Nancy Freedman-Smith, dog trainer and owner of Gooddogz Training, provides a place for dog owners to find positive training tips, canine-activities and places to visit along with the latest information on keeping your dog healthy and active. Nancy lives with her three young kids, Charlee and Finney the dogs, Yellow the parakeet and Tater-Tot the Hamster. Staying current, keeping fresh, and always learning new things is a must for Nancy and her profession because one thing that animals surely teach you is "the more you know, the more you know you don't know."
"At least 16 pets have died"...
Abigail, Alex and Allie (June 15, 2001- Feb. 17, 2007)
Allie is not one of the official 16 dead pets.
Update, 4/22: 4,444 pets have been reported as deceased into the Pet Connection database.
This pet food recall has had many of us asking:
Has anything like this ever this happened before and been swept under the rug?
What else don't we know?
and
What would have happened if blogs hadn't picked up on the story and made it front page news?
After all it was bloggers that kept this story going. Did you know that it was a commentor on the Pet Connection blog who alerted the public to the Chinese importers of wheat gluten? That single post started an entire new series of recalls, which in turn led to the realization that the poison melamine has reached the human food chain. Let us not forget that the FDA official number has gone from "16 dead pets" to "at least 16 dead". That is ludicrous and I find it personally insulting. We understand that currently there is no way to accurately tally the numbers of sick and dead pets, but at the very least they should change the number to reflect the very public death of the sweet Golden Retriever from the CBS story.
Take a look at this story, posted by commenter in Pet Connections blog-
Pet Food Express sues firm over kibble scare in 2003
Chain seeks money for discounts and vet bills it paid after animal deathsBy Paul T. Rosynsky
MEDIANEWS STAFF
Article Launched: 04/06/2007 03:16:21 AM PDT
OAKLAND -- As the nationwide pet food scare continues, the details of a similar Bay Area scare in fall 2003 will be revealed in court next week.
Pet Food Express, an independent chain with 31 stores in the Bay Area, is suing the manufacturer of the Go Natural brand of pet food, which the retailer says caused the deaths of at least 20 dogs more than three years ago.Similar to the fears now being felt by consumers who fed their pets Menu Foods-produced pet food, the case in 2003 scared owners who had fed their animals dry kibble under the Go Natural brand.
... soon after the food's manufacturer, Petcurean, contracted out production of the Go Natural brand to another firm, Merrick Petfoods, dogs and cats eating the kibble began falling ill with liver problems.
As the complaints started piling in, Petcurean agreed to a voluntary recall
...A federal Food and Drug Administration study conducted soon after the scare was reported found that "a definitive cause of the ill effects of the dogs and cats has not been determined."
Studies by the government did not find anything in the food that was above regulations or abnormal.
However, it did find the presence of BHA, a preservative that is allowed in pet food but one that Petcurean had not listed as an ingredient.
Although the FDA found higher than acceptable levels of BHA in some samples, scientists could not say that it was the cause of deaths.
Nevertheless, pet owners filed a class-action lawsuit against Petcurean and Pet Food Express. The lawsuit was thrown out of court.
The entire article can be found here.
Very interesting....and all the more reason to join the National March to Keep Our Pets Safe on April 28th @ 12:00 noon on the Back cove.
The Portland flyer can be found here.
On the Keep Our Pets Home page Jen, the march's organizer, has added a Frappr map. At last check there were 40 pets posted as dead by their owners and she only posted it yesterday. No pets from Maine were represented on the map (yet).
Update-On her Dogged blog, Christie Keith calls for the FDA to come forward and name the other two companies that got the melamine rice protein.
A good read here.
says Christie:
"I suppose I'm a really strange person, because I'd like to make up my own mind about whether or not I want to risk buying something that may or may not contain a contaminant that can kill my dog or cat. Or, you know, me, since I'm also quite fond of being alive, and extremely attached to my kidneys".
Update 7:00 PM-
Royal Canin recalls more food. This time it was for cyanuric acid-not melamine.
This is brand new recall.
More info on Royal Canin's web site here.
We still await the news of the next two pet food companies.
Comments
This article is interesting to me considering my dog almost dies of adrenal exaustion and kidney problems just over a year ago and all three of my dogs were eating the wet "Merrick foods". I sent her bloodwork to a vet in Vermont who has been treating her for the last year and a half with neutriceuticals.....
Posted by Chris SApril 23, 2007 11:38 AM
Updates
Sign up to be notified when there's a new entryRSS
Subscribe
