Thankfully, the PSA front only engaged in regular buffoonery today so we can get back to our regular scheduled programming. It seems that we can’t move on from the Bute tainted meat issue no matter how hard I try. Our PSA counterparts are operating under the misguided notion that each and every cut of meat is tested and since there is rarely ever a recall, that means that this whole Bute issue is a non-issue. I’m not sure whether some of them know better and are just glossing it over or they actually believe that. Probably a bit of both. Having observed them in action, nothing would surprise me at this point. I’m going to attempt to break it down as simply as possible and leave some links for the readers that want in-depth information or, for our lurkers, just more ammo to twist around and push their pro-slaughter agendas. What can I say? I’m a giver that way.
I thought that looking at Canadian guidelines would give us a clearer picture on how they test for Bute in exported meat. Canada also has to operate in accordance to EU guidelines the same as the US would should slaughter houses be re-opened. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency(CFIA) is in charge of testing and, obviously, Bute is banned in any food-producing animals, including those intended for slaughter. The common misconception that I see floated around by the PSAs is that since they test all meat, that means the horse meat that makes it to the market is perfectly safe. This is not true and how could it be? Did anybody honestly think that there was a team that took samples off each and every carcass, and then held said carcass until the lab results are back? If that was the case, we would never have recalls on the market for any meat. Often times they don’t realize there was a problem until somebody gets sick and with things like Bute, it’s going to take YEARS before you get sick. Kinda difficult to trace your cancer back to a Bute filet 20 yrs ago. What actually happens is that they take random samples to test. This is in accordance with the standards set out by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization. When there are results that raise concern, they will often increase the frequency of their sampling. Is that vague enough for you?
CFIA will also do some random testing on animals based on observing them before they get in the kill box. Every slaughter-house has vets on staff who supervise their trained inspectors. Their job is to make a guess about any animal, based on its appearance and/or history that may have been treated with Bute and hold that meat back until testing is complete and comes back clean. They will also examine animals after slaughter for signs of arthritis or other conditions that might mean the horse had Bute. Does that make you feel safer? It shouldn’t. I have one horse that is big, sound and young and also not a Thoroughbred. There would be nothing about this horse to suggest that he had ever had any conditions that meant he was Buted and I’m sure he would sail right through the kill line. The fact is he’s had a lot of meds over the years, including ACE (banned), Banamine(banned), Bute(banned), Furacin(banned). In fact, most horses that have had their teeth done or gelded have had ACE. We give Bute to a horse that spikes a fever and how would they ever know that? This is fuckery at its finest.
Ok, there are actually other safeguards in place. The countries that Canada exports horse meat to also do their own random testing. This includes EU countries and Japan. Also, beginning in July 2010 CFIA made it mandatory for every horse, regardless of where it came from to have an Equine Information Document that details all vaccinations and meds the horse had within the previous six months. Here is a sample of an EID http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/meavia/man/ch17/annexee.shtml#e2 Do you honestly think your friendly neighborhood kill buyer is going to know this information and hold each and every horse for six months before shipping them? Do you feel safe yet? Especially since they used the wording of `to the best of your knowledge’ on the document which gives the shipper/broker an automatic out as far as what’s in a horse’s system. Surely nobody would ever fill out a false report or lie on such a document…..Yeah right!
Now it seems that the EID program in Canada is relatively new and isn’t in full swing as far as I’m aware. I have family and friends in Canada and none of their horses have electronic passports or identification documents like they were supposed to by last year. Yet, Slaughterhouse Sue wants you to believe that not only will she have a fully retro-fitted, state of the art, facility up and running by the end of this year, she will also make sure that the EU regulations that they need to comply with by 2013 will be in place as well. Canada has been at this a long time and it still hasn’t gotten its act together. Another interesting fact is that until the EU set out these regulations, the ONLY thing they tested horse meat for was trichinosis (roundworms) despite Bute and a crapload of other drugs being banned for years. It has only been less than 2 years that Canada has been testing for Bute in horse meat. No wonder it’s hard to dig up data on long- range effects of consuming Bute tainted meat. Does anybody feel like being a lab rat?
