(Reuters) — Merck & Co. recruited Temple Grandin, an advocate for the humane treatment of livestock, to be on a board that will consult on the company’s Zilmax feed additive, which has been temporarily taken off the U.S. and Canadian markets following animal welfare concerns.
Here is an edited transcript of Grandin’s answers to questions posed by Reuters’ News Service.
Q: Tyson said its decision to stop buying Zilmax-fed cattle was based on animal welfare concerns. Have you noticed any issues at the slaughterhouses where you have worked?
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A: When beta-agonists first came on the market in the early 2000s, I worked at packing plants all the time. I started seeing problems showing up at packing plants that I’ve never seen before: stiff, sore-footed lameness and a lot of heat stress symptoms, including in Brahman cattle who are usually heat resistant. I want to emphasize not every group of cattle fed beta-agonists have this problem. Some groups of cattle have the problem and some don’t. I call it the “odd unevenness.”
Q: Have these issues been constant across the years?
A: I have seen it at five different plants with six different groups of cattle around the country. I saw it when ractopamine (Optaflexx) came out, then again when Zilmax came on the market. This summer, in particular, we’ve seen lots of these troubles. The hot weather really makes this worse. (Grandin said she did not know what additives had been given to the distressed cows she saw this summer.)
Q: Are these animals showing similar distress in the feedlots?
A: The cattle can look fine at the feedlot. Then you put them on a truck, take them to the plant, then put them in a pen for two hours, and then they don’t want to leave the pen. This is a problem that tends to show up more at the plant after you’ve stressed the cattle a bit.
Q: How common are these issues?
A: When there is a problem, half the cattle are perfectly OK. Then you have five to 10 percent that are severely affected, reluctant to move, with sore feet and stiffness. Then you’ll have another 30 to 40 percent that are sore-footed and stiff, but it’s milder. I call it walking on hot metal. They act like the floor is hot.
