AnimalNet April 1/08 JAPAN impo

AnimalNet April 1/08

JAPAN imports of U.S. beef seen rising

KANSAS: K-State researcher using genetic engineering against one of the most costly disease complexes afflicting fed cattle

CANADA: Menu Foods reaches deal to settle pet food suits

WICHITA: 'VeriPrime Certified Safeguards' food safety label unveiled

CANADA: The shop where every steak has an address

CANADA: Michael Vick might like it here

SWITZERLAND: A push to stop swiss cats from being turned into coats and hats

NEW MEXICO: Gila forest posts warnings about rabies outbreak

EU restrictions are costing Brazilian beef industry

WTO ruling against EU ban on beef with hormones a 'victory': U.S. official

SCOTLAND: Has salmon farming outgrown itself?

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JAPAN imports of U.S. beef seen rising
01.apr.08
Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUST7071
Tokyo -- Japan is, according to this story, set to import more U.S. beef over the next few months as demand rises with warmer weather and stores move to expand sales, the Nikkei business daily said on Saturday.
The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) on Tuesday gave the United States a "controlled risk" status for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), bolstering the safety status of U.S. beef. Japan imposed strict rules on beef imports after BSE was found in the United States in December 2003.
At the time, the United States was the top beef exporter to Japan in terms of value.
According to the Nikkei, trading firms will increase imports of U.S. beef to 4,000 tonnes this month and 5,000 tonnes in June from around 2,500 tonnes in April.
In January-March, Japan imported 5,500 tonnes of U.S. beef. It imported 7,300 tonnes in 2006, and 226,500 tonnes in 2002.

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KANSAS: K-State researcher using genetic engineering against one of the most costly disease complexes afflicting fed cattle
01.apr.08
From a press release
MANHATTAN -- Traditional beef producers lose more than half a billion
dollars a year to bovine respiratory disease complex. That's why
finding innovative ways to combat it is at the top of Kansas State
University researcher Shafiqul Chowdhury's to-do list.
Chowdhury, a professor of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology, has been
tapped by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to build a better vaccine
against bovine herpes virus-type 1. Bovine herpes is the initiator of
bovine respiratory disease complex, which is made up of several viruses
and subsequent infections that make cattle sick. The herpes virus
directly causes bovine rhinotracheitis, which is part of the complex.
Afflicted cattle exhibit symptoms including rapid breathing, coughing,
elevated temperature, lack of appetite, runny nose and eyes, and
depression. The complex also can cause pregnant cows to abort.
"Bovine herpes virus-type 1 is typically where bovine disease complex
starts," Chowdhury said. "It enters the animal and makes its way to the
neuronal cell body where it's latent for life."
But the herpes virus disarms the animal's immune system so that other
opportunistic infections can take hold.
Chowdhury has studied how the virus gets into the body and past the
immune system, as well as how it gets out of the neurons following
reactivation from latency. He said that there are proteins enveloping
the virus specifically designed to help the virus move within the
neurons and evade the bovine immune system.
His current project targets two envelope glycoproteins - E and N - and a
non-glycosylated envelope protein - Us9. Proteins E and Us9 promote
transport within the neuron when the virus is reactivated, whereas
glycoprotein N enables the virus to evade the immune system causing
infection. Chowdhury will genetically modify these proteins to affect
their ability to help the herpes virus spread and establish an
infection.
"Being able to disable the virus in these ways will go a long way toward
eradicating bovine respiratory disease complex," Chowdhury said. "And
these three proteins show great promise. The trick will be to disable
the proteins without disabling the immune system's response."
Chowdhury has a $725,000 grant from the Department of Agriculture to
study how best to genetically cripple these proteins, the end result
being a new vaccine. He also is working with Fort Dodge Animal Health
on vaccine development.
"There are some genetically engineered vaccines already out there. For
example, glycoprotein E-deleted virus is the only vaccine allowed in
European countries," Chowdhury said. "But the vaccine needs further
improvement, especially with respect to immune response."
With the new vaccine, Chowdhury said he's also looking to build in a
genetic marker so vaccinated animals can easily be distinguished from
sick ones. That will also provide animals with better immunity. He said
that developing a vaccine with these two properties would bring the
U.S. beef industry one step closer to declaring the nation's meat
disease-free.
Chowdhury is one of the more than 150 K-Staters who are active in the
food safety and animal health arenas.

