Worker: Discovery of infected cow was 'a fluke' By CAROL M. OSTROM, Seattle Times
But, he said, it was late in the day, the cow looked balky, and 'I was cutting corners.' So he shot a bolt through her head, scooped out a bit of brain, put it in a bag, labeled it with her number, and hung it on the wall with samples from others in the truckload. Later, he checked records to confirm that the 'mad cow' was the cow he remembered, the balky Holstein from the Sunny Dene Ranch in Mabton, Yakima County.
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Louthan, 44, said he's sorry to lose his job, because he enjoyed the work. "I did it because I liked to kill cows," he said. "I don't care if I'm hauling them, feeding them or killing them. As long as I'm around livestock, I'm happy. I'm a cowboy."