From: EACRN@aol.com
Sent: Friday, March 09, 2001 8:25 AM
To: FDADockets@oc.fda.gov
Subject: Docket # 98P-0151/CP1
To Whom It May Concern: 

I am writing to urge you to grant petition 98P-0151/CP1, prohibiting the 
slaughter and marketing of downed animals. If an animal is too sick to stand 
on its own, how can it be deemed as safe for consumption? These poor 
creatures deserve compassionate treatment, which includes speedy and humane 
euthanasia, rather than being tortured further to get them into a slaughter 
house by dragging their heavy, weary bodies over the ground, or being pushed 
into a slaughter house using heavy machinery. (I am not a vegetarian or 
"bleeding heart," but I do believe every living thing should be treated with 
respect.) 

The thought of eating a diseased animal that has been tortured to get it to 
the slaughterhouse because it cannot get there under its own power is 
disgusting to me. Because few animals fall into this category, I believe 
granting this petition would not impose an undue economic hardship on farmers 
or slaughterhouses to do the right thing by these animals and by the American 
public, which counts on them and the FDA to provide us with good, safe, 
healthy food. 

                         Sincerely, 
                         Elizabeth Crum