Itchmo: News For Dogs & Cats

In May, the state of Illinois passed a law making it illegal to slaughter horses for human consumption. This law would also close down the last slaughterhouse for human consumption in the US. After the law was passed, Cavel International, the owner of this Illinois slaughterhouse, filed suit saying that the state had no constitutional authority to ban slaughter on moral grounds. A judge allowed the slaughterhouse to remain temporarily open.

Now, the company’s temporary order to remain open has expired and the judge has refused their request to stay open. The slaughterhouse will be closed as of now. The judge wrote that he “no longer believes that plaintiffs have shown a strong or even negligible likelihood of succeeding on the merits of the action pending before this court.”

The judge has not ruled on the original lawsuit by Cavel. He will wait to see if the Humane Society of the United States can be a party in the case.

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Recall-Related News:

• FDA’s Food Safety Czar offers a few clues into the future of the FDA.
• We comment on Dr. Sundlof’s interview with Steve Dale’s radio show.
  We believe it was Sundlof’s one of more candid interviews but it still left a lot of questions to be answered. There were many things we disagreed with, including the FDA’s suggestion that pet food nutrition is best left to professionals. But we are cautiously optimistic that a CDC-like agency can be created for pets. We’ll post the link to the archive once it’s on WGN’s site.

Add Itchmo New To Your Site: Keep other pet owners informed with recalls and other pet news with our widget. The widget will update automatically with the latest headlines. Get it here.

Check out our non-recall news below. And as always, we’ll keep covering all pet news.

Also, if you have questions or need help, try our ItchmoForums. Get your questions answered by great pet owners.

Itchmo To Discuss Dr. Sundlof’s Interview On WGN Radio:

Itchmo will be on Steve Dale’s Pet World show on WGN Sunday night to discuss his interview with the FDA’s Dr. Sundlof. I know that some of you have sent in questions.

You can listen to it online. Details after the jump.

More Recall Reimbursement Stories: (Previous reimbursement stories.)

Today we have posted another email from a reader whose claim for vet bills was rejected. More on her story after the jump. The reason for the denied claim? “While your pet may have consumed some of the recalled product, testing of your pet has revealed that your pet did not suffer from renal/kidney failure from consuming the Nutro Product. Accordingly, there is no property damage as a result of the insured’s product.”

Sadly, her costs for diagnosing her pet isn’t something the insurance company will cover. It seems only fair that if a pet ate food contaminated with a toxin, the company whose name is on the bag should cover the testing costs.

Add Itchmo New To Your Site: Keep other pet owners informed with recalls and other pet news with our widget. The widget will update automatically with the latest headlines. Get it here.

Check out our non-recall news below. And as always, we’ll keep covering all pet news.

Also, if you have questions or need help, try our ItchmoForums. Get your questions answered by great pet owners.

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A stray cat caused a temporary blackout in Mascoutah, Illinois. The cat got into the transformer and unfortunately was killed by the electrical surge. The power loss affected 90% of the city. Officials for the city say that the transformer is fenced in, but still small animals have gotten into the area from time to time.

A puppy has been seized from a woman by an animal shelter because of a collar on her boyfriend’s dog. The woman took her own puppy to the shelter to be examined because he was not eating. The animal shelter manager then told the woman that she couldn’t take her puppy home because her boyfriend’s dog (who accompanied her to the shelter) was wearing an anti-bark collar that sprays citronella into his face when he barks.

The animal shelter manager stated that: “we believe that negative reinforcement is not humane, and it is stated in our contract.” He said that he could not be certain that the collar would not be used on the puppy. The puppy will be available for adoption after seeing a vet. The woman has filed a complaint with the state department of agriculture.

Dr. Stephen Sundlof of the FDA has agreed to do a radio interview (it will be a taped interview and not live) with Steve Dale of Pet Central. This means that Sundlof will be in the hot seat and he has agreed to answer emailed questions.

If you would like to ask a question, email your question to: stevespetworld@aol.com. Here’s some tips on sending in questions:

Keep in mind, due to constraints of radio, shorter questions will more likely be used, and questions may be edited to be more concise. Only pertinent and respectfully written questions will be considered, but they can be beyond the scope of the recall and pet foods to include pet pharmaceuticals. However, due to time constraints, not all questions can possibly be used.

The interview will air on Sunday, June 24 at 8pm CST and you can listen to the interview online at www.wgnradio.com.

Let’s hope that we get some answers to our many questions.

The state of Illinois which had the nation’s last operating horse slaughterhouse has now made it illegal to kill horses for human consumption. The slaughterhouse had been shipping meat overseas. The Illinois governor was proud to sign the bill and and said that it was “past time to stop slaughtering horses in Illinois.” Opponents of the law say that the horses are humanely euthanized and that horses should be treated the same as cattle or other farm animals.

Update: Now a federal judge has ruled the horse slaughter plant can temporarily resume its operations while this anti-slaughter law is being challenged for being unconstitutional. Cavel International Inc., a Belgian company, has filed a lawsuit claiming that the “state has no constitutional authority to ban the slaughter of a particular species because some people object on moral grounds. The suit also says the law would restrain interstate and international commerce and infringe on federal authority over slaughterhouses.” A judge granted a temporary restraining order that would prevent state and county officials from enforcing the ban while the suit is ongoing. The restraining order expires after June 14.

(Thanks Ann and Susan)

Warning: This story may disturb readers.

Chaucer’s Charity Pet Rescue located in the state of Illinois is definitely not a rescue for pets. Animal control officers found one dog and two cats dead in the house and the remaining animals were living in horrible conditions where fecal matter filled the house. The 14 cats and 3 dogs that are alive have been placed in foster care.

