The road’s my middle name
By Kim Campbell Thornton
August 30, 2008
Gas at $4/gallon notwithstanding, we loaded up the dogs yesterday and headed north from south Orange County on a four-day odyssey to Seattle, where we’ll be spending approximately the next six weeks while Jerry works there. As noted by Gina, we had a good visit with her, the bouncing Flatcoats, Drew and Eddie, and of course the chickens. Who knew they were sort of soft and snuggly?
I have to give props to Marriott for their pet-friendly attitude. Not all of their properties permit pets, but
those that do have been welcoming. We’re staying at Towneplace Suites along the way, and we try to do our part to ensure that they continue to have a good attitude toward pet owners. We pack a sheet to throw over the sofa in case the girls jump up on it, and we don’t permit them on the bed. Last night, Jerry was sure they would get up on it on their own, but once it became clear there would be no invitation from us, Bella and Harper settled themselves on the sofa, Twyla in the crate.
I really have to make a point of writing to Arnold about the state of the pet areas at California rest stops. They’re basically dirt, with lots of stickers and weeds. Not acceptable. How hard or expensive can it be to plant a little more grass? At this particular rest stop, I met a couple with two Tibetan Spaniels. They were very surprised that I knew what they were. “No one ever does,” the woman said.
We saw a Westie and a Golden on our drive through Lassen Volcanic National Park. I like traveling with the girls and it’s usually not too difficult, but national parks–rightly so–don’t allow dogs on the hiking trails because they have the potential to spread disease to wildlife. That limits us when we’re there with the girls, but since Bella isn’t really up for hikes at her age, we simply enjoyed the scenic drive. We let them out at the Bumpass Hell overlook–dogs are allowed on paved walkways–and Bella expressed her excitement quite vocally. She’s normally a silent dog, but when she’s someplace new or interesting, she “talks” nonstop. No wildlife sightings except for a fawn and a doe and lots of hawks overhead.
Tomorrow: Crater Lake and Portland
In food news that affects people and potentially pets, USA Today reports a federal appeals court ruling allowing the government to prohibit meat packers from testing cows for mad cow disease. Why would they do that? Here’s what the story says:
Because the Agriculture Department tests only a small percentage of cows for the deadly disease, Kansas meatpacker Creekstone Farms Premium Beef wants to test all of its cows. The government says it can’t.
Larger meat companies worry that if Creekstone is allowed to perform the test and advertise its meat as safe, they could be forced to do the expensive test, too.
Nice.
The backstory on this is that Creekstone Farms had a customer in Japan, that was willing to pay very good money for Creekstone’s beef—if every cow slaughtered was tested for BSE. Creekstone wasn’t making any kind of a statement; they were just trying to do business with a customer. Totally market-driven, which according to the current administration is supposed to be a good thing.
But not, I guess, when bigger companies don’t want to risk having more of the market make the same demand.
There is actually some justification for saying that all animals slaughtered should not be tested. Under a certain age, and I think it’s like 20 months or close to that, the test is pointless. Detectable signs of BSE won’t be present earlier than that. Creekstone Farms was going to test all animals, regardless of age, because that’s what the Japanese customer wants. Producing market pressure to do that really would raise costs at no benefit to anyone.
But the USDA rule is that no animals can be tested except the ones they say have to be tested, not that you can only test animals it makes scientific sense to test.
And that’s because the agribusiness giants don’t want to be forced to spend the money to actually guarantee that our food is safe. They’re willing to settle for best-guess and a good gamble. It hasn’t happened here, yet, so why worry, right?
A friend of mine died of Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease, which is the human (not animal-aquired) version of this. It’s just slow enough to enure that you experience the full horror of it.
Comment by Lis — August 31, 2008 @ 4:56 am
Is our government for us or against us in food safety?
Ye Gawds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Comment by Colorado Transplant — August 31, 2008 @ 6:14 am
Kim … you didn’t mention the cats. They are very unhappy with you now.
As for the meat situation … isn’t it amazing how free-market advocates are not at all for free markets when it comes to protecting their business … or keeping consumers in the dark?
Comment by Gina Spadafori — August 31, 2008 @ 6:43 am
You mean the cats that didn’t want to have anything to do with me? Those cats? Well, they were indeed incredibly beautiful and soft, and I admired them greatly—from a distance.
Comment by Kim Campbell Thornton — August 31, 2008 @ 7:46 am