Current Press Releases

The U.S. Balks at Another "Mad Cow" Case in North America

Farm Sanctuary Reissues Call for Ban on Canadian Beef Imports and a Permanent Ban on the Marketing of Downed Animals

Watkins Glen, NY - January 30, 2006 - In the wake of the discovery of yet another case of "mad cow" disease in an animal from Canada, Farm Sanctuary, the nation's leading farm animal advocacy organization, is calling upon the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to enact stricter safeguards to protect the American public. In addition to an immediate ban on imports of all Canadian beef, Farm Sanctuary is demanding that the USDA enact a permanent ban on the marketing of downed animals - for both human and animal consumption -within the U.S.

Officials from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) report that the latest infected cow was just under seven years old, meaning that the cow became infected after the supposed safeguards to halt the spread of BSE were implemented. Regarding the source of infection, the CFIA speculates that "it is probable that the source is contaminated feed."

Cows may become infected through contaminated feed because, although the use of rendered "downer" cattle-those too weak or sick to stand-is prohibited in cattle feed, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continues to allow their use in other types of animal feed. These possibly-infected cattle remains can find their way back into cattle feed because poultry waste is commonly recycled as components of cattle feed.

"The confirmation that Canada's latest 'mad cow' was infected with the disease after the implementation of safety measures is truly frightening," said Gene Baur (formerly Bauston), Farm Sanctuary's president. "It should be a wake-up call to everyone that current measures are both inadequate and ineffectual."

Although past discoveries of BSE have triggered bans on Canadian beef imports, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns refuses to enforce a ban on Canadian beef and cattle imports in the current situation. Johanns has further publicly raised the possibility of lifting the current, tenuous ban on marketing downed cattle for human food.

Concluded Bauston, "Americans should be outraged by the politically-driven maneuvers that prevent the U.S. government from acting swiftly to protect its citizens from BSE. As long as the USDA continues to turn a blind eye to the mad cow crisis, it will continue to compromise the health of U.S. citizens."

Additional information on Farm Sanctuary's campaign to permanently end the marketing of downer cattle can be found at http://www.nodowners.org.

About Farm Sanctuary
Farm Sanctuary is the nation's leading farm animal protection organization. Since incorporating in 1986, Farm Sanctuary has worked to expose and stop cruel practices of the "food animal" industry through research and investigations, legal and institutional reforms, public awareness projects, youth education, and direct rescue and refuge efforts. Farm Sanctuary shelters in Watkins Glen, N.Y., and Orland, Calif., provide lifelong care for hundreds of rescued animals, who have become ambassadors for farm animals everywhere by educating visitors about the realities of factory farming. Additional information can be found at www.farmsanctuary.org or by calling 607-583-2225.