By Taryn Kelly

Studies by a federal animal advocacy group show that downers, animals that are too sick to stand or walk, are at the highest risk of having bacterial contamination or disease that could be transferred to the human consumer. Such diseases include mad cow disease and salmonella. Recent issues have risen due to a percentage of these “downed animals” being approved for human consumption.

The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) is responsible for the safety of the meat the public consumes. They control what the standards of slaughterhouses are, including how healthy an animal must be before it is slaughtered and manufactured into food.

Downers are animals in the meat industry that are so badly injured or diseased that they cannot walk or stand. According to nodowners.org these animals are transported by being dragged, kicked or any other inhumane yet practical means of moving an incapable animal from one place to another.

Many reports from Farm Sanctuary have shown that these animals have such diseases/injuries as pneumonia, gangrene, cancer, neurofibroma, hemorrhages, CNS (central nervous system disorder) or were dead on arrival. Yet, the USDA allows these animals to be approved for human consumption. In fact, only about 25 percent of downed animals are condemned.

“That’s disgusting. Is the USDA allowing this?” said Nicole Nugent, a freshman exercise science major. “They act so concerned about people’s well being saying that people don’t get enough vitamins or the proper nutrition yet they allow for the manufacturing of animals that they know can put the public at risk of serious illness.”

Animal rights groups such as Farm Sanctuary are lobbying for ways to prevent the manufacturing of downed animals, such as the Downed Animal Protection Act, because as of right now, there are no laws prohibiting this.

According to the Organic Consumer’s Association, fast food establishments such as McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s have banned the use of meat from downed animals in their products, and the USDA said in June 2000 that it would no longer use ground beef products from downed animals for federal food programs.

The proposed Downed Animal Protection Act provides incentives for preventing downed animals in the first place, and it provides an appropriate remedy to the problem when it does occur according to Gene Bauston, a representative from Farm Sanctuary. This legislation is said to prevent animal suffering without adversely impacting the livestock industry. In the long run, the Downed Animal Protection Act will benefit the livestock industry by promoting improved husbandry practices and enhancing consumer confidence in the quality of its products according to Farm Sanctuary’s Testimony before Congress in 1994.

Some laws banning downed animal slaughter have been put through Congress but have been denied.

“Make your concerns known,” Bauston said.

The more aware people are of this inhuman practice, the more likely they would be to generate the necessary actions to ensure animal protection in this department, said Bauston.