S.D. ranchers join lawsuit over mad cow disease

[flounder]

S.D. ranchers join lawsuit over mad cow disease


New federal guidelines will expose U.S. consumers to a fatal disease from eating cattle contaminated by mad cow disease, a group of South Dakota ranchers and national cattle groups maintain in a new federal lawsuit.

The 41-page lawsuit – which includes South Dakota plaintiffs from Herreid, Watertown, Bowdle, Langford and Rapid City – was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in South Dakota.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and other federal agencies are named as defendants.

At issue is a Sept. 18 decision relaxing restrictions on imports of live cattle and edible bovine products from Canada and other regions.

If the rule is not blocked, it will "expose U.S. consumers to increased risk of an invariably fatal disease associated with consumption of BSE-contaminated meat, will increase the risk of invariably fatal BSE infection in cattle in the United States, and will expose U.S. cattle producers to severe economic hardship," the lawsuit states.


http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071026/NEWS/71026030/1001

http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071029/NEWS/710290318/1001



> If the rule is not blocked, it will "expose U.S. consumers to increased


> risk of an invariably fatal disease associated with consumption of BSE'



:lol: :lol: :lol2: :lol2: :disagree:


PLEASE tell me this is a joke ?

you have to be kidding me ?

this is about nothing more than commodities and futures.

IF it was about protecting the USA consumer, then why is the USA still feeding SRM i.e. cows to cows, and why is the bush administration still systematically covering up mad cow disease in the USA? why was mad cow testing shut down after the two atypical BSE BASE cases were found in Texas and Alabama, which is more virulent to humans than the UK BSE strain, why was that? why was the other Texas mad cow rendered without any test at all? why is there no talk about the now 5 documented atypical Nor-98 cases in the USA? it's nothing more than trying to corner the market. this BSE MRR policy bush and the OIE dreamed up, is a joke, one that will expose the globe to TSEs. ...


still disgusted in baycliff texas

tss

 

[Sandhusker]

Are you saying the new rule won't increase BSE risk?

 

[flounder]

Are you saying the new rule won't increase BSE risk?

im saying you r-calfers are a bunch of hypocrites.


the pot calling the kettle black.


im saying what i have said all along, N. America should be banned from exporting there BSE/BASE/Nor-98 atypical scrapie, typical scrapie, CWD, and TME all over the globe due to gws bse mrr. if you want to trade it between yourselves, it really does not matter, it's been going on for so long, you really think your going to stop it now?


the mad cows have been out of the barn for over a decade, both sides of the border, so it really does not matter. what really matters is passing the different strains around the globe, which is what r-calf wants, they want to corner that market with gw's bse mrr.


im saying this has nothing to do with consumer safety, as you and r-calf pretend. its all about commodities, futures, and cornering the market.


your only kidding yourself there sh nobody else.


the USDA has made it perfectly clear, they dont care.


and if you think, i think, that r-calf cares, and is now going to save everybody from mad cow disease, you got to be crazy.


is this clear enough sh?


BSE BASE MAD COW TESTING TEXAS, USA, AND CANADA, A REVIEW OF SORTS


http://madcowtesting.blogspot.com/


MADCOW USDA the untold story

http://madcowusda.blogspot.com/



MADCOW USDA the untold story continued

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=6472149427883113751&postID=4829467681293855400



tss

 

[Sandhusker]

You didn't answer my question.

 

[flounder]

You didn't answer my question.

i have answered it perfectly clear for the ones that can understand.

if your going to ban canada, you must ban the usa.

in fact, i would say the mad cow problem in the USA is worse.

at least canada is looking and documenting, instead of covering it up.

there feed ban is better too.

your barking up the wrong tree here sh.

you can't have your cake, and eat your ice cream too.

and just look at how far back USA mad cow really goes ;


To be published in the Proceedings of the
Fourth International Scientific Congress in
Fur Animal Production. Toronto, Canada,
August 21-28, 1988

Evidence That Transmissible Mink Encephalopathy
Results from Feeding Infected Cattle

