Please Boycott McFadden Organic Products

I’m in the process of adopting the horse of my dreams, literally a lifelong dream being realized…  The rescue organization I’m adopting my mare from posted this story on their blog today:

Mendocino organic farmer charged with animal cruelty

Suspected of neglecting, shooting aging burro

By GLENDA ANDERSON
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Monday, May 17, 2010

A well-known Mendocino County organic farmer and wine maker is facing trial on misdemeanor charges of animal neglect and cruelty. Guinness McFadden severely neglected his aging burro, then shot it multiple times while attempting to put it out of its misery, according to a report by Mendocino County Sheriff’s Deputy Christian Denton.

McFadden, an outspoken Potter Valley rancher who specializes in organic winegrapes, herbs, rice and cattle, declined to comment on the charges filed by the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office.

According to the Sheriff’s report, the burro had been neglected for years. Its hooves had been allowed to grow to more than a foot in length, causing them to spiral and bend at 90 degree angles, according to the report. The deformities forced the burro to walk on its fetlocks instead of its twisted hooves, photos of the animal show.

“The animal appeared to be in pain and had extreme trouble walking,” Denton states in the report. The burro also had an oozing, volley ball-sized tumor on its chest, according to the Sheriff’s report.

McFadden had been aware of the hoof problem since at least June 2007, when Animal Control officials first warned him to have the burro’s hooves trimmed, according to the Sheriff’s report.

He was again warned in early 2009, when the burro’s condition was reported to the Humane Society, according to Denton’s report. McFadden claimed he had a farrier trim the hooves, but the overgrown hooves would have required multiple treatments.Guinness McFadden severely neglected his aging burro, then shot it multiple times while attempting to put it out of its misery, according to a report by Mendocino County Sheriff’s Deputy Christian Denton.

McFadden, an outspoken Potter Valley rancher who specializes in organic winegrapes, herbs, rice and cattle, declined to comment on the charges filed by the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office.

According to the Sheriff’s report, the burro had been neglected for years. Its hooves had been allowed to grow to more than a foot in length, causing them to spiral and bend at 90 degree angles, according to the report. The deformities forced the burro to walk on its fetlocks instead of its twisted hooves, photos of the animal show.

“The animal appeared to be in pain and had extreme trouble walking,” Denton states in the report.

The burro also had an oozing, volley ball-sized tumor on its chest, according to the Sheriff’s report.

McFadden had been aware of the hoof problem since at least June 2007, when Animal Control officials first warned him to have the burro’s hooves trimmed, according to the Sheriff’s report.

He was again warned in early 2009, when the burro’s condition was reported to the Humane Society, according to Denton’s report. McFadden claimed he had a farrier trim the hooves, but the overgrown hooves would have required multiple treatments.

The burro also apparently suffered from laminitis, a hoof inflammation usually brought on by eating carbohydrate rich grass or clover, said county Veterinarian Robert Shugart. Untreated, the inflammation can result in abnormal hoof growth as the animal shifts its weight to its heel to lessen the pain, he said. Hooves can become as long and twisted as those of McFadden’s burro in about a year, Shugart said.

In the wild, burros don’t have access to rich grass, and their hooves are naturally worn down by hard, rocky ground. Their hooves may get longer as they age and become less mobile, but predators are likely to cut short their suffering, according to county Animal Control and Bureau of Land Management officials.

“Typically, they won’t live that long,” said BLM spokesman Jeff Fontana. Wild burros’ typical life span is about 20 years, he said. McFadden’s burro was about 35 years old. By January of this year, its hooves had grown to almost 16 inches, according to the Sheriff’s report.

Appalled, Potter Valley PG&E power plant employees phoned the Sheriff’s Office, which oversees animal control enforcement. The burro was grazing on land adjacent to the power plant, which McFadden leases from PG&E for his cattle.

When he saw the burro’s condition, Denton told McFadden he needed to get the animal immediate care or put it down. He said he was surprised by the animal’s condition. “McFadden is well to do and raises cattle, among several other businesses, and could easily afford veterinary care for his animals,” Denton said.

McFadden told him he infrequently sees the burro, the last of four he adopted about 30 years ago through the Bureau of Land Management’s wild horse and burro program. McFadden asked Denton to help him shoot the burro, but Denton was ordered to another assignment and had to leave, according to the report. He instructed McFadden to shoot the burro behind the ear.Guinness McFadden severely neglected his aging burro, then shot it multiple times while attempting to put it out of its misery, according to a report by Mendocino County Sheriff’s Deputy Christian DentoMcFadden, an outspoken Potter Valley rancher who specializes in organic winegrapes, herbs, rice and cattle, declined to comment on the charges filed by the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office.

