| The Humane Society has an action alert out right now for consumers to Tell the USDA to Close the Downer Cow Loophole. To take action, click the link, fill out the required info, and (most important) CHANGE THE SUBJECT LINE of the email and change the editable part a little bit too.
As I understand it, the "loophole" is as follows: When cows are being examined before slaughter, they must be able to stand up (a cow who can't stand up is a "downer"). If a cow passes the inspection but THEN collapses, that cow must go through a second inspection and - if the vet says it's OK - will go into the human food supply.
The reason we don't want to eat downer cows is because they are at higher risk of mad cow disease than non-downers. Of course it could be any number of things that makes them fall over (including mad cow). They are cared for so poorly on factory farms that it's a wonder any of them are able to walk to their deaths, but still... downer cow = not a cow you want to eat. |
