I’m From The Government, and I’m Here To Help

July 18th, 2007 | by Craig |

This story is enough to make you either howl with rage, or weep in sympathy.

With a stroke of a pen, years of work and a person’s livelihood is gone.

I’ve known Karen for a few years now, and I will say this: If there is anyone on this Earth who has proven herself to be more resilient and/or determined, I don’t know who it is.

  1. 4 Responses to “I’m From The Government, and I’m Here To Help”

  2. By Kirk Dooley on Jul 18, 2007 | Reply

    What really hacks me off is that someone (the packing plants the animals were sent to) is going to profit from Karen’s and the Morgans’ misfortune. If the meat is fit for human consumption, it should be sent to folks like the Salvation Army and St. Vincent de Paul for use in their shelter kitchens. Not to some meat packer (like ADM) to make a quick buck.

    That said, I agree with what Craig said about Karen. She’s had a rough last few years (lost her mother and husband, had to have her favorite horse put down, and now this), and I believe I speak for everybody that knows her — if only through her photos on Flickr and Karbon Kounty Moos — in hoping that her fortunes are going to change for the better soon.

  3. By Jim - PRS on Jul 18, 2007 | Reply

    I read that story last night on Karen’s site and, although I don’t know from livestock things, it was plain even to me that this was a bad deal.

    I really didn’t know what to say, because over the last year or so life has dealt her a few bad hands. She is a remarkable woman.

  4. By Walter Greenspan on Jul 19, 2007 | Reply

    I don’t know if the slaughter facilities that will be receiving these animals will be making any sort of extra profit:

    Ignoring for the moment the value of the livestock for breeding purposes, from a pure slaughter perspective, as of this past Monday, July 16, futures market, the nearby live cattle and feeder cattle closing quotes were $91.35/cwt. and $115.15/cwt., respectively, meaning that a 1100-lb. finished animal would fetch about $1,005 and a 600-lb. feeder (ready to go into the feedlot to grow into a 1100-lb.-er) would go for $691, respectively (localized Montana values would differ by the cash-futures basis, the spread difference between local cash market prices and the nearby futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange).

  5. By David Crisp on Jul 22, 2007 | Reply

    It is certainly a sad story, but I don’t think the government gets the blame for this one.

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