Horses Seized & USDA's Direction

Horses Seized & USDA's Direction

Horses Seized & USDA’s Direction plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

Officials have seized 26 horses from a Mount Vernon pasture after a tip was received. The horses have been diagnosed with a variety of problems including malnourishment. The owners have filed a request to get the animals back and their lawyers claims the horses were not in any life threatening conditions. One of the horses had to be euthanized due to it’s condition. The horses are being treated at a 10-acre rescue facility run by the non-profit group People Helping Horses who is asking for donations and volunteers to feed and care for the animals.

As the USDA wrapped up their 150th anniversary celebration last week, Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack discussed the direction that USDA is headed in the future.

VILSACK: To continue the progress that we’ve seen over the last 150 I think it’s important for us to work obviously with Congress as they work on the Agriculture Reform Food and Jobs Bill as well as making sure that we continue a commitment to food safety and better nutrition for a healthier generation of Americans. The other issue that we always have to keep an eye on in terms of the production agriculture is the importance of trade and the ability to reauthorize the trade and promotion programs is also extremely important so we want to continue to build on what we’ve seen.

Now with today’s Food Forethought, here’s Lacy Gray.

There’s one in every crowd. You know the kind, they’re the ones who give all service people a hard time, be it waiters, check-out clerks, ticket counter people, or motel front desk attendants. I have a dear friend who wouldn’t think of hurting a fly, but going out to dinner with her always turns into an embarrassing nightmare as she invariably finds fault with the food, even if it is her favorite restaurant. What makes them do it? WSU senior Joel Anaya who is majoring in Hospitality Business Management is trying to find out through a study focusing on just these types of rude customers, who not only make service people miserable but fellow customers as well. He even has a name for such behavior - “customer service sabotage”, which is pretty appropriate if you ask me. The hope is, that through such a study, managers and workers can use the information to reevaluate customer complaints, and in a lot of cases realize their service wasn’t to blame. They might also learn how to be pro-active, changing the service experience to head off such behavior in the future. Here’s hoping they’re able to do just that, as the rest of us would be extremely grateful!

Thanks Lacy. That’s today’s Northwest Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network. 

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