Excuse me, I certainly don't want to start any sort of arguement that's way off subject, but being a part of the agricultural industry, I feel obligated to correct misinformed individuals.
Euthenized dogs and cats are certainly not fed to feedlot cattle. I have a degree in Animal Science, in which I took a number of livestock nutrition classes. My husband has also worked a several feedlots. I keep up to date on issues affecting agriculture, and especially sheep and cattle. I can assure you that cattle have not been fed any sort of mammalian byproducts for more than a decade. They may be fed feather meal, fish meal, or milk byproduct, but that's the only animal protein they get. The only other source of non-plant protein that can legaly be fed to cattle (or sheep or goats) is urea, which is a type of nitrogen that ruminant animals can convert to protein.
Many people believe that though it is illegal, feedlots just break the laws and feed this stuff anyway. While the recent mad cow cases suggest that this does happen, I absolutely believe that this is a minute minority of the cases. The consequences to a feedlot for breaking such a law are enourmous (hundreds of thousands of dollars). One of the feedlots that my husband worked at accidentally shipped out a steer that wasn't past a withdrawl time on a drug that it was treated with. He had to drive 6 hours one way to photograph the steer being disposed of to prove that it would not enter the food supply. A feedlot would not make this kind of effort if they only reprucusion was a slap on the wrist.
We raise and feed out our own cattle, sheep, goats, and chickens for ourselves and to sell. We use only "natural" grains, grass, and hay. We don't use any growth implants or unecessary antibiotics. We realize that there is a market for such meat. But I also realize that there is a place for these products.
Sorry for the long post, but I felt obligated to clear the misunderstanding.
Euthenized dogs and cats are certainly not fed to feedlot cattle. I have a degree in Animal Science, in which I took a number of livestock nutrition classes. My husband has also worked a several feedlots. I keep up to date on issues affecting agriculture, and especially sheep and cattle. I can assure you that cattle have not been fed any sort of mammalian byproducts for more than a decade. They may be fed feather meal, fish meal, or milk byproduct, but that's the only animal protein they get. The only other source of non-plant protein that can legaly be fed to cattle (or sheep or goats) is urea, which is a type of nitrogen that ruminant animals can convert to protein.
Many people believe that though it is illegal, feedlots just break the laws and feed this stuff anyway. While the recent mad cow cases suggest that this does happen, I absolutely believe that this is a minute minority of the cases. The consequences to a feedlot for breaking such a law are enourmous (hundreds of thousands of dollars). One of the feedlots that my husband worked at accidentally shipped out a steer that wasn't past a withdrawl time on a drug that it was treated with. He had to drive 6 hours one way to photograph the steer being disposed of to prove that it would not enter the food supply. A feedlot would not make this kind of effort if they only reprucusion was a slap on the wrist.
We raise and feed out our own cattle, sheep, goats, and chickens for ourselves and to sell. We use only "natural" grains, grass, and hay. We don't use any growth implants or unecessary antibiotics. We realize that there is a market for such meat. But I also realize that there is a place for these products.
Sorry for the long post, but I felt obligated to clear the misunderstanding.
