| 12/18/2003 Court Reinstates Mad Cow Suit Against USDA - 12/ 16 Reuters In its ruling, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a trial court's finding that the Farm Sanctuary, based in upstate New York, and Fordham University professor Michael Baur had no standing to file the suit. "Downed animal" is an industry term describing livestock that collapse usually for unknown reasons, and are too sick to stand back up. The appeals court sent the case back to the Manhattan federal court for further proceedings. A spokesman for the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office did not have an immediate comment. The trial court had previously dismissed the suit because the Farm Sanctuary did not allege that Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy or "mad cow" disease had ever been detected in the United States. Without deciding the merits of the case, the district judge concluded that the risk to the food supply was too hypothetical and speculative to constitute an injury for the purpose of allowing Farm Sanctuary to sue the USDA. The appeals panel disagreed and said that the plaintiff did not need to allege that the disease had ever been detected in the United States to allege a credible risk of harm at the early stage of court proceedings. Farm Sanctuary argued in the suit that downed livestock are likely to be infected with the disease because it typically causes animals to lose coordination and ability to stand upright. Under current USDA regulations, downed livestock may be used for human consumption after passing a mandatory post-mortem inspection by a veterinary officer. © Reuters 2003. All Rights Reserved. Related Link: http://www.reuters.com |
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