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CANADA: Menu Foods reaches deal to settle pet food suits
01.apr.08
Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0129343720080401
Menu Foods Income Fund was cited in this story as saying on Tuesday that it had reached an agreement in principle to settle lawsuits it is facing over its massive recall of contaminated pet food last year.
The company said that parties to the so-called pet food multi-district litigation have informed a U.S. court that a "comprehensive, cross-border agreement in principle" has been reached as a result of mediation.
Menu Foods said the deal is subject to several conditions, but the parties involved have advised the court they are confident a definitive agreement can be reached.
Shares of Menu Foods were up 14 Canadian cents, or 20.3 percent, at 83 Canadian cents on Tuesday afternoon on the Toronto Stock Exchange following the announcement.
The stock has dived since the recall was first announced about a year ago, when it was trading around the C$7 level.
The firm said that the settlement amount, which was not disclosed, will be funded by the defendants, including Menu Foods and its product liability insurer.
Its estimate for the cost of the recall is still C$55 million ($54 million).

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CANADA: The shop where every steak has an address
01.apr.08
The Star
Kim Honey
http://www.thestar.com/article/404619
At Rowe Farms' new outpost on Queen St. E., customers won't, according to this story, have to look far when they want to know the provenance of their meat. The countertop where you pay is a Plexiglas map of southwestern Ontario that lists the 12 names of the farmers who supply the store and pinpoints their locations.
The first of the spring lamb is expected at the store in May from David Sayles in Campbellton, while company founder John Rowe's grass-fed beef is a fall thing. The Leslieville Market, as it is called, opens tomorrow.
"We want to bring people closer to the food they eat," Jamie Cooney, was quoted as saying. Cooney is the new CEO whom Rowe and partners Investeco Capital hired from Loblaws last year, and added, "We can tell you exactly where the cows come from, and a lot of times that is not the case (at other stores)."
Investeco, a private equity company that invests in green businesses such as Organic Meadow milk, bought controlling interest of Rowe Meat Farms in 2006, though you can find Rowe chatting with customers every Saturday at the St. Lawrence Market's north annex. Investeco has controlling interest and three seats on the board of directors but Rowe is still part owner.
And his principles still guide the company. That includes protocols that protect the welfare of the animals and even extend to the feed. No genetically modified plants, herbicides or pesticides, antibiotics or growth hormones are allowed.
Customer Paula Virany was "thrilled" when she stumbled upon the store yesterday, adding,"It's not too much to ask for a product made with a little decency and respect for life. It's really basic. I expect that from my food source."

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CANADA: Michael Vick might like it here
01.apr.08
Edmonton Sun
Mindelle Jacobs
http://www.edmontonsun.com/Comment/2008/04/01/5159556-sun.html
Canada boasts of being a beacon to the world in justice matters, but, according to Jacobs, we are an international embarrassment when it comes to our cowardly and ineffective animal cruelty laws.
An astonishing 99% of animal abuse complaints in Canada go unpunished because our laws are so weak, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
The organization compared animal protection legislation in 14 countries, including Great Britain, Germany, Austria, New Zealand and the Philippines, and found that Canada ranks at the bottom of all comparisons.
Canada, for instance, is the only country in the study that makes it virtually impossible to prosecute cases of neglect, or protect wild and stray animals.
And while participating in animal fighting is illegal here, Canada is the only nation in the report that permits the breeding and training of animals to fight as well as allowing people to profit from such activities.
In other words, it would have likely been impossible to prosecute Michael Vick in Canada because he wasn't found in the actual act of dogfighting, points out Shelagh MacDonald, of the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies (CFHS).
Jacobs goes on to say that here's another grim fact guaranteed to turn your stomach. In civilized, compassionate Canada, the Criminal Code law that prohibits killing an animal without a lawful excuse only applies to owned animals.
You could go around beating stray dogs to death and could technically only be charged with causing unnecessary pain and suffering -- not with killing the animals.
Similarly, if the two cats recently killed in Alberta were wild, no one can be prosecuted for killing them. The people who hung a cat from a lamppost over the weekend in Ponoka, south of Edmonton, and who cut in half and disembowelled a cat last week in an Edmonton school yard are deeply disturbed individuals.
But Canada does not care enough about the welfare of animals to replace our 19th-century animal cruelty laws with tough legislation meant to crack down on animal abusers.
It's extremely difficult to prosecute cases of animal neglect, for instance, because the Criminal Code requires proof of wilful neglect.
That's probably why there have been no Criminal Code charges stemming from the seizure of 100 starving horses from an Alberta ranch in February, says MacDonald of the CFHS. (Charges have been laid under Alberta's Animal Protection Act, however.)
Jacobs goes on to say, make no mistake. Our federal politicians know all of this, but they're sticking their heads in the sand anyway. They are poised to pass a shameful Senate bill on Friday (Bill S-203) that will merely increase the penalties for animal abuse, but leave the 1892 legislation intact.
"It's difficult to be hopeful at this point. It's really shocking that (the bill) has come this far because it is so strongly opposed by every animal protection group in the country," says MacDonald.
The legislation our MPs should be championing is Liberal MP Mark Holland's private member's bill (Bill C-373) which not only increases penalties, but rewrites the legislation to make it easier to prosecute perpetrators.
Unfortunately, that bill is nowhere near seeing the light of day.
"The only thing the Senate bill does is increase sentences. The problem is we can't get convictions. So the sentences don't matter an ounce if you don't get convictions," Holland said yesterday. "My fear is that if the Senate bill passes, we're going to have to wait a long time for effective animal cruelty legislation in this country."
Think about it. It's not just about seals anymore.