So what does this mean for slaughter in the US? It means that Slaughterhouse Sue is lying to everybody. Maybe she doesn’t know better, maybe she does. The point is that should the US decide to fund USDA inspections and re-open slaughter plants, they have exactly one year to be in full compliance with EU regulations as far as having a tracing system comparable to the EU passport system. That means each and every horse presented for slaughter must have a document listing any and all medications they have had in their lifetime. That will automatically disqualify all these alleged 170,000 unwanted horses Suey keeps screeching about. There is no way they could slaughter all of those horses prior to July of next year even if they started tomorrow. Where is she going to get all these horses to kill? An interesting comment left on this blog mentioned that Slaughterhouse Sue’s brother just so happens to breed and raise Belgians and Haflingers. Those happen to be two of the most popular breeds raised specifically for slaughter. Think about it.
http://ec.europa.eu/food/food/chemicalsafety/residues/docs/requirements_non_eu.pdf
http://www.defendhorsescanada.org/finaldisc100314.pdf
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/meavia/man/ch5/table5e.shtml
For some reason, Sue and her butt buddies have a comprehension problem, they have the most difficult time understanding the word BANNED.
They also seem to have problems realizing they can’t un-ring a bell.
Actually, we were supposed to be supplying the EID and observing the six month quarantine for the last year. In their inspections in Mexico and Canada, EU inspectors found banned substances in our horses along with forged documentation. In their Canadian inspection, in addition to banned substances and falsified documentation, they stated that they could find no sign the the US was observing the quarantine.
FVO Inspection of Mexican Plant OFFICIAL: https://www.box.com/s/bgsda62zd15xh4r8bs27
FVO Inspection Report Canada: https://www.box.com/s/horrns3xsr50th1f0dct
Canadian Response To FVO Inspections: http://www.box.com/s/aos488pdftk07bnvxmzf
Horse Passports And Why You Need Them And What They Contain: https://www.box.com/s/c26dc21083d75ce42223
So, as of next July, we will have to have a full-blown passport system or the EU will not accept our horses. Canada has already agreed to this. Haven’t seen the actual documentation from Mexico, but they have followed EU regs up to now, so I suppose they will refuse our horses. The EU has been SAYING they were going to do this for the last THREE YEARS. Yet, everyone but us is ignoring the whole thing – or at least they seem to be. I don’t think most people even know about all this.
Makes no sense at all.
It also sounds like the USDA is in no hurry to comply with these regulations. I wonder if EU will enforce this or not? To my knowledge, Canada has agreed but not complied fully yet.
It certainly does look as if the USDA has no plans to do this at all. I certainly hope the EU enforces. We’ve had three years to prepare for this and we’ve done exactly nothing. We don’t even comply with the previous regulations about EIDs and 6 month quarantine.
Like I say every time – this is insanity!
I can see why they aren’t throwing a bunch of money and time at it while the Moran Amendment is pending. It will likely go through. Should be amusing to see how Wallis glosses it over though.
Forgot – here’s another excellent document about bute
Why The Issue With Bute: http://www.box.com/s/e1ae613e90cc9ebbef6e
Yes, but we have no `proof’, remember….
its all conjured by the animal rights extremists….you know part of me hopes the plants open so that when we dont comply with the eu which from the looks of it we have no intention of doing these vultures can go bankrupt. go on yall, invest all that money in it. invest your last dimes… the sad part is that the people at the top of this pyramid scheme will use desperate towns and protect themselves at the expense of the horses and the disposable people at the bottom.
Exactly and the wrong people and horses will end up suffering. It sounds like they have already invested heavily in that property in Oregon though. not sure what they’re going to do with it if this all falls apart and it well could.
