Thursday, March 22, 2007

One of My Favorite Topics:
Let's Sue Before We Know What's Going On!

Hey, I love my pets just like everyone else. The recent food scare announced on March 16 the precautionary recall of a portion of the dog and cat food it manufactured between December 3, 2006 and March 6, 2007. The recall, which is limited to "cuts and gravy" style pet food in cans and pouches manufactured at two of the Fund's United States facilities. These products are both manufactured and sold under private-label and are contract-manufactured for some national brands. The deadly pet food has dog and cat owners studying their animals for even the slightest hint of illness and swamping veterinarians across the U.S. with calls about symptoms both real and imagined.

UPDATE
(CBS News) Rat poison has been found in pet food blamed for the deaths of at least 16 cats and dogs, a spokeswoman for the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets said Friday. The toxin was identified as aminopterin, state Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker said in a statement. Aminopterin is used to kill rats in some countries, but it's not registered for that use in the United States, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
The officials did not say how they believe it got into the pet food.

The substance was found at a level of at least 40 parts per million in tested cat food samples, according to Donald Smith, dean of Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine. Testing was done at the New York State Animal Health Diagnostic Center at Cornell and at the New York State Food Laboratory. "Any amount of this product is too much in food," Hooker said.The lab tested three cat food samples provided by Menu Foods, the manufacturer that produced all the recalled food. Aminopterin was found in two samples. The lab has not tested any dog food. Hooker said the lab would be testing individual components of the pet food.
END OF UPDATE

Some of the 60 million cans and pouches of food have been blamed for kidney failure in scores of animals and killed at least 16 pets. Neither the manufacturer, Menu Foods of Canada, top researcher's at Cornell and other institutions, nor authorities have been able to determine why the pets died. The recall has led to at least three lawsuits against Menu Foods from pet owners who allege their animals got sick or died after eating recalled food.

"It's a loss that goes beyond belief," agreed Frederick Bobb, of Merrick, N.Y., whose 2-year-old bull mastiff, Princess, died of kidney failure on March 10. Bobb said his dog had eaten Nutro, one of the recalled dog food brands, all her life. Bobb's attorney, Kenneth Mollins, said he had filed a lawsuit against Nutro and Menu Foods in state Supreme Court in Nassau County seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

Atlanta veterinarian Will Draper received so many calls and e-mails about the recall that he drafted a newsletter on it and e-mailed his customers. "That helped tremendously," Draper said. "It has calmed clients." Some Veterinarians are directing most questions to the Food and Drug Administration's recall Web site and some have agreed to run blood tests on pets, even though many of the animals have not consumed any of the recalled brands.

Pet owners with animals showing symptoms such as vomiting, lethargy and extreme thirst are being told to bring them in for immediate examination.

Denise Tracy of Milford, Mass., said her first thought after hearing about the recall was, "Oh my gosh, I killed my cat." Fluffy's health deteriorated after Tracy fed her Special Kitty brand food, one of the recalled labels, and she had to euthanize the 11-year-old cat last week. She said the family, including her five children, are heartbroken. Her husband has contacted a lawyer, and she plans to contact her state's attorney general.

"They're killing animals because of somebody's mistake," Tracy said. "They should be held accountable for that."

So who is to blame in all this? That is a good question but I have a strong feeling that many people are going to sue Menu Foods even if their cat Fluffy ate a mouse on his daily patrol of the backyard and got sick. The potential for the amount of mindless litigation is tremendous. There are so many other possibilities for the symptoms which are presented. I've seen one of our cats die of renal failure. But it wasn't from Pet Food. I hope people keep an eye on their pets, avoided the listed foods below for the time being until the source can be isolated and then as people we stay calm and not try to destroy another company because their initial tests never showed any problem.

How bad is this whole thing going to get. I'm sure it will get bigger and more angrier. Just like we watch what we put in our own mouths, we've got to watch what we give our pets. "The recall is huge. It's unprecedented, and people are seeing their dog food is on the list and picking up the phone, wondering if there's anything they can do or what to do," said Tim Hackett, who runs a small-animal clinic at Colorado State University in Fort Collins.

Hackett concludes his statement with what I like to see as the best outcome...

"Fortunately, most of these animals are absolutely fine."

Cat Foods

  • Americas Choice, Preferred Pets
  • Authority
  • Best Choice
  • Companion
  • Compliments
  • Demoulas Market Basket
  • Eukanuba
  • Fine Feline Cat
  • Food Lion
  • Foodtown
  • Giant Companion
  • Hannaford
  • Hill Country Fare
  • Hy-Vee
  • Iams
  • Laura Lynn
  • Li'l Red
  • Loving Meals
  • Meijer's Main Choice
  • Nutriplan
  • Nutro Max Gourmet Classics
  • Nutro Natural Choice
  • Paws
  • Pet Pride
  • Presidents Choice
  • Price Chopper
  • Priority US
  • Save-A-Lot Special Blend
  • Schnucks
  • Science Diet Feline Savory Cuts Cans
  • Sophistacat
  • Special Kitty Canada
  • Special Kitty US
  • Springfield Prize
  • Sprout
  • Stop & Shop Companion
  • Tops Companion
  • Wegmans
  • Weis Total Pet
  • Western Family US
  • White Rose
  • Winn Dixie

    Dog Foods

  • Americas Choice, Preferred Pets
  • Authority
  • Award
  • Best Choice
  • Big Bet
  • Big Red
  • Bloom
  • Cadillac
  • Companion
  • Demoulas Market Basket
  • Eukanuba
  • Food Lion
  • Giant Companion
  • Great Choice
  • Hannaford
  • Hill Country Fare
  • Hy-Vee
  • Iams
  • Laura Lynn
  • Loving Meals
  • Meijers Main Choice
  • Mighty Dog Pouch
  • Mixables
  • Nutriplan
  • Nutro Max
  • Nutro Natural Choice
  • Nutro Ultra
  • Nutro
  • Ol'Roy Canada
  • Ol'Roy US
  • Paws
  • Pet Essentials
  • Pet Pride - Good n Meaty
  • Presidents Choice
  • Price Chopper
  • Priority Canada
  • Priority US
  • Publix
  • Roche Brothers
  • Save-A-Lot Choice Morsels
  • Schnucks
  • Shep Dog
  • Springsfield Prize
  • Sprout
  • Stater Brothers
  • Stop & Shop Companion
  • Tops Companion
  • Wegmans Bruiser
  • Weis Total Pet
  • Western Family US
  • White Rose
  • Winn Dixie
  • Your Pet
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