Organizing for America | Beth's Blog: Thanks Humane Society, injustice undone

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Thanks Humane Society, injustice undone

By Beth Adams - Feb 22nd, 2008 at 10:39 pm EST

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It may have been overlooked in the media, but from the report I read at the Humane Society, I understand that all the slaughterhouse people had to do was get the cattle through one gate, that if they walked through the gate, then they were legally fit for slaughter and considered meeting USDA inspection. This cannot be a singular incident but an underlying culture at this slaughterhouse operation. This was a long term HSUS undercover investigation. Based upon what I laid out above, is it possible that the USDA inspectors witnessed this animal torture periodically? Or did the plant only torture when the inspectors were not around? I would like to know how many days of the week or month the USDA inspectors worked at this facility. Some subordinate employees have had charges filed against them, lets hope their management is prosecuted as well.

It was a sickening video, and I hope that it does spur folks into supporting the Humane Society. The Humane Society is just about the only advocacy group that is successful in getting this kind of important information to the public. At times, they do this at great peril and with the advent of the internet, their timely information prevented millions of children that participate in the National School Lunch program to continue to ingest possibly contaminated meat.

The main concern about downed cows is from the following:
The practice of slaughtering downed cows is especially troubling now that the link between downed cattle and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as mad cow disease, has been firmly established. Of the 15 known cases of BSE-infected animals discovered in North America, at least 12 involved downed animals.

My well loved 52 year old next door neighbor here in Illinois contracted and died from the human form of mad cow disease, transmissible spongiform encephalopathy; Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease. It went misdiagnosed as depression for several months, and as she slowly started losing motor functions her physician sent her to a psychologist to help her overcome her self-induced symptoms. It wasn't until she lost almost all motor function, that she was allowed to be admitted to the hospital where the physicians' intern called the diagnosis upon his first visit and a brain biopsy was performed that confirmed our suspicions. Her family opted for non-intervention and without nourishment she passed away at home after two weeks. We shared a fence for 21 years, we share the same birthday, we shared our lives.

Creutzfeldt-Jacob has been deemed a one in a million disease. My Aunt's sister in North Carolina died from this disease the summer before my neighbor so as symptoms expressed themselves, I became more adamant that she was not suffering from any type of depression that something more serious was working upon her mind and body.
My Aunt's sister must have had a really good physician because she was diagnosed much earlier than most people and lived for about 3 years before finally succumbed to the disease. She volunteered to be a research patient throughout and is the longest lived study patient in the history of the disease if I recall correctly. How is it that I personally know 2 people who have contracted this rare disease? This is why I worry about the meat that you eat.

One thing that has not happened in the media is taking the discussion one step further. Next step: To the cattle lots where these ruminant animals subsist upon a mostly corn diet that adds pounds but destroys the neutrality of their highly evolved digestive systems. I'm probably preaching to the choir but here is a good discussion from PBS that reviews the issue well.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/meat/interviews/pollan.html

And for an enjoyable look into a story similar to 'where the corn grows' check out the King Corn movie. http://www.kingcorn.net/
You may be surprised and end up searching for your local natural and organic farmers this year.

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By Anne Feb 23rd 2008 at 1:30 am EST

Beth, thank you for such and informative post.

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