January 8, 2004

 

Alberta Considers Testing All Cattle For BSE

 

In the wake of Canada's most severe mad cow crises, Alberta is considering testing of all cattle slaughtered for BSE as the state aims to raise public confidence in its beef.

 

Alberta Premier Ralph Klein made the comment Tuesday, which was aimed at keeping public confidence in Alberta beef after DNA tests confirmed that BSE in a Washington state dairy cow originated in the province.

 

The move could see about 30,000 animals tested each year, more than 30 times the number of tests now done by Alberta, the report said.

 

"We probably have to do something to reassure people that this province, anyway - notwithstanding what the federal government might or might not do - is willing to put in the highest of protocols relative to testing," Klein said.

 

"They've done that in Japan. I don't know how reassuring it has been to the Japanese population."

 

Klein said the province is doing a cost analysis of the plan, which will be brought to a government caucus in February.

 

Officials on both sides of the border said much investigation remains to determine how and when the cow became infected with BSE. Just over 1% of cattle slaughtered in Alberta in 2002 were killed in provincial facilities. More than 2.3 million cattle were slaughtered at federal processing plants, the Calgary Herald said.

 

Canada tested 3,377 cattle for mad-cow disease that year.

 

The Alberta testing proposal is a big turnaround for Klein, who just a few months ago was a harsh critic of the Japanese system, which tests every slaughtered animal for BSE. Last year, Klein labeled Japan's safety program an overreaction and called it "absolutely useless."

 

At the time, he said Alberta had no intention of going down that road. "The chances of that happening are slim and none," Klein said in September. "First of all, it would be terribly expensive and the value would also be highly questionable."

 

Klein based his original criticism on the fact animals younger than 30 months - the vast majority of animals slaughtered - rarely develop BSE.

 

"There's some argument as to whether there's really any benefit to that, other than providing assurances to the people that we're testing every single cow," he said Tuesday.

 

Alberta Agriculture Minister Shirley McClellan said negative perceptions may be difficult to overcome with trading partners now that the focus has shifted back to Canada.