In an article about antibiotic use in farm animals leading to resistant diseases in humans who eat the meat of those animals, there is a focus on farmer Rowles and his PIG farm.
According to the article, Farmer Rowles believes that he practices safe antibiotic adminstration that does not lead to sickness in humans:
"[Farmer] Rowles gives his pigs virginiamycin, which has been used in livestock for decades and is not absorbed by the gut. He withdraws the drug three weeks before his hogs are sent for slaughter. He also monitors his herd for signs of drug resistance to ensure they are getting the most effective doses." (My emphasis).
"The one thing that the American public wants to know is: Is the product that I'm getting, is it safe to eat?" said Rowles, whose home freezer is full of his pork. "I'm telling you that the product that we produce today is the safest, most wholesome product that you could possibly get."
Someone in Congress disagrees. That someone is SERGEANT SLAUGHTER! No, actually it is just Rep. Louise M. Slaughter [whoops, sorry], D-N.Y., who has proposed a bill to outlaw the practice of feeding antibiotics to healthy livestock:
According to Slaughter: "If you mixed an antibiotic in your child's cereal, people would think you're crazy."
WHAT are the odds that someone named Slaughter would stand opposed to a bunch of pig farmers in this debate?
As it turns out, not all farmers are in opposition to Slaughter...PUN INTENDED:
"Back in Missouri, farmer Kremer [a different farmer who was accidentally gored by an antibiotic resistant bore on his farm] finally found an antibiotic that worked on his leg. After being released from the hospital, Kremer tested his pigs. The results showed they were resistant to all the same drugs he was. Kremer tossed his hypodermic needles, sacked his buckets of antibiotic-laced feed, slaughtered his herd and started anew [without using antibiotics on his animals]." (My emphasis).
I guess it is fitting that the pig slaughterer and Slaughter are fighting on the same team now.
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1 comment:
Haha. Sergeant Slaughter. He should be our governor not our senator. And he would raise a breed of mutant antibiotic resistant pigs and only the governor another state could take down. And that person would have to be the governor of the state furthest from ours in the continental US for perfect balance of the plot, which would make him none other than The Terminator! Arnold Schwarzenegger has to take down a herd of ravenous bovine with just the use of his bare hands...and some semiautomatic weapons...and a rocket launcher...and a tank. And then he has to rip the heart out of Slaughter while...um, Singing the National Anthem! Damn, what a movie that would be. I've got work to do...!
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