
Seriously though, if anyone cares, do you think that the USDA would intentionally downplay a new case, or redirect the blame to an already tainted source? Having seen some of the tactics used in the past, I'm not convinced that full accountability would be accepted. At least, it won't be reported much... that would cost a lot of people a lot of money. Blame Canada.
The craze that has all but incapacitated the Canadian cattle industry in America has struck again. For those of you that do not recall, or do not care in the least, a diseased cow of Canadian origin was found integrated with a herd of untainted US cattle back in 2003. This typhoid heifer spread more panic than degenerative health through the beef industry populus, but the economic effects still find resonance for Canadian beef merchants at present.
Today, it seems that a new case of Mad Cow was found in the United States, but this time the origin of the bovine was not been disclosed. Interesting that there is not more information available as of yet, considering the severity of the consequences. According to some news outlets, the Canadian beef industry lost nearly 7 billion dollars due to the closing of the cattle trade border... a result of fear over one cow rather than the fact of its source. An inquiry into the 2003 case saw possibilities of the cattle feed (highly probable that it was US produced) being the cause of the ill-fated cow's condition, but more publicity was afforded to the passport and nationality of the diseased one. The safety standards and practice of operation for Canadian ranchers were shot to the ground, and trust in many exported products to the US began to wan.
During the press conferences back then, the USDA officials and investigators were absolutely unwavering in their speech to avoid implicating blame towards any domestic fronts. All of the responsibility went North of the border. The event was almost as costly as the World Health Organization declaring Toronto an unsafe travel destination a few years ago due to the SARS "epidemic".
Regardless, whether any of those past dealings and inquiries were fair does not matter at this point. If it is found that this new strain of BSE and the cow itself can all be attributed to US raising and supervision, I hope that the information is divulged to confirm this time around. Seeing as Tom Cruise's outburst during a Matt Lauer interview has taken precedence over this story in nearly all news services, my optimism for transparency is pretty low.
My Cow Tip of the day... if it's underhyped, it's probably a cover-up.
Seriously though, if anyone cares, do you think that the USDA would intentionally downplay a new case, or redirect the blame to an already tainted source? Having seen some of the tactics used in the past, I'm not convinced that full accountability would be accepted. At least, it won't be reported much... that would cost a lot of people a lot of money. Blame Canada.
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