According to the Sheriff’s report, the burro had been neglected for years. Its hooves had been allowed to grow to more than a foot in length, causing them to spiral and bend at 90 degree angles, according to the report. The deformities forced the burro to walk on its fetlocks instead of its twisted hooves, photos of the animal show.

“The animal appeared to be in pain and had extreme trouble walking,” Denton states in the report.

The burro also had an oozing, volley ball-sized tumor on its chest, according to the Sheriff’s report.

McFadden had been aware of the hoof problem since at least June 2007, when Animal Control officials first warned him to have the burro’s hooves trimmed, according to the Sheriff’s report.

He was again warned in early 2009, when the burro’s condition was reported to the Humane Society, according to Denton’s report. McFadden claimed he had a farrier trim the hooves, but the overgrown hooves would have required multiple treatments.

The burro also apparently suffered from laminitis, a hoof inflammation usually brought on by eating carbohydrate rich grass or clover, said county Veterinarian Robert Shugart. Untreated, the inflammation can result in abnormal hoof growth as the animal shifts its weight to its heel to lessen the pain, he said. Hooves can become as long and twisted as those of McFadden’s burro in about a year, Shugart said.

In the wild, burros don’t have access to rich grass, and their hooves are naturally worn down by hard, rocky ground. Their hooves may get longer as they age and become less mobile, but predators are likely to cut short their suffering, according to county Animal Control and Bureau of Land Management officials.

“Typically, they won’t live that long,” said BLM spokesman Jeff Fontana. Wild burros’ typical life span is about 20 years, he said. McFadden’s burro was about 35 years old.

By January of this year, its hooves had grown to almost 16 inches, according to the Sheriff’s report.

Appalled, Potter Valley PG&E power plant employees phoned the Sheriff’s Office, which oversees animal control enforcement. The burro was grazing on land adjacent to the power plant, which McFadden leases from PG&E for his cattle.

When he saw the burro’s condition, Denton told McFadden he needed to get the animal immediate care or put it down.

He said he was surprised by the animal’s condition.

“McFadden is well to do and raises cattle, among several other businesses, and could easily afford veterinary care for his animals,” Denton said.

McFadden told him he infrequently sees the burro, the last of four he adopted about 30 years ago through the Bureau of Land Management’s wild horse and burro program.

McFadden asked Denton to help him shoot the burro, but Denton was ordered to another assignment and had to leave, according to the report. He instructed McFadden to shoot the burro behind the ear.

A witness to the shooting said McFadden began shooting the burro with a pistol from a distance of about 30 feet. The first bullet skipped off the animal’s head, according to power plant manager T.K. Vaught. The second shot was into the animal’s neck, causing it to fall to the ground, she said. McFadden reportedly continued walking toward the animal while firing. The fifth and final shot he fired was at point blank range into the animal’s head, Vaught said. “It was awful,” she told Denton.

Three high-profile attorneys have been involved with McFadden’s defense. They include David Eyster, a candidate for district attorney on the June ballot; Keith Faulder, former assistant district attorney; and Ann Moorman, a candidate for judge. Eyster declined to comment on details of the case, but said he thought it was poorly handled. “I don’t think the right thing is being done,” he said.

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As mentioned in the article, the accused markets organic products, and so he does.  Here is his website: http://shop.mcfaddenfarm.com/

Please boycott his products.
Anyone who could do that to an animal doesn’t deserve your business.

Have YOUR breasts been enhanced?

Soapbox Alert!!

There I was…quietly minding my own business, putting the groceries away after a shopping trip.  I was setting up a package of boneless chicken breast halves for the freezer.  Once again…no whole body fryers.  All kinds of packages of pieces, but only one lone Organic whole body chicken haunting me.   Believe me when I say I know I have no one to thank for this but myself.  However it bothers me so much I want to share with all of you.

Without my knowledge, or my permission, MY BREASTS HAVE BEEN ENHANCED!! Not my personal, God given body breasts, but…my chicken breasts!!  Good grief!!  It’s not enough that they bio-engineer the poor creatures so they can’t even stand up as babies, but then they apparently have no flavor at the ripe ol’ age of what…8-12 weeks?  So…let’s enhance them with 15% “solution.”  The solution contains “Chicken broth”…whose?  Surely not mine.  Who made the broth?  I’m sorry.  The solution contains Chicken broth, salt, sodium (another word for salt) phosphate, flavoring (most of them contain…salt).  There’s got to be a LOT of salt in that 15% solution…because those chicken breasts come out enhanced with 380mg of sodium for every 4 oz. serving.  That’s rather a lot..considering chicken is usually accepted as a “bland” easily digested meat.  It was when Grandma was a girl…not necessarily now!

