A West Michigan dairy farm that sold cows for slaughter with illegal levels of antibiotics will be in court Monday.
Scenic View Dairy has about 10,000 cows at its five farms. The dairy has been repeatedly warned about selling cows with excessive levels of antibiotics, but it says public health was never at risk.
Now Scenic View is fighting an order requiring veterinarians to diagnose all sick cattle at its farms.
Professor Dan Grooms is with Michigan State University's College of Veterinary Medicine. He said state inspectors used to do that work, but because of budget cuts, farm employees or members of milk co-ops do it now.
“They train them how to -- if it’s something that looks unusual -- that’s when you need to be calling me as a veterinarian," Grooms said. "So they train them to recognize common diseases, and then the appropriate intervention strategy for that disease."
Drug residues in food can lead to long-term resistance of bacteria to antibiotics.
