Smoke and Mirrors

[cowman]

Why are the Americans making such a big fuss about where this cow came from? We definitely need to know for safety but don't try to make it look like we are some sort of evil backwards bunch of hicks? The fact of the matter is they are screwed just like us and no amount of smoke and mirrors are going to change that fact! That cow went into the food chain and right now some evil little prion might be rotting someones brain! Maybe even some little Japanese brain?? And maybe the other 73 cows from Canada are right now spreading their evil offspring across America?
Now the American government might be able to BS their population...after all they bought the one about Iraq, but I doubt those old Oriental boys will buy it?
Time to get real and face reality. We(North America) have a problem...not just Canada!

[kato]

The countries that have banned American beef couldn't care less where it came from. The fact is that it happened, and that's all it takes.

When we had that British cow a few years ago, we tracked down all imported cattle, and destroyed them. This ain't going to happen this time. The market is too integrated. This is perhaps the only way our southern neighbours will see this.

As for the Americans taking more action against Canada, we have to remember that any argument that is used against Canadian beef will be used by the Japanese etc against American beef.

[cakadu]

Awww, come on now. They are saying that the cow in question was approximately 6.5 years old and not 4.5 like originally thought. We banned the use of ruminant materials in ruminant feed in 1997 - as stated in another post. That would make this calf approximately 4 months old before the ban went on. How much feed would this little calf have eaten?

What would the chances be of her having gotten anything contaminated?

Regardless of what she was fed, she was still in the U.S. when this happened. Does it really matter where she originated from?

What is more in question is what are we as the North American beef industry going to do about this?

[cowman]

Linda: She was a dairy calf and I think they start feeding them fairly young. I wonder if she was on a milk replacer?
On the Rutherford show yesterday they had some guy explaining how the feedmill business works in North America. Apparently there is a free flow of products used in formulating feed concentrates. Canada and the US have exactly the same standards and price determines where a product is purchased. So just because a feedmill is in Canada, it does not mean that the products they use come from Canada! The same thing in the States...there product could very well come from Canada.
This guy also said since the ruminant ban was put in place, in both countries in Aug. 1997, there had only been one violation that inspectors caught. Guess where? In the state of Washington!!!