No…I’m not complaining about buying the product.  I find I buy less and less, and try to support local organic farmers more.  It was an odd day.  I was in the feed store and bless them, they had chicks and couldn’t tell me much beside, red and white.  That much I could see for myself.  I had found myself wondering if the fluffy yellow chicks were the Cornish Cross they’re using for meat these days, those youngsters weren’t standing up at all.  That left a bad taste in my mouth from then on.  I think I’ll buy from the area folks who are hatching chicks, and check with the ranch for chicken and lamb.  *Ü*

Unsafe Food Alert!!

Just about the time you thought we could eat safely again…  Hot off the presses kids…here’s a release acknowledging a huge recall of products which may be tainted with Salmonella, some from places we’d normally trust…like Trader Joe’s.  Bet they’re more than a little whizzed over there!  Read the article here:  http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=25&sid=1916103 There’s a full list of products you can download.

If you’re cooking raw without packages, you’re pretty safe…but read just so you can help your friends out!

Where, oh, where has my mussel soup gone?

Well…it hasn’t gone anywhere. It just hasn’t happened yet. It will…but in this gastronimical-desert, finding mussels is a challenge. We have ONE major grocery store, another “bargain” grocery, several Mom& Pop shops, a couple high-end meat (we spell that BEEF here in Redneckville, unless of course, we spell it DEER) counters, and that’s it.  Yes, I live where Venison is “deer meat,” so anything like mussels isn’t a big seller.  I can’t even hit up the local dinner house. Heck-fire, it took them 20 years to put CLAMS on their menu. Mussels /muscles/ are whatcha need fer liftin’!!

Which is not to say that mussels couldn’t be found…I did find them. I found 3 little tiny packages of plastic wrapped mussels in the seafood section…one was just over 4 oz., another was just under 4 oz. and the third was half a pound. It was that half-pounder that caused all the ruckus.

Buying shellfish is a little tricky at the best of times.  If the critters are in the big mesh bags, there’s no telling how many are still alive, or how long they’ve been in that bag. Still, a good market pays attention. So, when you pick up a styrofoam tray of cockles, mussels or clams, all of them should close tightly (if they’re open at all) when you prod them. If they close slowly, they’re in sad condition, but, they’re still viable.  So, when I picked up the package and all the mussels were “panting” and none of them closed…this was a PRIME example of what NOT to buy. And then we got a tell-tale whiff…blech. I called the counter attendant to get rid of them…and to see if there were any others to be had. Nope. All of their product was out on display.

And so…Billy Bi remains elusive. I’ll keep trying.  The weather here will eventually chill out some, and good mussels will be available. With luck, we won’t have wild-fires threatening half the county, nor evacuees camped out in our living room because there’s no room in ANY inn.  Ahhhh….the days of Summer!

Danger! Danger Will Robinson!!!

DISCLAIMER:  I am very upset…angry…in the vernacular, P-O’d.  Sometimes a woman’s patience just gets pushed “so” far….  What’s up??  I’m so glad you asked…and if you didn’t….would you please do me the favor of leaving the kitchen, ‘cuz I’m about to get MOST UN-ladylike.

Are we squared away now?

All the munchkins out of the room?

No one reading aloud?

I’m serious….I’m really whizzed.  And that’s the last time I’m going to rein in my tongue or my fingers.  It’s on you now…

Are we alone now?

Okay….here goes…

If you own a restaurant…and it’s getting close to closing time…TOO close for your establishment to SEAT patrons and let them eat their meal…then WHY SEAT THEM????  Especially in a Chinese restaurant specializing in “take out”…  I am SO freaking furious!!

Scenario….8:40 p.m., late June, a couple walk into a Chinese restaurant…an old, established, been there 75 years kind of place.  The diners didn’t catch on right away; there were several other tables with patrons lingering over their meals.  Both were tired and settled quickly upon the “house” dinner for two, but could “we please add mushroom foo yung?”

The first clue that the couple would be dining to the strains of the “dining room hustle” was when halfway through the soup, the appetizer arrived, immediately followed by the first dish of the entree.  Mere moments later, the remaining dishes arrived.  The avalanche of dining room catastrophes was just getting started.

