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red

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Champion steer exhibitor's sister admits role in livestock tampering
Geauga County fair board disciplines another family for speaking out



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By Andrea Zippay
Farm and Dairy Reporter write the author

01/10/2008 - SALEM, Ohio — The Ohio Department of Agriculture has stripped Geauga County Fair grand champion steer exhibitor Clark Adams of his title after a state investigation showed the animal had been given steroids.

The John and Dona Adams family, of Huntsburg, had initially denied administering any drugs to the animal. But during the Ohio Department of Agriculture's investigation, Andrea Adams, Clark's older sister, admitted she had given the drug to combat swelling just before the start of the fair.

Rules. State livestock exhibition rules, in place since 1995, say all junior fair livestock exhibitors must fill out a Drug Use Notification Form, or DUNF, to indicate any and all medications that have been given to a project animal.

Clark Adams didn't list any drugs on his form, but a urine sample taken from the steer Aug. 31, 2007, tested positive for a steroid called dexamethasone.

In a statement to an ODA investigator, Andrea Adams said her brother and parents weren't aware she had given the drug to treat swelling in the animal's hock Aug. 28.

Adams said she discussed the swelling with Heath Feichnter, who fitted and clipped Clark's steer, and that Feichtner "told me I could administer dexamethasone ..." and "... there was no withdrawal time so I didn't feel the need to report it on the DUNF form or tell my family."

No examination. Andrea Adams, who shows horses, also admitted to the state investigator she had called her equine veterinarian, Richard Novak of Novelty, Ohio, for the drug just prior to the county fair.

She said he had dispensed it "with the understanding that it would be for a horse."

Costly mistake. The $9 Andrea Adams paid for the dexamethasone injection turned out to be rather costly.

The department of agriculture order requires Clark Adams to forfeit all trophies, banners and his entire $7,743 premium check.

However, the county fair board said Adams must return only $5,401.50 to Etna Products, which bought the steer. He will retain more than $2,340, which figures to be $1.75 per pound. The 56 steers sold at this year's Geauga County Fair sale averaged $1.86 per pound.

"Clark is taking quite a spanking for this and he didn't know the steer was medicated," said Howard Bates, fair board president.

Write it down. The fair board is also requiring Clark Adams write letters of apology to the fair board and to Etna Products, and Andrea Adams to write a letter of apology to the fair board "for not following the rules and regulations of the fair," Bates said.

Andrea Adams is also required to work with the junior fair coordinator at the skillathon contest and to discuss the importance of drug use notification forms. Additionally, the fair board said she is to have no contact or aid in the preparation of any market steer project immediately prior to or during the 2008 fair.

Clark Adams has already tagged in and will be permitted to show steers at the 2008 fair "as long as they both follow through" with their punishment, Bates said.

Taking a stand. The fair board has also ordered another beef club family to send a written apology for its attempt to voice disappointment with the way the county was handling the Adams situation.

John Ferguson, whose daughters Lindsey and Christen also show steers in the county, said his daughters painted the words "drug-free" on two of their four animals at tag-in Dec. 2 as a "silent protest about the slap on the wrists" the Adamses received.

The fair board then slapped the Fergusons with a penalty, too: Both girls must write letters of apology to the fair board "for disrupting and making a mockery of the junior fair steer club" as well as to each beef club member, according to Bates.

Bates couldn't say how many young people were in the club, but that some 60 steers were tagged in Dec. 2. Each member could tag in two steers, so there are at least 30 letters to be written.

If they do not write the letters by mid-January, the Fergusons will be disqualified and barred from showing at the 2008 fair, the fair board said.

No way, no how. Ferguson said there's no way his daughters will write the letters the fair board is demanding, especially since they see it as a harder punishment than the Adamses received.

"We're not exactly sure what we did. We can't come up with what to say when we don't know what we're apologizing for."

"We've always been drug-free and were making a statement well within our First Amendment rights. We will write a letter to the fair board, but not an apology," Ferguson said.

