Now that is madness.

• Author: Peters, Charles
• Position: Department of agriculture's identification system - Brief article

In March, an Alabama cow was diagnosed with mad cow disease. An investigation was launched. In May, Scott Kilman of The Wall Street Journal reports, the case was closed, "without learning the animal's origins." They could not trace the cow to find out what other cattle it may have been in contact with and with whom it may have shared the contaminated feed that is the suspected source of the disease.

One reason officials could not find the animal's history is that cattle owners are not required to keep records of where cows come from and where they go. National livestock identification programs do exist, reports Kilman, in "Canada, [the] European Union, and other countries that have elaborate systems to trace sick animals." Why don't we...