The pair might have been able to eat a little faster if the soup had had any flavor.  She remarked that it tasted very much like cornstarch.  Both added salt, pepper, and soy sauce trying to create some element of flavor in the pale excuse for “soup of the day.”  Ok…chicken-rice noodle soup is tricky.  You need to use chicken AND broth.  Damn.  I knew something was missing.  One of them had to go “in search of” hot mustard…let’s see…how DOES one serve BBQ pork slices, fried prawns and paper-wrapped chicken (not fair…it’s seasoned!!-But, then again…we didn’t EAT that- -YET!)?  The obligatory S&S sauce arrived in a bowl, but there were no other condiments available.  Faux pas #2.

As we…oops…the “couple” began to fill their plates, the waitress arrived asking for payment…so they “could close the register.”  Ok…fine, the food is on the table; no beverages were ordered so there was no need to “refill” or “replace” any beverage.  The appropriate plastic was exchanged, and the little pieces of paper were obtained, and set aside.

The meal wasn’t even begun, let alone concluded.  If the folks thought they were getting a guaranteed T.I.P., they were at the wrong table.  Please…don’t misunderstand me.  I DO NOT STIFF service staff.  My mom was a waitress, and her tips were the difference between my existence and my carefree childhood.  I grew up knowing the value of tips, and that service staff barely made any money, regardless of how hard they worked.  I honestly tip 20-35% on the average.  My state believes all service staff receive at least 8% on every ticket, so staff are charged for that up-front by the state.  Even when I feel I’ve been totally screwed by the staff, I still leave 10%…even if it makes me chew nails and spit out staples.  And so, I held the ticket open until we’d concluded our meal.

At least I thought I was going to keep the ticket open until we’d concluded our meal…  Maybe 10 minutes after the food was delivered-remember, it all came at one time-, but not more than 15, another server came to the table asking for the ticket.  “Oh, don’t let us rush you,” the young man said, as another service member came to the table with a bus-cart to take the plates that were no where near empty.  No, no one brought “to-go” boxes to us.  Honestly, we had to get those for ourselves.  They did, however, bring a plastic bag to our table for the boxes.  I hadn’t had a chance to finish my meal.  Seriously.  I hadn’t had a change to eat the original portions I’d put on my plate to start with.  We had serving plates heaped with food, and the staff was all but drumming their fingers waiting to clear the table. We were permitted to get our own containers for the remaining food, transfer the food, bag it and leave without so much as a bye-your-leave.

I’m absolutely furious.  Where in the bloody hell does any restaurant get off behaving in such a f-d up manner?  It’s not like the food was even GOOD!!!  I guess being the “only game in town” gives one the feeling of security.  Well….not from this gal.  It’s going to be one damn cold day in hell before I cross that threshold again.  I can cook Chinese better than what I got tonight, and there are a few towns within 30 miles that have to have better food.  Admittedly, perhaps not at 8:30….but I’d still put money on it.

Oh, and for the record….We parked our car at 8:35 p.m.  We were back in our car by 9:05 p.m. with “left-overs” in hand.

You know what’s even worse?  I was hungry when we got home.  I hadn’t been able to finish my dinner.  I left with food on my plate.  Ok…if I’d touched that plate at that point, it would have gone flying.  I was so angered by having to leave before I’d finished eating, I was ready to start breaking dishes.  Hey…it would have ended the concern about 2 people still eating!  Anyway…when we got home, I put the cartons in the refrigerator, but saved out the fried rice to stave off my remaining appetite.  I love rice, especially fried rice.  I got a spoon, sat down with the carton and proceeded to…wait…what’s that thing?  Wait..please…no.  There’s not supposed to be anything really thin-threadlike even-in my fried rice…  No.  Please, no.  Oh f.  It’s white.  And black.  S.  It’s half and half.  And more hair-like than I can abide at this point.  Normally, I’m not squeamish.  I’ll roll my eyes, make a wise-crack and go on eating.  Not tonight.  That was seriously the freaking straw.  I’m so done.

Just don’t eat Chinese in Oroville…  I know I won’t be.

Whisk Rating System

5 Whisks – I’ve died AND gone to heaven!

4 Whisks – So unique and well done I can’t figure it all out.

3 Whisks – Really good, but have you ever thought of…

2 Whisks – Standard coffee shop fare, filling but not at all special.

1 Whisk – Are you going to pay me to eat here?

0 Whisks – OMG…I’m SO out of here!