Ferguson said his family will not write a single letter to steer club members, either, since their actions "didn't do anything to harm them."

(Reporter Andrea Zippay welcomes feedback by phone at 800-837-3419 or by e-mail at [email protected].)

Related coverage:

Champion steer positive for steroids (12/6/2007)

Geauga Co. steer under investigation (11/8/2007)

OK gang, I'm curious on your take. Did the offenders get off tooo easy/hard? Was it wrong for the sister's to do what they did w/ their steers. If you were their parents- would they be writing a letter of apology? Please, let's allow everyone to have their own opinion & not bash anyone for theirs.
Red  ;)


 

chambero

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My kid wouldn't have painted their calves.  But an apology is certainly in order.  If they knew something had happened, they knew the officials were handling the situation.  I think the painting of the steers is more harmful to the whole program than the actual drug violation from a public perception standpoint.  They didn't know the facts when they did it and should be getting in trouble for it.

Frankly, I think the kid with the calf that tested positive should have probably had some type of ban from exhibiting.  There has to be something more of a penalty than just losing a check.  Even just a year would be stiff enough for me.  I'm not too big of a fan for lifetiime bans, especially on a first offense. 
 

Show Dad

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Yes, the offenders got off fairly light. Sister or not it was his steer and he should have known what was administered to his animal. It is a good example and lesson of exerting control over one's steer. Sister should be banded from competition forever, period. She deceived the vet knowing she would use it for the steer.

Family that painted steers may have showed poor taste but did nothing wrong. The fair board is over reacting since they now just want the issue to go away and apparently will use a heavy had to see to it.

IMO, the fair board should write a letter apologizing for their lack of proactive education on what would produce a positive result on the drug screen. And not having a policy in place a what a positive result would bring in way of punishment.

In situations like this there is plenty of blame to go around.
 

KDSC

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I really dont think the family that put DRUG FREE on THEIR steers should have to write apology letters to all 30+ beef members Its not like the writing really hurt the others or anything. I can see maybe where they have to write one to the fair board, but not all the others 4-h memebers. 

What else can you use dex for besides to reduce swelling ??? can it really be used as an advantage point ???  Jusy my Opinion, I have more opinions on it but not enough time ;D
 

renegade

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I dont think that the kid should be banned from showing (i know he SHOULD have known what his sister did but if she isnt communicating and she is the one that did it then SHE should be banned), i really think that the loss of 5,000+ dollars is a big punishment... i am surprised he didnt lose it all though... he must have done a lot of work with the animal at home if he won grand champion.  The kids that wrote on their steers were being a little disruptive but should only have to appologize to the board.
 

DLD

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It's been a pretty common conception for quite awhile that since dex has no labeled slaughter withdrawal that it's safe and you won't get in trouble for it. That obviously doesn't make it alright, but to be fair, it does make it a little more understandable. I guess in my mind I have to question whether or not the sister and the fitter were really the only ones that knew, or just the most indirect ones that could take the fall... but that really doesn't matter in the end. To me what the fair board did sounds reasonable enough - most likely those involved won't be doing that again. I'd have said the same if they'd suspended him from showing the next year, and/or if they'd made him return all the money - if the carcass was actually condemned (if not, I'd say he deserved to keep market value).

Painting the steers was just bad taste and bad sportsmanship. Maybe it didn't deserve the reprimand it got, but personally I don't have a problem with that either. They'd just as well learn now that life doesn't reward being obnoxious, either.
 

DL

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DLD said:
It's been a pretty common conception for quite awhile that since dex has no labeled slaughter withdrawal that it's safe and you won't get in trouble for it. That obviously doesn't make it alright, but to be fair, it does make it a little more understandable.

I think we covered this specific issue under another topic, when the word according to the paper was that the fitter recommended the use of dexamethasone in the steer.

