RMJfA- Denver Post - headlines 'n letters 5/28/11 and 5/29/11

5/28/11
Letters/Editor - Page 8B
CLARIFICATION ON CATS
RE: "On Patrol Against Animal Abuse," May 21, 'Inside & Out' article
Thank you to Keith Davis and the Dumb Friends League for educating pet owners about responsible pet care. However, a clarification is needed in regard to feral cats. In 2010, according to the Colorado Dept. of Public Health and Environment, there was only one confirmed case of rabies in a cat. In fact, according to Alley Cat Allies, a national feral cat advocacy group, there hasn't been a confirmed cat-to-human rabies transmission in more than 30 years.  Feral cats that go theough the trap-neuter-return (TNR) process live healthier lives. TNR is the nationally accepted method of humanely controlling free-roaming cat populations. These cats are humanely trapped, sterilized and vaccinated for rabies, so they are unable to acquire or transmit the disease once they return to their territories.
Amy Angelilli, Denver
The writer is Executive Director of the Rocky Mtn. Alley Cat Alliance.
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5/29/11  (headlines only)
Page 1D and 6D
BIG BEEF
Meatpacking Companies Take A Disproportionate Cut Of Business From Traditional Ranchers
Small-Ranchers Cut
by Stephanie Paige Ogburn
BEEF: Meatpacking Companies Pushing Out Little Guys
(Insert and Photo): A feedlot in Weld County.  The Big Four Meatpackers ... about 35 million cattle are slaughtered in the U.S. annually  by 60 major beef-packing operations processing around 26 billion pounds of beef.  Four firms control over 80% of all the beef slaughtered. 
1. Tyson Foods, Springdale Ark. -- Daily slaughter capacity: 28,700; U.S. market share: 25%; Beef sales: $12.7 billion; Company overview: Tyson bought the world's largest supplier of premium beef and pork products, IBP Inc., in 2001.  It's the second-largest pork and chicken packer in the U.S.   2. Cargill Meat Solutions Corp., Wichita Kan. -- Daily slaughter capacity: 29,000; U.S. market share: 21%; Beef sales: The company would not release the data. Parent company Cargill Inc. reported $88.3 billion in sales in 2009. Company overview: Cargill Meat Solutions is one of 75 businesses under Cargill Inc., the largest privately held corporation in the U.S.  3. UBS USA, Greeley Co -- Daily slaughter capacity: 28,600; U.S. market share: 18.5%; Beef sales: $9.2 billion; Company overview: JBS USA bought Swift (the third-largest packer)in 2007, then bought Smithfield (the fifth-largest packer and largest U.S. feedlot owner) in 2008, then bought Pilgrim's Pride, the largest chicken processor, in 2009.  4. National Beef Packing Co. LLC, Kansas City Mo -- Daily slaughter capacity: 14,000; U.S. market share: 10.5%; Beef sales: $5.4 billion; Company overview: National Beef started as a single plant in Kansas in 1992. Its other main product is leather.
Sources: All numbers are for  2009. Slaughter capacity from "Feedstuffs" 2011 Reference Issue and Buyers Guide. Market share and beef sales from A Value Chain Analysis of the U.S. Beef and Dairy Industries, Center on Globalization Governance and Competitiveness, Duke University.
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5/29/11
Letters/Editor - Page 2D
SUBURBANITE'S VIEW OF RURAL LIFE AND AGRICULTURE
RE: "Country life, city life; The day Jake learned where hamburgers come from," May 22 'Colorado Voices' column
Katherine Braun's column was a sneer and an insult aimed at Colorado's agricultural community under the guise of endorsing vegetarianism. Agriculture, like any profession or industry, has its less desirable tasks and its less than exemplary people, but the majority of us engaged in food production, animal or vegetable, conscientiously strive to care for the land and livestock entrusted to us. We are attuned to the concerns of sunsumers and dedicated to providing them with the best food possible while living in areas deemed of secondary importance by suburbanites of Braun's ilk.
Roberta Moellenberg, Idalia
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Thank You, Katherine Braun, for your informative essay about where beef comes from. Anyone who ingests a hamburger has an obligation to know about the cruel and truly barbaric process it takes to create them. It is my hope and dream that we can someday become a civilized society that can recognize other living beings as having a right to their own lives, and not to become just food for humans.
Carolyn Sommerville, Englewood