Congress is currently considering a permanent ban on the sale of meat that comes from “downed” (injured, or otherwise ill) livestock.

The biggest push for this legislation has stemmed from a fear of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, better known as mad cow disease.

Mad cow disease is a progressive neurological disorder which can be transmitted to humans and other species. The most obvious of its symtoms is the inability to walk or stand. Many farmed beasts are non-ambulatory before they go to slaughter due to a variety of illnesses or injuries.

To get cattle to the killing floor, workers often prod them with electrical shocks, drag them with chains, and even push them with heavy machinery. You can imagine the bodily harm that results. The animals are often left for days at the slaughterhouse unable to walk, without food, water, or care. They are in excruciating pain and mental anguish.

Mad cow disease is spread most rapidly when factory farming institutions grind up the deceased “mad cows” and feed them to the other livestock. This practice was outlawed in the U.S. in 2003, when the first mad cow was found in this country. As a result, Congress put a temporary ban on the sale of “downed” cattle meat.” That ban is still in effect today.

In January 2006, both the House of Representatives and the Senate were introduced to the Downed Animal Protection and Safety Act. This Act would serve to protect both human and beast by continuing to temporary ban on the sale of “downed cattle meat” that was started in 2003, as well as the meat of other livestock such as pigs and goats. The Act also requires that “downed animals” be quickly euthanized to save them from a slow and agonizing death.

Not only would this ban continue to protect the public from mad cow disease, but it would also encourage farmers to improve their livestock’s living conditions.

Unfortunately, Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns believes that beef in the U.S. is free of the dreaded mad cow disease, and wants to lift the ban.

Please contact your local Senator or Representative, and ask them to support, or even co-sponsor, the Downed Animal Protection and Food Safety Act.

The cows will be grateful.

Until tomorrow,