Here is the deal and here is why there was a problem in this instance according to the Ohio Board of Animal Health - Dexamethasone is a prescription drug - as such it requires that a veterinarian prescribe it - unless your fitter or your sister is a veterinarian then following their recommendations could be a punishable offense - obviously different venues have different levels of tolerance - please do not shoot the messenger - it is my job to know the laws regarding drug use in food animals (chambero went back and read his generic banamine label - he was sure it said it was approved for use in cattle IM - guess what?)


 

JbarL

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real rules and regulations always have penalties and remadies....if the remedy is unclear then so is the rules and regulations....an "obvisous" infraction of the rules should have "obveous" penalties and remedys......disqualification....yes.....relinquish monies...yes....apologies for "mockery of the  fair show"....i dont think so scooter.........no moral ethetics or judjements passed here....just the facts danno.....break rule 3, get pusnished by X...break rule 7....punished by Y....if there is no remedy for this certain set of "events"...then ....dont make them up as you go along....if there is past precedent......punish the same......if its a pound a flesh you wnat ....forget it.....the bidder got his money back because he didnt get what he  bargained for.........the particular family needs to make it right.,on paper, to who ever "they" feel like apoligizing to....as far as   punishment to those who make a statement concerning the fairs hadleing of its affairs....i would be very careful and make sure the fair board doesnt end up making a mockery of itsself.....sounds like all the monies in the right spot....problem identified.....and remedy achieved....the family has been recogionized and the infraction, and the "misunderstanding" of the interputaion of the rules, is surley clearly understood now. cassius clay gets thrown out of the country after rufusing the amercian military draft......then ends  up carring the tourch for the olymics 20 years  later....then a 5 gold medal olympic  winner gets 6 months in prison for "enhancing drugs"  3 yrs after the games?????   justice dosnt always make sense....but rules should...jbarl
 

afhm

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The Adams boy should have had to forfeit all money and prizes won with their dq and depending on the fair rules been subjected to some sort of a ban be it for a year(s) or lifetime.  The family that wrote on their steers exhibited extremely poor taste and probably cause a ruckus over something at the fair every year with a holier than thou attitude.  What they did was extremely tacky and tastless and they should appologize both publicly and privately to all parties involved. the Adams family should also give an aplogy to everyone invlolved as well. If the Ferguson's felt the need to protest the committees decision then they should have boycotted the fair or addressed their concerns with those in charge in a meeting.  All they did is created more unnecessary tesion amonst all of the exhibitors and those involved with the fair and create a more negative opinion of the 4-h and FFA programs in the media.
 

DLD

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DL, I said it didn't make it right, and that I thought the penalties or even a little more were appropriate. All I'm saying is that dex use is fairly common, because it's commonly thought to be okay (safe and legal). I'd say it's a safe bet that the people involved in this article haven't read all of what's been written on this forum about drug use.

I've held out on this story, because I was afraid it would open a huge can of worms, and I don't want to do that, but I really do want to hear what you have to say about it.

Here's my question for you, DL. A few years ago my son's steer got his head through a panel overnight at a major show. He was out by the time anyone got there the next morning, but apparently was stuck there for several hours. He developed by that afternoon, a huge knot (like basketball sized) on one side of his neck and a smaller one (softball sized) on the other side, and couldn't stand to hold his head up at all. We got the official show vet to come look at him, and he administered dex, banamine, and naxcel, and left me more dex to give him that night and the next morning. I had told him that all we cared about was making him feel better, we didn't expect to show him at this point and could take him home and wait out whatever withdrawl was necessary, and he said just wait and see, you may be able to show him. It was 6 - 7 days before he'd be slaughtered (if he made the premium sale), and he said all of that would be safe by then. The swelling did pretty much go away and we did show him but he was still holding his neck a little funny (the judge commented on it), and ended up a premium sale alternate that we took home and had butchered a couple of weeks later. So was it alright because a vet, specifically the shows' official vet did it? Was what he told us about it being okay right? He was by the way, primarily a horse vet - he said so himself.
 

