From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2008:

SAN FRANCISCO–U.S. District Judge
Marilyn Hall Patel on September 22, 2008 ordered
the USDA to stay out of the agribusiness effort
to defeat the California Prevention of Farm
Animal Cruelty Act, Proposition Two on the state
ballot. Judge Patel ruled that the USDA may not
legally spend funds collected from egg producers
by the American Egg Board to promote the egg
industry on television ads that may affect the
election outcome.
The American Egg Board is a an 18-member
panel appointed by the U.S. Secretary of
Agriculture. The two ads at issue suggest buying
locally raised eggs. They feature the same
spokesperson who appears in ads directly funded
by the egg industry which assert that Proposition
Two will drive egg producers out of California.
“A government lawyer described the ads as
‘neutral and educational’ and said they were
unrelated to Proposition Two,” wrote San
Francisco Chronicle staff writer Bob Egelko.

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2008:

WASHINGTON D.C.–U.S. Agri-culture
Secretary Ed Schafer on May 20, 2008 concluded a
60-day review of U.S. slaughtering procedures by
announcing a total ban on killing for human
consumption any cattle “who are too weak to rise
or walk.”
“The planned change would shut down an
exception that allows a small number of so-called
‘downer’ cattle into the food supply if they pass
veterinary inspection,” explained Associated
Press writer Erica Werner. “Downer cows pose
increased risk for mad cow disease, E. coli and
other infections, partly because they typically
wallow in feces. They are already mostly banned
from slaughter [for human consumption], but
under current rules can be allowed if they fall
down after passing an initial veterinary
inspection, and then are re-inspected and pass
that second inspection, too. ”

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