Dealing with Downers

Abstract

"Down cattle" are non-ambulatory cattle that cannot stand or walk without assistance. Down cattle present welfare, food safety and economic problems to the cattle industry. Decisions must be made quickly to either care for non-ambulatory livestock properly or to humanely euthanize them. USDA estimated that approximately 200,000 down cattle were presented to slaughter facilities in the US in 2003, and that almost 5% of dairy cattle became non-ambulatory in 2005. Causes are injuries related to dystocia, infectious diseases (toxic mastitis, toxic metritis, lymphoma, peritonitis, septicemia) and metabolic disorders (hypocalcemia, hypomagnesmia, hypophosphatemia, hypokalemia, acidosis). If the animal is suffering and the pain or distress cannot be controlled or is not likely to be controlled quickly, the animal should be euthanized. Treatment includes nursing care that provides comfortable bedding, shelter, food and water, and protection from other cattle and wildlife as well as medical care. Down cattle can be moved on sleds, belts or carefully in tractor buckets, but should not be dragged except in emergency situations. Non-ambulatory cattle cannot be left without water, feed and shelter. Public health issues involve increasing pathogen loads (salmonella, E. coli, and Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)) and tissue residues at slaughter. Current USDA rules curtail the slaughter of down cattle in the US. Economic costs relate to replacement, treatment and nursing care, and potential effects on milk and meat markets (consumer acceptance); 77% of consumers polled replied that they found it unacceptable that downed animals were used for food.