JbarL

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afhm said:
The Adams boy should have had to forfeit all money and prizes won with their dq and depending on the fair rules been subjected to some sort of a ban be it for a year(s) or lifetime.  The family that wrote on their steers exhibited extremely poor taste and probably cause a ruckus over something at the fair every year with a holier than thou attitude.  What they did was extremely tacky and tastless and they should appologize both publicly and privately to all parties involved. the Adams family should also give an aplogy to everyone invlolved as well. If the Ferguson's felt the need to protest the committees decision then they should have boycotted the fair or addressed their concerns with those in charge in a meeting.  All they did is created more unnecessary tesion amonst all of the exhibitors and those involved with the fair and create a more negative opinion of the 4-h and FFA programs in the media.
im sorry but if they coudnt see a cow with spay paint on the side of it before it enterened the ring..."for all to see"....then someones not lookin'.....the fair borad is responsible for all the contestants....from illegal drugs to .....walking bill boards (  8)and sunglasses) ...........that enter there ring.....the lesson should be to bring the enhanching "no no's at a county level to all the past /present/ and future contestants  and stay "ahead of the curve" on the unlabled uses of drugs......use the newspaper and avaliable media and youth programs to teach and to help and solve the issue....not the he siad/ she said details,of the incident to try and pubulicly chastize anyone...........sounds like one camp nows someone at the ring gate  and one no's someone at the newspaper...give it a break....amubuguity needs resovlved not continuelly argued..."if im not responsible and your not responsible"...then someones  irresponsible....jbarl
 

Show Dad

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Just another thought and point to consider.

In my neck of the woods all fair boards are political appointees (usually by county commissioners). As such any event, be it a fair or tagging, is a function or extension of the political body that appointed it. Therefore it would be within anyones right to protest the actions (or in actions) of that body. Most certainly if there was no obstruction. So words painted on steers as long as they were not profane would pose no obstruction or interfere with the tagging. The fair board is in it up past their muck boots by demanding an apology. If that family lawyers up they could stop up the works real easy.

"Without conflict life would be boring."
 

Rocky Hill Simmental

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I think the steer owner got off a little too easy. They should have taken away the whole premium. Even if it was their sister/fitter who gave it to the steer, the actual exhibor/owner should have been paying more attention. I don't know how old the owner was (maybe I missed it) but it seems like they should have noticed if someone was giving their steer steroids. I think they got off too easy, they should have been kicked out for at least one year. IMO, it's just common sense that you don't give drugs to an animal who is fixing to be slaughtered.

The painting thing was kind of weird but I think they're going a little overboard on having to write a letter to the other 4-H memebers and getting banned if they don't. It was rather rude and negetative to the family who got caught but things like that are to be expected.

Dang, steers at that fair sale high.  :eek:
 

knabe

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i see nothing wrong with painting drug free on an animal.  in my mind, it's marketing, though it offers no guarantee.  perhaps if they paid for the test on that animal as  well that they were free and had proof, i would allow it.  there must be people out there who would like to support the program knowing they purchased a drug free product.  were there rules saying you couldn't paint on the steer?  if there was, then i guess i would have to side with the board.  one could also clear up the testing with a disclaimer that the animals "may" have had drugs administered, or probiotics or whatever if disclosure was the only issue.  that way, when they went through the sale, the free market could decide what the carcass was worth.  perhaps one could have a champion steer that simply would have it's carcass destroyed due to residues.  perhpas tests could be cheaper, or part of the entry fee, and administered before hand, perhaps at weigh in.  of course, one could administer afterwards, but then premium carcasses could be tested again.  i'm looking at this from the perspective of purchasing the carcass and eating it, or having it sell through a butcher and having a bunch of people eat it with no knowledge of the drugs in the meat, even antibiotics for the green crowd, who probably wouldn't be eating meat anyway............
 

