04/01/08 Blame, blame, everywhere

Blame, blame everywhere. There's enough blaming going on to make this incident to look like a soap opera. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be back right after this to give you a run down on the blamer and blamee.A videotape by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) showing the wrongful handling of non-ambulatory cattle in a Chino, California meat packing plant has caused the biggest recall of beef in the nation. This has produced untold editorials, opinions, and blame. First, of course, the meat packing owners and management were blamed by everyone for not following rules. Then others wanted to know what more USDA inspectors and veterinarians could have done. The Humane Society of the United States was so eager to blame that it has filed a lawsuit in Federal court to prohibit veterinarians in federally inspected meat plants from using their medical judgment to rule whether livestock are fit for consumption. Now J. Patrick Boyle, president of the American Meat Institute blames HSUS for turning an isolated animal welfare problem into a food safety scare. While I don't always agree with Mr. Boyle, he does bring up some good points. Not all non-ambulatory cattle are a food safety concern. Some have broken limbs and can still be utilized for food. This incident should not mean all meat-processing plants need to have changes made to their inspection procedures. Finally, Mr. Boyle chastises the HSUS for not revealing the problem quicker if they are really interested in animal welfare. Personally, I wonder if HSUS has a bigger agenda? I'm Jeff Keane.