[…] https://shedrowconfessions.wordpress.com/2012/07/12/anybody-want-a-bute-burger/ […]
It has to do with a complete failure of understanding that the FDA makes the decisions as to what is allowed or isn’t allowed into the food chain. The FDA has banned Bute and other substances from use in ANY animal intended for human consumptionm because they have the potential to cause harm to humans when ingested in any amount. They have determined there are no safe amounts for human consumption.
Now the “experts” Sue and her literary fools she bamboozled into responding to Dr. Marini’s paper, are not experts in human medicine. Dr, Marini is as are the doctors and scientist with the FDA.
For some reason the PSAs still think that there is an acceptable withdrawal time for these banned meds and there is not. It means never. Yes, they will still happily kill your horse for you, but that animals body may not be used in any foodstuffs or even pet food. So basically you will be presenting your animal for rendering which is no different than humanely euthanizing them at home and having their bodies picked up. They just won’t listen to actual facts and rulings.
Like it or not, Canadians are exporting tainted HORSE meat to Europeans to consume. I have written MANY letters to those in Govt., as well as the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, and received responses that are an insult to the average persons intelligence.As long as we are led by EMPORER Harper and his buffoons, there is the real possibility that should the price per pound of DOG meat in Asia rise this EMPORER and his buffoons may DECREE that it is OK for us to further slip back to the time of BARBARIANS and sell our household pets by the pound.
Don’t laugh the EMPORER will call his DECREE part of Canadas JOBS, GROTH AND PROSPERITY.
Lately, i have been ashamed to call myself Canadian.
[…] a reminder on how it all works, check out this entry which will also give you links to the CFIA (https://shedrowconfessions.wordpress.com/2012/07/12/anybody-want-a-bute-burger/). “Altered” or “amended” later doesn’t exactly build good faith or […]
[…] I guess this rocket scientist doesn’t realize that Mexico and Canada are likely going to be in trouble too. The EU will hold everybody’s feet to the fire on their deadline of July 2013 to have a passport system implemented. Now that they have found banned substances in a sample test, they will be increasing the frequency of testing. If you need a reminder on how all that works you can review it here: (https://shedrowconfessions.wordpress.com/2012/07/12/anybody-want-a-bute-burger/) […]
[…] – This poor ignorant soul wants to test each and every carcass now. He clearly has no concept of what is involved with testing or the amount of time it takes. I find the suggestion of making `fertilizer’ out of the carcasses of animals with drugs in their tissues puzzling, when the majority of PSAs will tell you they don’t want to chemically euthanize their animals for fear of ground water contamination. I guess they are just fine with spraying toxicity all over our crops though. Remember that Dallas Crown in Kaufman, Texas was unable to sell it’s blood products due to the toxicity. Here is yet another reminder on how testing works for exported carcasses: (/https://shedrowconfessions.wordpress.com/2012/07/12/anybody-want-a-bute-burger) […]
[…] want to know what really goes on as far as testing for drug residue, you can read this old post (https://shedrowconfessions.wordpress.com/2012/07/12/anybody-want-a-bute-burger/). It is not economical for them to test each and every carcass that they profess to be able to […]
[…] The PSAs all seem very concerned about `waste’ as far as putting a horse down and not slaughtering it. I wonder, since they are so concerned with waste, if they all donate the bodies of their loved ones to science rather than wasting them by putting them in the ground? If not, what’s the difference? The fact is that slaughter has the potential to create even more waste coupled with unneccessary death. At the present time there is no possible way to test a horse for all banned substances while it is alive. They like to throw around drug withdrawal times, but the fact is those are strictly for performance levels and not for tissue contamination. That means that those carcasses that are contaminated, that they happen to catch before they enter the food chain, are wasted. Considering we know it is the young and healthy that are slaughtered for human consumption, I’d say that’s a pretty big waste of a life. It is also not feasible for them to test each and every carcass no matter what they tell you. If you have any doubts about that, you can refresh your memories by reading this: (https://shedrowconfessions.wordpress.com/2012/07/12/anybody-want-a-bute-burger/) […]
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