Show Dad

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OK, if some how this was my kid, they wouldn't need the fair board to tell them to return the money, ribbons and write letters. They would have already done it (I would have made sure of it).

Next at tagging I would have laughed and shook their hands when I saw "drug free" on their steers.

Lastly, I would be engaged with the fair board to write up clear guide lines and punitive actions for anything in the future.
 

DL

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DLD said:
DL, I said it didn't make it right, and that I thought the penalties or even a little more were appropriate. All I'm saying is that dex use is fairly common, because it's commonly thought to be okay (safe and legal). I'd say it's a safe bet that the people involved in this article haven't read all of what's been written on this forum about drug use.

I've held out on this story, because I was afraid it would open a huge can of worms, and I don't want to do that, but I really do want to hear what you have to say about it.

Here's my question for you, DL. A few years ago my son's steer got his head through a panel overnight at a major show. He was out by the time anyone got there the next morning, but apparently was stuck there for several hours. He developed by that afternoon, a huge knot (like basketball sized) on one side of his neck and a smaller one (softball sized) on the other side, and couldn't stand to hold his head up at all. We got the official show vet to come look at him, and he administered dex, banamine, and naxcel, and left me more dex to give him that night and the next morning. I had told him that all we cared about was making him feel better, we didn't expect to show him at this point and could take him home and wait out whatever withdrawl was necessary, and he said just wait and see, you may be able to show him. It was 6 - 7 days before he'd be slaughtered (if he made the premium sale), and he said all of that would be safe by then. The swelling did pretty much go away and we did show him but he was still holding his neck a little funny (the judge commented on it), and ended up a premium sale alternate that we took home and had butchered a couple of weeks later. So was it alright because a vet, specifically the shows' official vet did it? Was what he told us about it being okay right? He was by the way, primarily a horse vet - he said so himself.

Hey DLD - I didn't mean to imply that you thought it was right.

OK to your sons steer - the show vet examined your steer - therefore you have what is officially referred to as a "veterinary-client-patient relationship". In that context the vet decided that the best course of action was to administer dex, banamine, and naxcel - so he decided that these were necessary for the well being of the animal. Now all these drugs are approved for use in cattle, but it appears that they were used extralabel so that the vet should in theory have given you a withdrawal time, esp  if the banamine was not given IV. So in essance you did the right thing - if there was any issue it would be the vet would be at at fault (BUT he should have written out the  instructions for you as well as the withdrawal) so the bottom line is you were (and have always been in my book) AOK

Hope that made sense :)
(cow)
 

KDSC

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SD said:
Next at tagging I would have laughed and shook their hands when I saw "drug free" on their steers.

Thats what I am talking about ;D
 

DLD

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Thanks DL. You're right of course, he didn't give the banamine IV. All he said about withdrawal was that I could use the dex until the next morning, which was at least 5 days before slaughter had he made the premium sale, so I assumed that put us within safe times for all 3 drugs. I didn't worry about it because, as you said, he was the official and he prescribed it.

Makes sense to me  :)
 

buyer

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Check it out....Just found the entry form for the Geauga county '07 fair
http://geaugafair.com/forms/Entry_Forms_2007.pdf  page 4 states the rules.  You be the judge.  I think 5 years is a little much but it is THEIR own rule  Also got a copy of the ODA report to make up my own decisions.  In the ODA report it states that they had to find the vet themselves because the family would not give names, nor did they keep any records for the steer.  the mother called the vet for the drug (intended for the horse) and the daughter picked it up.  The mother LATER signed the drug form.    The  steer was having a hard time walking/standing without the drug.  This leads me to beleive they are not being very honest here....  Get a copy, they are open to the public.  see what you think
Drug free steer...apparently they did try to talk to the fairboard but before they could, they were asked to leave.  I thought these were publice meetings?  At what point do you stop standing up for what you think is right?  They are young girls, only doing what 4H has tought them.  No one was listening to them so they made a statement 
 
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