Morality - CJD

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CJD
Author: Juliet Salmon.

When I was younger I used to love going down to the local farm where my friend's pony was stabled.

I was fascinated by the animals that I saw about the farm, particularly the cows. Maybe it was their big, brown, sad doey eyes or their gentle inquisitiveness but I thought they were fantastic. Moo in particular was a very special cow, she was so friendly and intelligent and I used to spend hours scratching her ears and talking to her. I was really excited when I found out that Moo was going to have a baby. She gave birth to Bungle, a baby Bullock. I watched Bungle's progress over the next couple of months and grew to love him as much as Moo. However, one day as I went to visit Moo and Bungle, I was only greeted by Moo - Bungle had vanished without a trace. I was obviously very upset and suspicious when one of the farmhands said he'd gone on holiday with the other little bullocks.

 
A few months later I noticed a change in Moo - she seemed unsteady on her feet and didn't respond to me like she used to. Then one day she didn't greet me anymore - I never saw her again. The farmhand told me she had gone to cow heaven and when I asked where they had buried her, he replied with a smirk and pointed to what I now know today is an abattoir.
 
 
Years passed, the farm was changing hands. Due to this I went with my friend to sort out stable/field renting when we learned the most shocking news. The old farmer had just died of CJD, otherwise known as mad cow disease. Suddenly everything seemed to make sense. Moo had died purely from being given bad fodder to increase profit whilst her meat had been used for human consumption, ironically causing the death of her owner. As for poor Bungle, I had already figured out some time ago that he hadn't exactly gone on holiday. But where does this chain end I wondered, what if Moo had passed CJD onto Bungle and then onto other unsuspecting humans for consumption? The real worry was that Moo wasn't the only cow that had died dramatically in that way nor was she the only cow to give birth at that time - just where did the chain end?

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