R.F. Marsh* and G.R. Hartsough

•Department of Veterinary Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison,
Wisconsin 53706; and ^Emba/Creat Lakes Ranch Service, Thiensville, Wisconsin 53092


Since previous incidences of TME were associated with common or shared feeding
practices, we obtained a careful history of feed ingredients used over the past 12-18
months. The rancher was a "dead stock" feeder using mostly (>95%) downer or dead dairy
cattle and a few horses. Sheep had never been fed. ...


http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/mb/m09/tab05.pdf


but it was GWs BSE MRR policy that was the icing on the cake.

the legal trading of all strains of TSE globally.


tss

 

[Sandhusker]

It is a simple question that you still haven't answered. Either opening the border increases the risk as the ranchers alledge or it doesn't. That's what the case is about. You putting that little "lies" emoticon leads me to believe you don't think it will. So, again, are you saying that the new rule won't increase the risk of spreading BSE down here?

 

[flounder]

It is a simple question that you still haven't answered. Either opening the border increases the risk as the ranchers alledge or it doesn't. That's what the case is about. You putting that little "lies" emoticon leads me to believe you don't think it will. So, again, are you saying that the new rule won't increase the risk of spreading BSE down here?

i have answered it, if your gonna ban canada, you must ban the USA.

the new rule has nothing to do with consumer safety.

it's about putting more money in your pocket book sh.

end of discussion.


or better yet, maybe you should read up on past r-calf history;


BSE MRR TSS, R-CALF ON CANADA VS USA




Bill Rancher


Joined: 10 Feb 2005 Posts: 1418 Location: GWN Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 9:49
am Post subject:

Texan wrote:


Hey Terry, I'd like to get a little further clarification on something
if/when you have time. I'm not sure if I'm reading you correctly....

flounder wrote:

This is what sank my battleship in regards to testifying for r-calf. they
actually appoached me about it, but i told them i would be glad to testify,
but i was not stopping at the Canadian border, my testimony was to come
south as well if given the opportunity. and that ended that, but i did
supply them with a load of data, for whatever that was worth.


I highlighted the parts that confuse me. This almost makes it seem as if
R-CALF was asking you to testify for them, but changed their mind when they
found out that you were going to tell the WHOLE truth, instead of just the
truth as regards Canadian imports.

I thought that R-CALF was only interested in the WHOLE truth - not just the
selected parts of the truth that fit their protectionist agenda? After
reading your post, it makes a person wonder. Maybe I read it wrong...

Am I reading this correctly, Terry? That can't be right, can it? Thanks.


I was wondering exactly the same thing Texan.


_________________ Canadian Beef....A cut above the rest!






my answer to big muddy from canada ;



***


http://ranchers.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15704&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=12




http://ranchers.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15704&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=24



http://ranchers.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15704&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=36



http://ranchers.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15704&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=48


http://lists.ifas.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0701&L=sanet-mg&D=1&F=P&P=8374



tss

 

[Mrs.Greg]

Flounder quote
PLEASE tell me this is a joke ?

you have to be kidding me ?

this is about nothing more than commodities and futures.

Flounder quote



im saying you r-calfers are a bunch of hypocrites.


the pot calling the kettle black.

Flounder quote


im saying this has nothing to do with consumer safety, as you and r-calf pretend. its all about commodities, futures, and cornering the market

Flounder quote


and if you think, i think, that r-calf cares, and is now going to save everybody from mad cow disease, you got to be crazy.


Flounder quote
if your going to ban canada, you must ban the usa.

in fact, i would say the mad cow problem in the USA is worse.

at least canada is looking and documenting, instead of covering it up.

there feed ban is better too.


