DOWN WITH DOWNER ABUSE

The senate passed a ban on using downed cattle in food. This is a good step forward, if only because it will make the beef industry get a little more serious about preventing animals from becoming "downers." The USDA says 130,000 downed animals are slaughtered every year. Previously, farmers have sold their sick and injured animals "to meat renderers who grind them up into pet food and animal feed." And also, some of them - like that famous cow in Canada - wind up in people feed. "Beef producers have expressed concerns that prohibiting the sale of downed animals will result in their having to find other ways to dispose of sick livestock." Cry me a lagoon, pal.