Fair's champion steer under suspicion of not playing fair

When Maarten van Zoeren, a Dutchman who once couldn’t bring himself to kill a chicken, butchers an animal, he likes to do it quickly so that the animal thinks it’s going for a drink of water instead of getting a bolt gun to the head. It makes the meat taste better and makes van Zoeren feel better.

“You don’t want somebody chasing the animal around with a two by four,” he said. “You want somebody who’s going to take the time to do it right.”

Given his sensibilities,  van Zoeren was a little apprehensive when 15 to 20 people, including one carrying a video camera, showed up at his plant in Simla in late July as he prepared to butcher a 1,328-pound steer. With its short legs and thick neck, the animal wasn’t pretty by human standards, but it had the big, blocky shape that judges look for  and had been named the grand champion steer at the El Paso County Fair in July. 

As the steer lumbered around the fair grounds, a sharp-eyed observer wondered if the steer’s blocky shape had  been enhanced by air that had been injected under its skin. “Airing,” as the procedure is called, is not only considered cheating in the wholesome world of 4-H clubs, but is also a crime.

“It’s like baseball and steroids. You don’t do it,” van Zoeren said. The championship steer was owned by Kristie Frates.

Neither she nor her mother would talk publicly about the case.

The allegations swept through  eastern El Paso County. But officials  managed to keep the controversy quiet  until early October when an anonymous tipster contacted the Ranchland News. The weekly newspaper has caught flak, but isn’t backing off and plans more articles. “We’re rubbing mom and apple pie all over the front page,” reporter John Hill said.

The powerful El Paso County Soil Conservation Society Chapter 23, bid on the steer at the 4-H livestock auction and purchased the animal for $5,900. Every year  the  Soil Savers — the shorthand name for the group — bids on 4-H livestock and this year had set its sights on buying the  grand champion steer. After successfully bidding for the animal, a check was written and the money deposited  in the Junior Livestock sale account at Farmers State Bank.

But Kristie Frates won’t get her winnings until the matter is cleared up.

“We are awaiting the final report from the state vet and until that happens we can’t pay the money to the young lady,” said Sue Crozier, a member of the El Paso County Fair board and a member of the livestock sale committee.

Allegations of animal tampering arise from time to time at livestock shows. At the larger shows, in which steers can sell for upwards of $50,000, security measures have been implemented, including 24-hour surveillance, testing for various chemical compounds, and post-mortem examination of the carcasses, said Chris Wiseman, general manager of the Colorado State Fair. Animal tampering occurs occasionally, he said, “but most people who enter shows are decent people. It’s been a while since we have found someone who has attempted to cheat.”

Stacia Ely, an Arizona livestock judge, said “airing” is a procedure that occurs more frequently at local fairs. “It’s not the choice of professionals,” she said. The procedure’s usually done right before the show and the animals have to be anesthetized, she said. Since the  needles have to be large to puncture the steer’s tough hide, they can leave visible marks.

“Sometimes the kids are not even involved,” she said.

After questions were raised about the steer’s buffed body, veterinarian Robert DeAngelo was called in to examine the animal. DeAngelo, who declined to comment on the case, is dealing with  his own unrelated bovine issues; he recently came in contact with a rabid cow and is still undergoing rabies shots.

 When DeAngelo finished his examination, state authorities were contacted, including a state veterinarian, meat science experts at Colorado State University, and an investigator with the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office. None of those officials would provide details about the case.

But more definitive answers could be forthcoming in the next few days. El Paso County Commissioner Amy Lathen, who represents the district where the alleged offense took place, said Tuesday she’s been told a meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday evening between the various parties. “This issue needs to be resolved,” Lathen said.

As van Zoeren began carving up the steer, state officials peered over his shoulder. Periodically they told him to stand aside and moved in with their own carving utensils. “When they saw something they would ask me to stop and I would step aside and they would take samples from the meat and put it in one of those jar things.”

The butcher said he saw nothing wrong with the meat, which was then skinned, weighed, washed, aged and delivered to customers who had purchased the animal while it was alive.  “I would definitely eat that meat myself. It was a good-quality steer,” van Zoeren said. 

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