Too much truth here flounder,sorry,they can't take the truth

 

[Sandhusker]

You're dancing, Terry. It's a yes or no answer. It has nothing to do with R-CALF or what you think should be done. Opening the border either increases the risk of spreading BSE or it doesn't. That's what the suit is about

 

[flounder]

You're dancing, Terry. It's a yes or no answer. It has nothing to do with R-CALF or what you think should be done. Opening the border either increases the risk of spreading BSE or it doesn't. That's what the suit is about

RIGHT, R-CALF is going to save everybody from mad cow disease :lol2: :lol2: :disagree:

 

[Sandhusker]

You're dancing, Terry. It's a yes or no answer. It has nothing to do with R-CALF or what you think should be done. Opening the border either increases the risk of spreading BSE or it doesn't. That's what the suit is about

RIGHT, R-CALF is going to save everybody from mad cow disease :lol2: :lol2: :disagree:

Still dancing. Will it or won't it? Simple question.

 

[flounder]

You're dancing, Terry. It's a yes or no answer. It has nothing to do with R-CALF or what you think should be done. Opening the border either increases the risk of spreading BSE or it doesn't. That's what the suit is about

RIGHT, R-CALF is going to save everybody from mad cow disease :lol2: :lol2: :disagree:

Still dancing. Will it or won't it? Simple question.

only a sh or r-calfer would think of it as a simple yes or no question $$$


you have my answer.


tss

 

[Sandhusker]

RIGHT, R-CALF is going to save everybody from mad cow disease :lol2: :lol2: :disagree:

Still dancing. Will it or won't it? Simple question.

only a sh or r-calfer would think of it as a simple yes or no question $$$


you have my answer.


tss

That case isn't about what is needed in eradicating BSE, an endorsement of how the USDA handles our domestic issues, or anything else you're trying to make it into. The ranchers made a simple statement; that opening the border increases our BSE risk down here. You called them liars. I'm asking you where the lies are and you don't want to talk about it. The truth is, and both you and I know it, those ranchers are right and you were out of line throwing that "lies" tag on them.

 

[Maple Leaf Angus]

HI there Sandhusker, lil buddy! We haven't sat down and had a wee talk lately, have we! How's it going, lil buddy? :kid: :kid:

Hey there, lil buddy, I have a simple question for you! Yup I do! Now you jes sit down there and try to contain yourself while I ask it, O.K., lil buddy?

Oh, O.K., you may go to the washroom first if that is why you are wiggling all around like that! O.K. are you done now? Did you remember to wash your hands? That's a good lil buddy! :kid:

O.K., now here's the question.


If we would all hold our breath for one day, would it help slow down global warming?

 

[Sandhusker]

HI there Sandhusker, lil buddy! We haven't sat down and had a wee talk lately, have we! How's it going, lil buddy? :kid: :kid:

Hey there, lil buddy, I have a simple question for you! Yup I do! Now you jes sit down there and try to contain yourself while I ask it, O.K., lil buddy?

Oh, O.K., you may go to the washroom first if that is why you are wiggling all around like that! O.K. are you done now? Did you remember to wash your hands? That's a good lil buddy! :kid:

O.K., now here's the question.


If we would all hold our breath for one day, would it help slow down global warming?

No, it would not.

Notice how I answered that question? Straightforward, direct, concise. I didn't talk about other things that would stop global warming, try to question if there was warming or even a globe.

 

[Maple Leaf Angus]

HI there Sandhusker, lil buddy! We haven't sat down and had a wee talk lately, have we! How's it going, lil buddy? :kid: :kid:

Hey there, lil buddy, I have a simple question for you! Yup I do! Now you jes sit down there and try to contain yourself while I ask it, O.K., lil buddy?

Oh, O.K., you may go to the washroom first if that is why you are wiggling all around like that! O.K. are you done now? Did you remember to wash your hands? That's a good lil buddy! :kid:

O.K., now here's the question.


If we would all hold our breath for one day, would it help slow down global warming?

No, it would not.

Notice how I answered that question? Straightforward, direct, concise. I didn't talk about other things that would stop global warming, try to question if there was warming or even a globe.

Highlighting your "simplicity" was more simple than I thought. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Because just like your question to flounder, my question began with a mistaken premise.

Thank you for illustrating my point so clearly!

 

[Anonymous]

In my belief- two groups -R-CALF and USCA -are the only reasons we in the States are not in the same boat as many of the Canadian posters are posting here-- that do not have such cattlemen/producer oriented organizations and have to rely on the Packer bought NCBA type CCA, ABP, etals to represent them..........

