Earth Save's "Test Cows Now" project is described here (http://nyc.earthsave.org/)

I have been repeatedly saying that Earthsave is not so much an organization that supports people who wish to go vegetarian, in their lifestyle choice, but is a political action organization, aimed at controlling the actions of others, rather than helping members control their own action. Test Cows Now seems to support my view. If you are a vegan, and you don't eat cows, or cow milk, then you won't get jacob-crutchfield disorder from eating cow material, and testing cows is not important to you personally except indirectly as you may have friends or relatives that are non-vegan. If everyone went vegan, as EarthSave says it wants people to do, then, again, cows having prion disease would be irrelevant to anyone. Test Cows Now seems to be about prooving how much better we vegans are than about (1) doing something to help ourselves, or (2) doing something to help the world.

Further, what do you think will happen to the cows that are found to have mad cow disease? Do you think EarthSave doesn't know that, to prevent spread of the diseas, they would be killed? How is doing something to help get cows killed, that doesn't help existing vegans, or people in the future who thru education decide to become vegan -- how is something like that a goal of a vegetarian-vegan organization, or an animal welfare or animal rights organization that supports veganism? It just doesn't jive with their expressed goals; it maybe goes with the goals of a culture war against non-vegans. It is about trying to prove that "our way is better tha yours" rather than actually doing something to help either (1) vegetarian people or (2) animals.

Again, if you just follow earthsave's express agenda -- not eating animal products -- finding mad cow disease and killing its victims, is not any of your business. If you follow earthsave's "hidden agenda" -- hate-driven culture war -- then finding mad cow disease and killings its cow victims makes sense.

That makes sense. A lot of times pro-veg*n organizations basically promote anything that might end up making meat look bad. That's not always a bad thing, but it may cause the organization to lose focus.

I personally don't think focusing on prions is very fruitful. People are already more likely to suffer ill health from their diets in many, many other ways and that doesn't seem to have any effect on people's behavior. Personally I think it may be better to focus on making attractive and convenient veg*n alternative more widely available and acceptable to the public at large. I think convenience and unfamiliarity are to of the biggest factors that discourage possible veg*ns.

hate-driven culture war?

Mad cow disease presents a threat to the public health, and is therefore everyone's business.

More testing of cows would help contain and minimize the impact of the disease, resulting in less suffering and death for the animals and for humans. I judge it humane to do more extensive testing.

Mad cow disease presents a threat to the public health, and is therefore everyone's business.

More testing of cows would help contain and minimize the impact of the disease, resulting in less suffering and death for the animals and for humans. I judge it humane to do more extensive testing.

I completely agree. I have friends and loved ones who will never stop eating cows and cow products, and so I'd like to see their risk minimized as much as is possible.

It is everyone's business -- but not the business of a vegetarian support group. Public safety and adequate police presence in the New York subway system is my business, and the business of all New Yorkers, but I don't address it via a New York vegetarian support group.

ceryna " I have friends and loved ones who will never stop eating cows and cow products, and so I'd like to see their risk minimized as much as is possible."

I am sure they are glad that EarthSave is looking out for their safety.

I am sure they are glad that EarthSave is looking out for their safety.

I don't know if you're being sarcastic Soilman, but most of them don't care about testing because they don't believe it's a problem. Most of them don't believe Mad Cow exists in the US at all, and if it does, it's so rare that it will never affect them.

The point is, I don't think earthsave is saying "we want cows tested" because they really care about the safety of meat eaters. Why should they care, if, as you say, meat eaters don't care about themselves, and it doesn't affect earthsave members because they neither eat animal meat, nor cannibalize human meat eaters. They are doing it to publicise the idea that eating meat can cause diseases, not to protect those few meat eaters who actually care. They can look out for themselves, and everyone knows they can, and will, look out for themselves. If not, it is not the job of a veg organizatiion to look out for them -- it is the job of meat eaters to look out for themselves.