Mad Cow One-liner

[HeeBGBz]

What would be the significance of this?

USDA SAYS SUSPECT U.S. MADCOW ANIMAL BORN PRIOR TO 1997 FEED BAN

[whatgives]

1. I have no idea.

[BlueEyedSon]

2. Oopsy!

[earthboundmisfit]

3. Pre-1997 feed could contain ANIMAL parts - even parts of other cows

as I remember. Definitely had sheep parts in it. Quite hideous when you think about it, making them unwitting carnivores & in some cases cannibals. I turned vegetarian when I heard about this back then.
Edited to add:
They banned animal parts in feed in 1997 because they thought (rightly) that was how Mad Cow was spreading.

[Maple]

4. Its old enough

to have eaten tainted food.

[kenny blankenship]

5. well if the feed ban outlaws

feeding cows to cows, which I think it does (?), and the cow in question was not born prior to the ban but after the ban, then either the cow had been fed illegal feed from before the ban went into effect, OR, there is some other way of transmitting the disease to cows besides their food supply.

If the cow was alive prior to the ban, it could be presumed to have contracted madcow normally, through eating prion-infected animal matter which would have been a legal practice at the time, even if a completely disgusting and morally repugnant one.

[Celebration]

6. it means

That our Happy Meals need a label with the cow's birthdate.