I love my job... I really do. There is always that one person who calls that I just don't know how to answer.
Today it was a question regarding a sheep liver. That's right- sheep liver.
Here's the rundown:
Last week she butchered two sheep. One sheep's liver looked perfectly normal. The other liver had a spot that was tough and stringy and knotty. Could this be cancer? Well, that's possible, I told her, but it's hard to know for sure over the phone. She was questioning if it was safe to consume this possibly cancerous liver. I told her that I wasn't an expert in this area, but if she had any doubt as to the safety of consuming this liver, she may want to cut that portion away or not consume it at all. I then suggested that she might contact a local veterinarian since I don't have the necessary skills to diagnose liver cancer in a sheep.
This is where it gets good-
"Well, I live in Clarksville. We don't have any vets here that deal with livestock." I replied, "Oh, you live in Clark County. Did you know that the educator in Clark County raises sheep and has experience in sheep? He may be able to help answer your question." I like to make sure that the strange questions get directed to the appropriate county- you know- share the fun.
Then she says, "But the sheep is from Harrison County". How do you respond to that?
She continued to say- "I live in Clark County, but I got the sheep in Harrison County."
I didn't know the county of residency of the sheep before slaughter meant that all questions regarding the cancer status of this sheep should be directed to that county educator. Perhaps she thought we had some sort of liver cancer running rampant through our sheep here in Harrison County??
To make it even more interesting- she had called about this last week when I was out of the office. Nancy, my boss and the foods and nutrition expert in our office, suggested that SHE CALL A VET. The next question is- where has this liver been for the last 5 days? Hopefully the freezer.
So the next time you fry up sheep liver and onions for dinner- think of me!!
Putting out trials with daddy
13 years ago
1 comment:
Wow. The intellect level of some people astounds me. The two most probable answers:
1. Yes, it's cancer.
2. It's a parasite. Probably liver flukes. The parasite attaches to the liver and lives there happily, but the liver doesn't like the new foreign host and proceeds to "attack" it: hense forming a nice fiberous mass of tissue around it.
In either case. Whether or not you need a positive confirmation for the liver abhorration.....ANY LOGICAL PERSON would not eat it.
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