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SWITZERLAND: A push to stop swiss cats from being turned into coats and hats
01.apr.08
New York Times
STEVE FRIESS
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/01/world/europe/01cats.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
Had just one of her cats disappeared last October, Isabelle Nydegger would simply have assumed it had lost its way in the nearby forest or been attacked by a dog or wild animal.
But this story says first Zeus, a 2-year-old black tabby, vanished. A few days later it was her 2-year-old black and white tabby, Zorra. And, finally, the prize of her brood, 4-year-old Merlin, a fluffy white Siberian whose perky visage remains in her mobile phone six months later. All were gone within the first couple of weeks of the fall hunting season.
The cats, Mrs. Nydegger and others are convinced, were shot by hunters near this central Swiss city and sold to tanners for their fur, which is used in garments and blankets in the last western European nation where such a trade is still legal.
Legal, that is, but increasingly stigmatized — and soon Switzerland is likely to outlaw the practice.
The story goes on to say that that the first country to outlaw it, Italy, did so only six years ago reflects the long European history with cat fur and how quickly the public has soured on its use in the face of an international campaign to redefine a centuries-old practice borrowed from traditional Chinese medicine.
While it is legal in Switzerland to shoot feral cats as well as domestic ones that stray more than 200 yards from their homes, it is not clear how many cats are hunted every year here and across the border in France, where residents have also complained about disappearing felines. One government official put the number at a couple of dozen. Luc Barthassat, a legislator with the Christian Democratic People’s Party, was cited as saying about 2,000, but members of S O S Chats, an advocacy group, believe tens of thousands are killed.
Estimates of the value of each pelt vary wildly. Mr. Barthassat said he had been told by tanners that they pay only about $5. But animal rights advocates say that hunters make much more than that, noting that some blankets made from 10 pelts sell at retail for more than $1,700.
But the numbers almost seemed beside the fact this fall, after a series of TV reports created a public furor. Three TV news crews from Switzerland and France conducted hidden-camera investigations that caught tanners who had officially denied trading in cat fur actively doing so and, in at least one case, explaining that cat meat was also available.
Soon S O S Chats had collected more than 123,000 signatures urging the government to ban the practice. Brigitte Bardot and Michael Schumacher, the popular Formula One driver, signed the petition, as did leaders of animal-rights groups around the world.
The matter would most likely have reached the Swiss Parliament in some form this year regardless of the activism and publicity because the European Union has required member states to prohibit the import and export of cat fur by the end of 2008 anyway. Switzerland is not a member of the Union but does have treaties that require it to adhere to many of its rules on trade matters. Mr. Barthassat’s effort to end the domestic trade, however, is a step beyond the European Union’s demands.

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NEW MEXICO: Gila forest posts warnings about rabies outbreak
31.mar.08
Associated Press
http://kob.com/article/stories/S396611.shtml?cat=516
SILVER CITY, N.M. -- The supervisor of the Gila National Forest says he wants visitors to enjoy the outdoors, but, according to this story, also wants them to be aware of a rabies outbreak in the area.
Gila superintendent Richard Markley was cited as saying signs warning the public about the outbreak have been posted at trailheads, campgrounds and other areas.
The outbreak has largely affected foxes.

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EU restrictions are costing Brazilian beef industry
31.mar.08
Meatingplace.com
Arnaldo de Sousa
http://www.meatingplace.com/MembersOnly/webNews/details.aspx?item=20150
Since the European Union placed restrictions on Brazilian beef imports in January, Brazil has lost $300,000, according to calculations by the Association of Beef Exports (Abiec).
Following recent audits by the EU, the country was required to reduce the number of EU-eligible farms to 97, down from 106.
"We haven't had a sufficient flux of suppliers to attain EU demands. We're truly seeing a fight for animals authorized for export to Europe," Fabiano Tito Rosa of Brazilian agricultural consultancy Scot Consultoria told Meatingplace.com.
Last week, meatpacker Independência S.A. announced its first slaughtering of animals approved for export to the EU since the embargo took effect. (See EU suspends Brazilian beef imports on Jan. 31 on Meatingplace.com, Jan. 31, 2008.) The company is slaughtering 419 bovines for beef, enough to fill one container, to be exported to Holland.
"We believe the number of farms authorized to export to Europe will increase after new audits the Brazilian Ministry will conduct in May," said Antonio Jorge Camardelli, executive director of Abiec.
Training
Inacio Kroetz, secretary of the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture's Defense of Livestock division, told Meatingplace.com the agency is now training 210 federal inspectors on EU specifications by which they can authorize additional farms.
"We were detecting some problems in traceability in January, but now we remain more rigorous in the process and the EU has accepted this work," Kroetz said.
The EU currently allows Brazilian beef imports from six states: Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Goiás, Mato Grosso, Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais. Minas Gerais, located in southeast Brazil, is home to 80 percent of the authorized farms.

