In Minnesota, the Star Tribune reports that the US Supreme Court appears to be ready “to block a California law that would require euthanizing downed livestock at federally inspected slaughterhouses to keep the meat out of the nation's food system.”
In 2009, California “barred the purchase, sale and butchering of animals that can't walk and required slaughterhouses under the threat of fines and jail time to immediately kill nonambulatory animals.” However, the National Meat Association has appealed that law to the highest court in the land, saying that just because an animal is nonambulatory doesn’t mean that it is sick.
Questioning by justices, the story says, suggests that the California law “encroached on federal laws that don't require immediate euthanizing.”
In 2009, California “barred the purchase, sale and butchering of animals that can't walk and required slaughterhouses under the threat of fines and jail time to immediately kill nonambulatory animals.” However, the National Meat Association has appealed that law to the highest court in the land, saying that just because an animal is nonambulatory doesn’t mean that it is sick.
Questioning by justices, the story says, suggests that the California law “encroached on federal laws that don't require immediate euthanizing.”
- KC's View:
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That’s okay. Even if the California law gets struck down, the industry can always fall back on the standard defense when they find nonambulatory animals and suspect that they may have something like mad cow disease.
That standard defense consists of four words: “Must be from Canada.”
