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Dispute of condition of washington mad cow Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://www.kotv.com/pages/viewpage.asp?id=58283 http://www.kotv.com/pages/viewpage.asp?id=58283 Slaughterhouse owners dispute USDA claims Holstein with mad cow was lame MOSES LAKE, Wash. (AP) _ Standing in front of their family business, the owners of a small slaughterhouse that killed a Holstein with the nation's first case of mad cow challenged the government's assertion the animal couldn't walk. The cow walked off a truck at Vern's Moses Lake Meat Co. and exhibited no signs of the central nervous disorder, said Tom Ellestad, who co-manages the plant. The issue is important because Agriculture Department officials who monitor meat plants target "downer" cattle _ animals that are injured or exhibit symptoms of disease _ for testing of mad cow. Critics have argued that the agency also needs to test healthy animals as a safeguard against the brain-wasting illness, which can incubate for four or five years. Ellestad said Wednesday there is a strong possibility the illness never would have been detected had his company not tested it as part of a voluntary program to check healthy animals for the disease. "No one would have ever known," he said while flanked by his wife, sons, brother and parents. "Their premise for testing is false. The whole industry has been injured, and not just the meat industry _ the livestock industry _ because of shortcomings in USDA's policy." Ed Loyd, a USDA spokesman, denied Ellestad's claims. The department has said a veterinarian at the plant tagged the cow as a downer. "Our records clearly indicate that this animal was not able to walk," Loyd said. Loyd said the department's inspector general's office is investigating how the case was handled. The announcement came a day after a U.S. House committee challenged the Agriculture Department's claims that the cow was lame. Ellestad earlier provided an affidavit of his claims to the watchdog group Government Accountability Project. That group provided the information to the U.S. House Government Reform Committee, which challenged the department's claims in a letter sent Tuesday to Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman. Eating meat from animals with mad cow has been linked to a rare but fatal condition in people, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, although no cases have been traced to U.S. beef. More than 35 countries have banned imports of U.S. beef products. AP

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