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WTO ruling against EU ban on beef with hormones a 'victory': U.S. official
31.mar.08
Meatingplace.com
Tom Johnston
http://www.meatingplace.com/MembersOnly/webNews/details.aspx?item=20159
U.S. Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab said the World Trade Organization's ruling, announced Monday, that a ban by the European Union on imports of U.S. beef from certain hormone-treated cattle remains scientifically unjustified would be a boon to U.S. beef producers — as well as EU consumers.
"The panel's findings on the EU ban are an important victory for all U.S. farmers and ranchers," Schwab said in a statement. "EU consumers should have access to U.S. beef — it is of high quality, safe and competitive. Considering the EU's position as the world's second largest beef importer, resolution of this dispute will benefit not only U.S. cattle producers and beef exporters, but also EU importers and consumers."
The ruling allows the United States and Canada to maintain sanctions on specified European products, though the EU has the right to appeal.
The dispute, one of the longest running in the history of the WTO, dates back to 1996, when the United States succeeded in its challenge of the EU prohibition. Following an unsuccessful appealy by the EU, the WTO authorized the United States to raise tariffs on imports from the EU to the tune of nearly $117 million per year. The United States did so in 1999.
In late 2003, the EU amended its ban. The original ban prohibited, among other things, imports of meat from cattle to which any of six growth-promotion hormones had been administered. The amended version maintained a permanent ban on one of those hormones and provisionally applied the prohibition to the five other hormones, pending availability of sufficient scientific evidence. USTR notes that the EU already had claimed it had sufficient scientific evidence for banning those five hormones.
"It is not surprising that the panel found that the EU continues to be unable to scientifically justify its ban," the agency said. "The hormone levels the EU is concerned about are 50 times less than the acceptable daily intake and they represent a tiny fraction of what occurs naturally in an egg or one glass of milk."

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SCOTLAND: Has salmon farming outgrown itself?
31.mar.08
Telegraph
Michael Wigan
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/03/31/eawigan131.xml
The first global study on the environmental effects of salmon aquaculture shows, according to this story, that the 1m tonne industry has serious side-effects on captive salmon's cousins in the wild.
Parasitic sea-lice, multiplying in millions around cage salmon, are shown to decimate wild runs across the study's range stretching from British Columbia on the Pacific to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland on the Atlantic and across to Ireland and Scotland.
The only country not studied was Norway because no areas were sufficiently free of salmon farming to act as comparisons.
Nova Scotia researchers the late Ransom Myers and Jennifer Ford found that wild runs near salmon farms suffered population losses of at least 50 per cent each year. Sea-trout, or anadromous brown trout, were particularly vulnerable.
The authors claim this scale of loss is unsustainable and say that diseases from aquaculture operations spread into the wild and that interbreeding with wild fish weakens the ability of future generations to survive.
The story goes on to say that the effect of this research on Scotland cannot be taken in isolation. Negative publicity for salmon farming has been unremitting. Last August John Fredriksen, the major shareholder in salmon producer giant Marine Harvest said whilst on an angling holiday that salmon farms should be in places without wild fish, in other words that the bulk of the industry was wrongly-sited.
Since 2000 when salmon farming's polluting effect on sea-lochs was shown to have eradicated wild stocks in 14 west Highlands rivers the industry has reacted to criticism by moving production to easier locations.
On the wild coast of Chile there are neither roads, people, nor wild salmon. Production there, using cages 10 times Scotland's largest, has overtaken that of Norway, formerly the leading producer.
The original employment justification for Scottish salmon farming has shrunk as farms have consolidated, mechanised, and shed labour. Now a few very large companies dominate the industry
Whilst output per employee has climbed, the number of Scottish salmon farms has dwindled from 325 in 2003 to 277 in 2005, the last official figure.
Output too has declined, from a peak of 170,000 tonnes to 132,000 tonnes for 2006. Critically, the industry's food supply is shrinking. The last FAO world aquaculture report said the increases in farm-reared fish worldwide were unsustainable.

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