Our Bovine Cousins
The following letter was published in The Globe and Mail during the crisis that
crippled Canada's large beef export industry after a cow in Alberta was found to have bovine
spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or "mad cow disease," in the spring of 2003.
Our bovine cousins
By SYD BAUMEL
Thursday, August 14, 2003 - Page A14
Winnipeg -- Call me a disloyal Canadian. I care about the livelihood of farmers, but
I care about the lives of cattle even more.
When I hear phrases like "kill capacity" roll off the tongues of so many good
Canadians without so much as a quiver of shame or regret, I grieve for the state
of our country's conscience. Solidarity with farmers and ranchers, by all means.
Mercy for our bovine cousins, how can we deny it?
Some livelihoods are better not pursued.
Syd Baumel