The Lost Art
By Trent Loos
Can you help me butcher a cow?” might sound like a strange question coming from anyone but my father-in-law. Of course I was happy to assist him with his latest adventure. He is the last of a dying breed, carrying out an art form that is nearly lost. Just as his father before him, he is quite content to go out in the country and honorably process one of God’s forage harvesters. There are few left who carry the knowledge of this lost tradition - someone who can go anywhere on a moment’s notice to salvage the meat of an injured animal.
As we arrived on the scene, there was little doubt that the cow had gotten hung up in a wire and her left back foot was broken beyond repair. In the middle of the process, I mentioned to the owner that there were now people trying to enact legislation that would require you to have licensed veterinarian remove the cow’s head and submit brain tissue to test for BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) from any cow that goes down for any reason at any location. His reply was, “lawmakers have no grasp of what is happening out here in the country. They just sit behind a desk and make laws that affect other people.”
So why should I, as owner of the cow, be subjected to a $70 veterinary “house call” in order to test the brain tissue of a cow that broke her leg? The rationale behind this madness is that anti-animal agriculture activists in this country are trying to use the Mad Cow issue to put one more nail in our coffin. This added expense, on an already floundering rural economy, will result in less livestock producers.
One cow tested positive for BSE in Canada, and it has crippled not just the beef industry, but all of agriculture in that country. Why is there so much anxiety about this subject? I realize that 132 people have died from variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, and I have no intent to make light of those deaths. But if 132 deaths can cause a worldwide panic, shouldn’t we look at eradicating all ballpoint pens? One hundred Americans die each year from choking on ballpoint pens. Where is the legislation to make ballpoint pens illegal?
Did you realize that the third leading cause of death in the United States is doctor error. Of the 250,000 deaths annually, 7,000 are due to prescription of the wrong medications, which were probably written with ink. So ink pens kill thousands of people, but it is BSE and Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) that get the major headlines.
The government, which is supposed to be “by the people and for the people” is reacting to those who are making the most noise, not necessarily the most sense. That is why we have undue panic as it relates to BSE and CWD.
I would be willing to bet that you have heard about the CWD epidemic and what a disaster it is. What you may be surprised to find out is that there have been less that 500 deer and elk in this country that have been confirmed positive for CWD. Yet in states like Wisconsin, they are quarantining herds of deer and elk. Only six counties in the entire United States have had a positive CWD test on farmed deer and elk. Not one single person has ever contracted any disease from animals infected with CWD. So why the excess regulations and unnecessary precautions? The answer is well-fueled media hype. And you have to wonder how long it will be before they start putting the squeeze on beef operations.
We do not live in a world of zero risk. We must make the best decisions we can on a daily basis with our long-term interest in mind. Everyone must make it their responsibility to let their voice be heard in support of common sense instead of added regulatory measures.
If we do end up with a law that requires a vet to collect brain tissue from every dead cow, I would be willing to bet that my father-in-law will be hanging up his gambrel and skinning knife and there will be some happy coyotes ambling the countryside. Not only will butchering be a lost art, but so will livestock production.
