Sludge Watch ==> US Ranchers suggest Canada is failing to test herdmates of BSE cow

[Maureen Reilly]

WASHINGTON: U.S. ranchers lobby asks Washington to rule if Canada violating 
BSE rules
26.jul.07
Canadian Press


WASHINGTON -- An American ranchers group that has been trying, according to 
this story, to restrict the import of Canadian cattle into the United States 
tried a new approach Thursday.
The Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund - or R-CALF - wrote a letter to 
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns asking him to determine if Canada is 
in violation of the department's minimal-risk region rule.
R-CALF was cited as saying in a news release that Canada immediately needs 
to begin testing all known herd mates and feed mates of BSE-positive cattle 
in order to maintain its status as a "minimal risk" region under U.S. 
regulations.
The lobby group suggested a report released Wednesday by the Canadian Food 
Inspection Agency implies such testing is not being done.

The report on the CFIA website said a five-and-a-half-year-old cow on a 
dairy operation in the Fraser Valley area of British Columbia was confirmed 
to have tested positive earlier this year for mad-cow disease, or BSE.

R-CALF president Max Thornsberry said that the CFIA report implies the five 
cows were disposed of before they were tested for BSE, and that the CFIA 
intends to do the same thing with the other 36 cows "despite the likelihood 
that some or all of them consumed the same contaminated feed as the animal 
that tested positive for BSE."

Thornsberry was quoted as suggesting that would make Canada's surveillance 
program ineffective "both for identifying the true population of infected 
animals and estimating whether its BSE outbreak is on the increase or 
decline."

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Sludgewatch Admin:

Here is the pot calling the kettle black. A US rancher  organization saying 
Canada isn't doing enough BSE testing...after US BSE test companies have 
admitted to falsifying BSE testing.

On the other hand...are we seeing Canada adopt the US style 'don't test - 
don't find' approach to BSE?