Contact: Shae Dodson, Communications Coordinator
October 29, 2007 Phone: 406-672-8969; e-mail: [email protected]



11 Plaintiffs File Complaint to Stop USDA's Dangerous OTM Rule

Billings, Mont. – R-CALF USA, along with 10 other plaintiffs, has filed a complaint against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in the District Court – District of South Dakota, Northern Division (District Court) in an effort to prevent the agency decision from opening the Canadian border to imports of live cattle born after March 1, 1999, and beef products from cattle over 30 months of age. USDA's decision, often referred to as the OTM (over 30 month) Rule, is scheduled to take effect Nov. 19. Eleven cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) have been detected in Canadian-born cattle, seven since the beginning of last year.

Individual plaintiffs include South Dakota cattle producers Herman Schumacher, Robert Mack, Ernie Mertz, and Wayne Nelson. Plaintiff organizations include: the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association; the Center for Food Safety; the Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Foundation; Food & Water Watch; Public Citizen, which has 90,000 members; and, the Consumer Federation of America, with 50 million members.

"The OTM rule creates an unjustified and unnecessary increased risk of infection of the U.S. cattle herd with BSE, and of importing beef contaminated with BSE into the U.S., which will expose U.S. consumers to increased risk of a fatal disease," said R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard. "By USDA's own analysis, it is a virtual certainty that the OTM Rule will result in the importation of Canadian cattle infected with BSE, the meat from which will enter the U.S. food supply, and that the OTM Rule also will result in the importation of billions of pounds of meat from OTM cattle slaughtered in Canada, which almost certainly include products from cattle infected with BSE. There also lies the possibility of contamination of U.S. cattle feed caused from the use of Canadian cattle products, like blood, in the manufacturing of cattle feed.

"The OTM Rule will expose U.S. cattle producers to severe economic hardship because of the reduced marketability of U.S. beef as a result of commingling domestic product with potentially contaminated beef of Canadian origin," he continued. "We have export customers who refuse to accept beef from the United States unless it is segregated from Canadian product. R-CALF does not believe opening the Canadian border to older cattle and all beef products will increase our export markets. These all are risks that R-CALF finds unacceptable. Unfortunately, USDA seems all too willing to put the interests of a few big multinational companies ahead of the much larger concerns of the country's beef consumers and the 800,000 independent cattle producers in the United States."

"It's hard to fathom why the USDA would move to eliminate a critical protection against BSE at a time when the public is increasingly concerned about the safety of imported foods," said Chris Waldrop, Director of the Food Policy Institute at Consumer Federation of America.

"The decision to allow risky older cattle from Canada to enter the U.S. shows once again that the USDA is more concerned about facilitating trade than protecting consumers' health," said Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch. "Until the U.S. strengthens the rules for preventing the spread of BSE when cattle are slaughtered, we have no business importing older cattle from a country where the disease is prevalent."

"Consumers expect the government to protect the food supply from the risk of BSE, but instead USDA has taken an illegal step that creates a new food import health risk," said Joseph Mendelson, legal director for the Center for Food Safety.

--BSE is an unusual disease that requires an unusually vigilant response. If cattle in the U.S. become infected, there is no drug that can keep them from dying, and there is no vaccine that can keep them from getting infected. The same is true for the human version, which is believed to come from consuming infected meat.

--The stakes are enormous: The 2003 discovery of a single case of BSE in a cow imported into the U.S. from Canada virtually shut down the U.S. beef export market, which is still trying to recover, costing the industry (and the U.S. balance of trade) billions of dollars.



--Since even a single incident of BSE infection would do serious damage to U.S. beef exports and has the potential as well to introduce an incurable disease into the U.S. cattle herd, no one should take comfort in USDA's predictions that there will be only a "negligible" amount of infected cattle and beef coming from Canada.



