Source: Michael Fielding, MEATINGPLACE, 1/12/12

U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY) has reintroduced a bipartisan bill to permanently prohibit all unhealthy livestock that cannot walk because they are diseased, injured or ill from entering the food chain and to require that they be humanely euthanized.

The Downed Animal and Food Safety Protection Act (H.R. 3704), which has been reintroduced several times, was expanded in 2009, when the USDA banned the slaughtering of downed cattle and mandated that these animals be euthanized after a California slaughter plant allowed downers to enter the food supply.

Of the twenty confirmed cases of mad cow disease in North America since 1993, at least sixteen have involved downer cattle.

The bill would improve existing regulations by making the ban on downer cattle permanent. Under current law, the USDA can loosen or repeal their rules at any time. The measure also would extend the ban to all livestock — not just cattle — and close an existing loophole that permits the slaughter of downed calves.
The bill has been referred to the House Committee on Agriculture, where it is pending.

For more stories, go to www.meatingplace.com.