UNITED STATES.
NO MORE CASUALTIES.
Casualty cattle, referred to as downer cattle in the United States, will no longer be permitted to be processed in meat plants in the USA. The USDA are going to amend the laws, referring to cattle that are not able to walk.
This is being put into place, to try and restore customer confidence, after the shocking video tapes of cattle being mistreated, at the Hallmark beef plant and the numerous beef recalls.
Out of 34 million cattle slaughtered in the US last year, there were only 1000 downer cattle.
An animal like a human, can go down for many reasons, for example a broken leg on a prime steer should have no effect on the meat.
An animal that has fallen down in the truck transporting it, will be bruised and sore and has a 50/50 chance of getting up under its own steam, if left alone for 5 minutes.
These scenario’s are not the same as an emaciated cow, that has been ridden with sickness for a period of time and is already at deaths door.
The BSE media scare and the protests in South Korea, have made everyone assume that a sick cow, is infected with BSE.
This is like assuming that everyone involved in a car accident has HIV.
