A column devoted to informative alternative health resources on the internet - Web Page Potpourri

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, April, 2004 by Marjorie Roswell

Mad Cow Disease

http://www.organicconsumers.org/madcow.htm

The emergence of Mad Cow in the United States, while shocking to many, was no surprise to longtime readers of this site. It's a huge treasure-trove of news and information. Site users may sign a petition calling for:

* Mandatory testing for all cattle brought to slaughter, before they enter the food chain

* A ban on the feeding of blood, manure, and slaughterhouse waste to animals

(Note for those who thought we already had these protections in place: Alas, we don't.)

US Violates World Health Organization Guidelines for Mad Cow Disease: A Comparison of North American and European Safeguards

http://organicconsumers.org/madcow/GregerBSE.cfm

This is just one of many links on the Mad Cow page, but it's particularly clear, detailed, and footnoted.

Mad Cow News Archives

http://mad-cow.org/ (1996 - early 2001)

http://organicconsumers.org/madcow9920.htm (2001)

These are precursors to the Organic Consumers Association Mad Cow site.

Test Cows Now

http://www.testcowsnow.com/

This site features an online petition from EarthSave International, urging vastly increased US surveillance for Mad Cow. The site describes the current US policy as, "Don't look, don't find." The site also links to a concise fact sheet, a flyer, and key Mad Cow news.

Mad Cow Disease: Plague of the 21st Century

http://www.veganmd.org/talks/#madCow

Dr. Michael Greger is an animated speaker. His lecture on Mad Cow, delivered before BSE was fully recognized in the United States, is available in various video and audio formats online. It's eye-opening! For Dr. Greger's post-BSE discovery perspective, along with hyperlinked footnotes, read "USDA Misleading American Public About Food Safety," at http://www.vegsource.com/articles2/mad_cow_greger_12_24.htm

Mad Cow USA

http://www.prwatch.org/books/madcow.html

PR Watch offers a full online copy of the 1997 book "Mad Cow USA: Could the Nightmare Happen Here?" by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber. The book is still available in book form, if you prefer a bound copy.

Virgil Hulse Book: Mad Cows & Milk Gate

Dr. Virgil Hulse was a public servant, a dairy inspector and then a physician who worked tirelessly to effect improvements in dairy practices, to protect human health. His book discussed several cow-borne diseases in addition to Mad Cow. Did you know that 80% of cows carry Bovine Leukemia Virus? Dr. Hulse was an expert witness for Oprah, helping her to win her trial against the beef industry. I read this book several years ago, and was sad to learn that Dr. Hulse had passed away from cancer before I had a chance to ever talk with him.

Video of Downer Cows

http://www.factoryfarming.com/gallery/photos_video.htm

This is a website produced by the Farm Sanctuary, an animal rescue community in Watkins Glen, New York. "Downers" are cows that are too sick to walk. These videos hurt to watch.

Downed Animal Protection Act

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c107:H.R.1421:

http://www.house.gov/ackerman/pages/legislation107.html#anim

The Downed Animal Protection Act would have amended the 1921 Packers and Stockyards Act, making it unlawful to transfer or market nonambulatory cattle, sheep, swine, horses, etc. The bill was sponsored for several years by Congressman Ackerman, Democrat from New York. Unfortunately, each year, the language was stripped from final legislation, due to industry opposition.

Video: USDA Briefing on Mad Cow

http://play.rbn.com/?url=ap/nynyt/g2demand/1230mad_cow_SS.rm&proto=rtsp&mode=compact

In this video from a December 30, 2003 press conference, Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman finally announced that the Agriculture Department would ban downer cattle from the human food chain. Amazingly, she went on to admit that BSE-tested cattle had been routinely marked as "Inspected and Passed" before test results were known. That policy, she noted, has changed: tested animals are now held until the test results are known. Unfortunately, she did not call for massive expansion of the testing program, or a ban on the consumption of slaughterhouse waste by cattle. The link above is just an excerpt. The full press conference video and transcripts can be found here: http://www.usda.gov/news/releases/2003/06/resources.html

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)

http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/bse.html

This is the Food and Drug Administration's BSE website. As I write this column, the site still reads "There is no evidence to date of BSE affecting US cattle," but someone added three asterisks leading to various news transcripts.

BSE Info

http://www.BSEInfo.org

This site, begun in December 2003, comes from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. In addition to official policy on Mad Cow, the site contains some handy facts, such as "On January 1, 2003 there were 96.1 million cattle in the United States." That's one cow for every 3 Americans. Note that the former director of public relations for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, Alisa Harrison, is the current spokeswoman for the US Department of Agriculture.