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From: TSS ()
Subject: MAD COW USA, if you don't test, you dont find
Date: May 26, 2007 at 8:37 am PST
UNITED STATES ANIMAL HEALTH ASSOCIATION
8100 Three Chopt Road, Suite 203
P. O. BOX K227
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23288
804- 285-3210 FAX 804-285-3367
E-Mail: usaha@usaha.org
Web Site: www.usaha.org
LEE M. MYERS
PRESIDENT
GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF
AGRICULTURE
JAMES W. LEAFSTEDT
PRESIDENT-ELECT
NATIONAL PORK BOARD
DONALD E. HOENIG
FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT
MAINE DEPARTMENT OF
AGRICULTURE
RICHARD E. BREITMEYER
SECOND VICE-PRESIDENT
CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF
FOOD AND AGRICULTURE
STEVEN L. HALSTEAD
THIRD VICE-PRESIDENT
MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF
AGRICULTURE
WILLIAM L. HARTMANN
TREASURER
MINNESOTA BOARD OF ANIMAL
HEALTH
J LEE ALLEY
SECRETARY
111th Annual Meeting –John Ascuaga’s Nugget Hotel, Reno, Nevada – October 18-24, 2007
May 22, 2007
Honorable Michael Johanns
Secretary of Agriculture
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Room 200 Jamie Whitten Federal Building
Washington, D.C. 20250
Dear Mr. Secretary:
The United States Animal Health Association (USAHA), wishes to express its
encouragement to you and the Department of Agriculture to appeal the litigation
surrounding private testing for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy. We hope you
will strongly consider this as you work with the Office of General Counsel on this
suit.
To support this appeal, we offer that this sets a detrimental precedence on USDA’s
ability to regulate disease and testing processes in animal agriculture. As we
appreciate the entrepreneurial spirit of Creekstone, the larger scale implications
could lead to devastating impacts for food animal production in this country as it
relates to animal health. We do feel that private testing could hamper animal
health officials’ ability to locate disease occurrences, and exercise proper practices
to trace, control and eliminate them. As you are aware, there are a number of
factors that raise concern among animal health leaders and diagnosticians. We
encourage you to thoroughly consider those upon your decision to appeal.
We do recognize this is now a matter of the courts, and trust that our ability to
safeguard animal health is not compromised as a result of this litigation. Please let
us know if there is any further support we can provide.
Sincerely,
Lee M. Myers
President, U.S. Animal Health Association
Cc: Dr. John Clifford
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