--Canada imported BSE-infected cattle from the UK in the 1990s. There is no indication that the U.S. ever did. Canada continues to find BSE even in cattle born as little as four years ago. Both of the only cases found in U.S.-born cattle were in animals born in the early 1990s. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has cautioned that Canadian cattle are 26 times more likely to test positive for BSE than U.S. cattle.



--Worldwide experience shows that banning cattle parts from cattle feed is not enough. BSE contamination of other types of feed can infect cattle through cross-contamination at the feed mill, mis-feeding at the farm, and other unavoidable routes. Canada attributes its recent cases of BSE to just such a source, and the Canadian government this summer started keeping cattle parts out of all animal feed. But Canadian cattle parts will now be entering the U.S., where they can still be used in animal feed and can still contaminate U.S. cattle. The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) recently told the U.S. that it has insufficient safeguards to prevent the spread of BSE for that reason.



--No one knows how many BSE-infected cattle there are or were in Canada. We know there were considerably more than the 11 cases discovered in Canadian-born cattle, because other infected cattle had to have been butchered or rendered to result in contamination of the feed of the 11 cattle discovered in three different provinces. We also know that many cattle that ate the same feed as the cattle found to have BSE were slaughtered and likely used in part to make animal feed. R-CALF USA agrees that Canada does not appear to have a BSE epidemic as severe as that of the United Kingdom, but relatively few cases in imported Canadian cattle can still cause BSE in the U.S. cattle herd that would take many years to eradicate.



--Because there may be a lag of up to seven years or more between when a calf becomes infected and when that infection has taken over its brain enough to be detected, there can be many cases of BSE-infected cattle in Canada that are not detected before they are imported into the U.S. or before they are slaughtered in Canada for export to the United States. For the same reason, U.S. feedlots, slaughterhouses, and border inspectors do not have the ability to keep BSE-infected Canadian cattle out of the U.S. or out of the human food chain. Likewise, there is no test for BSE contamination in meat or in blood products.



"USDA is downplaying the risk of BSE, and this is one of those situations where a low probability of a very bad consequence is not acceptable," Bullard concluded. "If BSE is introduced into the U.S. herd, there is no test that can find all the infected animals and no medication that can stop its spread. Hoping that the problem will go away without demonstrable evidence that it will is folly, and knowingly importing infected cattle and meat when scientists agree we do not have sufficient safeguards in place to prevent the spread of the disease is unjustifiable."



Note: This is the first of a series of news releases about BSE that R-CALF USA will issue in an effort to educate the general public as to why the introduction of BSE into the U.S. must be prevented. To view the complaint, visit the "BSE-Litigation" link at www.r-calfusa.com, or contact R-CALF USA Communications Coordinator Shae Dodson. For media, Dodson also has contact information for the other plaintiffs.





# # #



R-CALF USA (Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America) is a national, non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring the continued profitability and viability of the U.S. cattle industry. R-CALF USA represents thousands of U.S. cattle producers on trade and marketing issues. Members are located across 47 states and are primarily cow/calf operators, cattle backgrounders, and/or feedlot owners. R-CALF USA has more than 60 affiliate organizations and various main-street businesses are associate members. For more information, visit www.r-calfusa.com or, call 406-252-2516.

 

[Big Muddy rancher]

Canada imported BSE-infected cattle from the UK in the 1990s. There is no indication that the U.S. ever did. :roll:

They can keep telling themselves this. Maybe somebody will believe them. :nod:

 

[rkaiser]

Even though I believe that it is our marriage to the two pirates and not Rcalf that has caused the problems occurring in Canada right now it is hard to keep listening to this cherry picked science of the three amigo's.

You want an answer Sandhusker - and one with no strings attached.
Quote me on this one all you like and then ask for proof afterward but -

I guarantee you that American will not be at risk to more BSE than they already have when the border opens to all ages of livestock from Canada.

:wink: I just wish there was a smooooch emoticon for times like this when childish goofs like yourselves just need a big kiss to get over your little childish problems.

 

[Sandhusker]

That's your opinion. I'd like to know how we won't be at more risk. Either BSE is not going to come across the border or we're going to catch it here before it enters our food supply and our herd. Which is it and how?