WASHINGTON - Investigators may never figure out where the Alabama cow with mad cow disease was born and raised, in part because the U.S. lacks a livestock tracking system the Bush administration promised two years ago.
After the first case of mad cow disease in December 2003, the government pledged to get a nationwide program into place quickly so officials could track cows, pigs and chickens from their birth to the dinner table. Today, however, the system is a long way off.
Alabama officials saw the need firsthand last week as they tried to discover where the infected cow came from.
The animal had no ear tags, tattoos or brands, and spent less than a year on the farm where she died. The trail seems to have gone cold at an auction where she was sold last year.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060318/ap_on_he_me/mad_cow_tracking