Dave Smith > wrote:
> The Wolf wrote:

> > The NY Times reports the age discrepancy has been rectified. A liberal like
> > yourself swears on the accuracy of the NY Times...........

> So let's get this straight..... after first saying that the cow was fully matured,
> and then saying that it was a four year old heifer (had never had a calf), and being
> confronted with Canadian records, that said it was 6 1/2 years old, the US
> government has now changed the age to suit the Canadian records?? Considering the
> political and economic impact of a situation like this, would it not be appropriate
> that they get their story straight before they start pointing fingers?

While I can agree that getting the facts straight before talking
about it would be nice, I can easily see how the confusion might
have started. Cattle auctions, and cattle dealers, might just have
gotten (or originated) some bogus age and origin info in an
effort to sell their product. Normally, nobody will come back
a few years later asking specifics of date/place/etc. I will
not speculate if such creative pedigree sweetening occurred
in Canada or the US in this case, or even at all. It might
all just be poor recordkeeping.

Bill Ranck
Blacksburg, Va.