"As feed prices surge, cattle suffer; Some animals left to starve in Nebraska" by Nate Jenkins, Associated Press | October 25, 2008
BUTTE, Neb. - The dead were stacked in two piles - 70 cows in one, 30 in another -in the crevices of this scenic, hilly ranch country where cattle outnumber people.
State investigators think the animals might have starved to death in overgrazed pastures. Steven Stanec, executive director of the Nebraska Brand Committee, a state agency that helps police the livestock industry, and others say the cases from early this year don't share a clear-cut cause. But, he said, "I would say the higher price of feed has something to do with it."
Thanks, ethanol assholes!!!!
In recent months the cost of hay has risen by about 80 percent, adding to the already high costs of other feed caused by lofty corn prices, which have slipped recently. High commodity and fuel prices have prompted some farmers to stop raising hay, which is mostly used to feed cattle in the winter and early spring, said Neil Tietz, editor of Hay & Forage magazine. Tietz said hay prices are "certainly the highest I've ever seen."
And even with the recent drops in oil and commodity prices, Tietz expects hay prices to creep higher this coming winter, which could cause even more cases of starvation. Livestock analysts and those who track animal abuse cases nationally, including the Humane Society of the United States, say they don't know whether livestock neglect cases are on the rise across the country.
But they predict high hay prices will lead to more cattle herds slowly wasting away from starvation in remote pastures. "We are going to have more cases of this," said Temple Grandin, professor of animal science at Colorado State University. She said starvation, which can often take months to cause death, is the worst type of animal abuse.
"There's no excuse for livestock starving to death," Grandin said angrily when told of the Nebraska cases. "You can always sell them. They might not be at a good price, but you can always sell them."
Or eat them.
Widely circulated videos recorded by undercover investigators for the Humane Society of the United States showed alleged abuse of livestock in slaughterhouses and sale barns, including a video from early this year of crippled and sick cows at a California slaughterhouse being shoved with forklifts. --more--"
Why ad that last paragraph? I get the feeling the MSM also promotes the meat industry.
