Mad Cow Not in Canada

[topper]

I guess its just about a done deal. On tuesday Lyle Vanclief said he would start the process to open the border to american feeders year round. If our feeders could go south I don't see any reason why the american feeders shouldn't be able to come north. As long as the rules are the same for both sides. I actually think that the canadian government has been using the blue tongue and anaplasmosis issue as a way of keeping those yankee feeders out even though the science did not support this. After all mosquitos don't stop at the us border so if these diseases where going to be a problem they would be here already, would they not?

[cowman]

Topper: I don't know. Hopefully our government boys are right up on this and will do the right thing. Rsomer gives a pretty convincing argument why they should be kept out.
What bothers me about this whole thing is it almost seems like the fix is in! Like the Americans see this as a golden opportunity to force open our borders to these cattle. I get a little leery of the whole thing when certain American states won't accept blue tongue cattle? But they expect us to?
Now I consider Neil Janke a decent man who has the best interests of the cattle industry at heart. But maybe we don't know the whole deal? Maybe he has to cut this deal to get the border open for our cattle? We just don't know.

[kato]

Part of opening the border should include testing before they are allowed in.

We live near the TB zone in Manitoba, and cattle from there have to have permits before they can be moved.

I know two brothers who live across the road from each other. One can't sell cattle without a permit, and has had his whole herd tested twice, and will once again before spring. His brother, who's house he could hit with a rock if he wanted, doesn't have to do anything. Why is one herd at a higher risk than the other? No real reason, but you have to draw the line somewhere. I say an international border is a fairly big line.

If we take on an unnecessary disease, we will only have more borders closed to us. Is it worth it? I think it's a decision that needs input from more than just one segment of the industry.

This sort of coercive tactic is also pretty standard operating procedure in the States. The entire government system works on "you do this for me, and I'll do that for you" from the top down. Just watch the lobbying and wheeling dealing that goes on to pass just about any bill down there.

[topper]

I still think that these diseases would be here already if they are transmitted my mosquitos. After all if a herd in North Dakota has the disease there could be a canadian cow across the fence from it. At a meeting the other day I asked Allan Preston, who is our chief vet in manitoba, if he thought there where any scientific reasons for this ban and he seemed to think it was more politcal than scientific. So if we are willing to use lame health issues to keep out the american feeders, why would we expect the yanks to do anything different. I'm not saying that health issues shouldn't be used to restrict cattle movement, I'm just saying that if you are going to do that you better have the science to back it up. And Kato I agree that the producers in the tb zone are getting a raw deal, another case of phoney science used to sweep a problem under the table.