Diseased animals are being marketed for food.

• Author: Bauston, Gene
• Position: Medicine & Health

A SICK COW, too weak to stand, is pulled off a track by a tractor and chain, then falls four feet to the ground. A frail, day-old calf is dragged through the auction ring by a back leg, while another calf lies comatose in a corner. These scenes are not isolated incidents. All across the nation, animals too sick or weak even to stand are being marketed and slaughtered for human food. These so-called "downed animals" suffer horribly, and the circulation of meat from them into our food supply poses a serious threat to human health.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture approves, even encourages, meat from diseased animals to be used for human food. In doing so, the USDA violates its legal obligations to protect consumers from hazardous meat products and prevent the inhumane treatment of animals. This irresponsible government policy is now being challenged in court by Farm Sanctuary, a national nonprofit animal protection organization, and Michael Baur, a lawyer. By suing the agency, we are asserting that the USDA is violating the law by approving this meat from diseased livestock for human food. Sheldon Eisenberg, an attorney who is representing the plaintiffs, states, "The law clearly prohibits diseased meat from being used in the food supply, and we intend to compel USDA to discontinue this irresponsible practice."

Many businesses and livestock industry groups have issued public statements condemning the use of diseased animals in the food supply, and they have attempted to address the problem through voluntary means. For example, some of the nation's largest fast-food chains--such as McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's--have voluntary policies banning the use of downed animals in their products, and even the USDA has an official policy banning downed animal meat from national food programs, including the National School Lunch Program. It is inconsistent and irresponsible that the USDA continues to approve meat from downed and diseased animals for human food for all other purposes.

On Oct. 4, 2001, the House of Representatives discussed an amendment to the Farm Bill to prohibit the sale of downed animals at livestock markets. Leading agricultural lawmakers, such as House Agriculture Committee Chairman Larry Combest (R.-Tex.), have voiced concerns over the human health risks and animal welfare problems associated with marketing downed livestock.

Nobody knows exactly what diseases afflict most of the thousands of downed animals slaughtered and approved for food under USDA inspection every year, but a brief review of USDA records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act is startling. Among the descriptions of downed animals approved for human food are those with yellow gelatinous edema, various infections (including mastiffs, enteritis, nephritis, peritonitis, and retriculitis), lesions, tumors, gangrene, hepatitis, pneumonia, and malignant lymphoma. Other diseases common in the U.S. livestock population afflicting downed animals include bovine immunodeficiency virus, bovine leukemia virus, and Johnes disease, a chronic diarrheal condition...