One woman who couldn’t physically take care of her dog anymore gave her dog to the rescue thinking that her dog would be well taken care of. Instead her dog died at the pet rescue.

This is not the first time that the woman who runs the pet rescue has been charged with animal cruelty. In February 2006, 42 cats, 9 puppies and 3-4 dogs were removed from her house because of poor conditions, and her pet rescue was shut down. She was not licensed to continue operating her facility.

According to a letter obtained by Itchmo, a law firm handling the Menu Foods class action lawsuit indicates that Menu Foods voluntarily agreed to stop communicating with affected pet owners — a point Menu Foods’ website posting left out.

The letter, written by Chicago law firm Blim & Edelson, says the following:

Based on what we were being told, we came to the conclusion that Menu Foods was not acting in good faith to compensate the people it damaged. Rather, it appears that the company was engaging in a cynical strategy, designed to settle some the strongest claims cheaply and induce pet owners to give up information it might be able to use to defend against others.

Along with a group of other plaintiffs’ attorneys, we were able to negotiate a strong consent decree with Menu Foods, which the court subsequently entered.

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We are, however, extremely disappointed that Menu Foods has already broken the spirit – if not the letter – of yesterday’s consent decree. First, it has made statements suggesting that a federal court has ordered it to stop communicating with the public. That is a half-truth at best. The consent decree was entered into voluntarily by Menu Foods, and only after significant evidence of improper conduct had been provided to the court. Menu could have declined to enter into the decree and forced a decision by the court. It did not do so.

Second, and more significantly, within hours after indicating that it would sign the consent decree, Menu Foods posted a statement on its website that we believe is entirely inconsisten with its obligations under the decree. We will be asking the company to remove that statement and are prepared to take further action if it refuses to do so.

The contents of this letter have been independently verified.

We also welcome a response from Menu Foods’ legal counsel.

Full letter after the jump.
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An Illinois woman is suing a woman that cat sat for her while she was trying to find a new place to live. She left 14-year-old Corky with an acquaintance last October and she tried to get her cat back from her in early January. By that point, the cat sitter had not heard from the owner in months and finally put Corky up for adoption. The cat sitter said that Corky was adopted by a couple from a nearby suburb but has not been able to get in touch with them.

Now, the owner has filed a lawsuit against the cat sitter demanding the return of her cat. The cat sitter said that the owner was negligent by not getting Corky after a month and tried to contact her without any response, so she thought the owner was not coming back. The cat sitter is also countersuing the owner for $205 in vet costs while the cat was in her care. The main question is where is Corky?

Warning: This story may disturb some readers.

Earlier this month, sheriff deputies entered an Illinois residence that allegedly was being used as a major dog-fighting operation. They found 16 pit bulls in cages without food or water, and the dogs were covered with scars and cuts. They also found a fighting ring and spectator seats set up and steroids and antibiotics to make the dogs more aggressive and to help with their wounds.

The man who rents the house is being wanted on charges of aggravated cruelty to animals, dog fighting, and unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon. The Lake County Health Department is holding the 16 pit bulls. A sheriff stated that: “it was a large-scale, professional dog-fighting operation, one of the largest I’ve ever heard of or seen.”

Two planned dog parks in the Chicagoland area (in Elk Grove) have been shut down even before they were opened. A dog park at Morton Park was supposed to have opened last weekend, but because of a FEMA regulation that prohibits fences and animal feces in a floodway, the dog park was closed down. (What about the geese that hang out there and their feces? Should we chase away the geese too?) Apparently, this regulation wasn’t taken into account when they first constructed the fence to make the dog park. A second dog park at Powell Park closed down because the park board said there wasn’t enough interest in the dog park, even though there were over 100 dogs registered to use the park. Dog owners are extremely frustrated and two even protested the shut down of the dog park. One man said: “I think the whole thing is very suspicious. I’ve never seen the federal government move so fast before. FEMA has nothing to do with the dog park at Powell Park. So far all the park commission has been able to do is disappoint a lot of people and waste a lot of money.”

If you have a mutt and you live in the Chicagoland area, then you just have to go the Great American Mutt Show. The Great American Mutt Show will feature a variety of competitions for mixed breeds and rescue dogs. The event will also be promoting no-kill animal shelters in the Chicagoland area. Here are some of the various contests that your mutt can enter in: Best Kisser, Most Macho, Most Misbehaved, Most Unusual Bark, Best Waddler and many more. The Great American Mutt Show is on Saturday, May 19 from 9am-5pm at Morton West High School. Here’s your chance to shine!

Itchmo will be joining Steve Dale, the host of Pet Central on Chicago’s WGN this Sunday, May 6th, at 8pm Central to discuss the pet food recall and related issues.

You can listen via the Internet on WGN’s site or on 720 on the AM dial if you’re in the Midwest.

We’ll also be on his syndicated national radio show Steve Dale’s Pet World.

Summer will be coming as soon as you know it and that means vacation time! Of course, your pet needs a vacation too! For the next couple of weeks, Itchmo will be highlighting some dog-friendly places that you and your furry friend can travel to.

Chicago, IL is voted as one of the most dog-friendly places to visit. There are 10 off-leash dog parks, an indoor dog park named Of Mutts and Men, and a couple of off-leash dog beaches. Stay at the Hotel Monaco where your pet will be pampered as much as you are (they are given a bed, bowl and treat at check-in and get their picture taken). Take your dog on a tour of the great Chicago architecture on a Canine Cruise or take your dog for a carriage ride through the city. Take a break from all of the excitement and eat outside at many of the restaurants that have outdoor, dog-friendly seating areas. Your dog just won’t want to leave.