Petition to Require Pet Food Companies to be Held Accountable for Damages
WE, THE UNDERSIGNED:
Request that the U.S. Congress enact legislation to require pet food manufacturers and the companies that market those pet food brands to be held financially liable for any medical costs related to or contributing to the illness and/or death of a pet that can be reasonably attributed to the food consumed by the pet. And that all pet foods include the name of the manufacturer, not just the brand under which it is sold.
This petition is in response to the thousands of pet parents and owners who have suffered under the Menu Foods recall and their slow response that started on March 16th, 2007.
Sign after the jump.
Or read about all the latest news surrounding the recall.
In creating this petition, our motive is three-fold:
- First, we want to ease the pain and suffering of those who have lost their pets due to mistakes and negligence of pet food makers. The loss or illness of a pet can be emotionally devastating. On top of it, the financial burden of uninsured veterinary treatment can be a double-whammy, leading pet parents and their families to significant financial damage — often affecting other family members such as kids and the elderly. This legislation will create a venue for settling these cases fairly and out of court, eliminating the need for a lengthy court case, which companies rely on in order to reduce the likelihood of payout.
- Second, create a financial motive for pet food makers and marketers to set higher standards for pet food. We want to let them know that consumers are interested in higher-grade pet food. And that the longer a company waits in issuing warnings or recalls related to their product, the larger the potential financial damage. This new law would hold the manufacturers (often smaller, less financially sound organizations) and also the larger corporations that market the branded foods — who ultimately control what goes in them.
- Third, a clear public disclosure of who actually makes the food. Since the financial liability falls to the brand as well as the manufacturer, the name of the company that actually produced the food should be obvious to the consumer. How much clearer would this recall have been if the food was labeled “Made by Menu Foods”?
Once the final tally of the pet deaths is complete, the petition will be delivered to the head of the congressional committee that controls FDA funding (Dave Obey, D-WI, chairman of House Appropriations Committee).
IMPORTANT!
For your petition to be valid, we require:
- An accurate email address
- Your First and Last name (In the comment field)
- Your Zip code (In the comment field)
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This petition is sponsored by itchmo.com. Please feel free to start your own email campaign to this page. The short link to use is http://www.itchmo.com/petition
March 25th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
I just signed, but wanted to add that we lost our almost 18yo Pomeranian, Bubbles, to this tainted food.
March 25th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
The practices of irresponsible food suppliers have been causing countless
pet deaths every year? toxins in food are not only the one’s recenly found to cause death, fillers and coloring have caused organ damage ,thus shorting pets live for years. the pratices must be abolished.. trade with
unregulated former communist goverments is a dangerous idea? menufoods was looking a a way to maximise it’s profit. my cat was very ill
but survived. i WILL no longer use any food i find maunfactured by any company that trades with unregulated countrys. this is the TIP of the iceberg? the future of free trade, the saftey of people and their pets and childern demands safguards against dangerous practices, TERRORISM and
greed? i hope you will consider the impact change will make for the saftey
of all of us?
Sincerly Arthur C.Wolff of Saugerties,Ny 12477
March 25th, 2007 at 12:54 pm
M R Ormond
93551
March 25th, 2007 at 12:58 pm
43316 Robin Smith
March 25th, 2007 at 12:58 pm
Joanna Bryant 43119
March 25th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
…just wanted to add that our beloved cat, “Skitter”, died last Thursday…
March 25th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
63552
Deanne Hackman
March 25th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
06405
Diane Bergeron
March 25th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
Edna Cameron
35461
March 25th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
Lynn Summers
92660
March 25th, 2007 at 1:53 pm
I’m glad everyone is trying to do something about this terrible situation.I am treating my precious Mr. Cat as we call him now , he has been diagnosed with renal failure, first stages. I feel Menu Foods should be held accountable for this situation & closed down, so they cannot do this again and it will show any other food company the public will not stand for the way they handle our safety, things are getting to relaxed ,first the spinach, then peanutbutter, now our special friends!!! enough is enough, !!!!!!
March 25th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
Jake Caeronas 04210. I feel they should be accountable, and they should have to disclose their manufacturing responsibility for the company for which it manuf. for. Many differ. distributors were affliated with menu foods, I have a few cans still which do not appear specifically to their recall list except the name on the label. My cat died from his only 2 weeks of exposure to canned cat food. Bad timing to introduce an adult cat to canned food due to his sensitivty to dry he was eating. It is amazing to see that name brands and store brands are probably identical in content except for the labeling and the costs. Only our pets know for sure about the content, and in this case it has proven, they all had the poison in them. One big batch, hundreds of different labels, all for one and we are all paying for their mistake.
March 25th, 2007 at 2:13 pm
12974
jill shpur
March 25th, 2007 at 2:14 pm
WHY AREN’T THEY RECALLING THE DRY FOOD? IT CERTAINLY HAS MADE MY PETS VERY ILL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111
March 25th, 2007 at 2:15 pm
Domenic DiFrancesco 44133
March 25th, 2007 at 2:21 pm
31620 - Mary H. Tunison
My daughter’s dashhound died after consuming the Nutro brand recalled food for only 11 days, and suffering terribly painful side effects while in a pet hospital on IV’s for six days! It doesn’t matter that this was a pet that was lost - it was one of the most devastating deaths our family has ever experienced!
March 25th, 2007 at 2:21 pm
03063
Elizabeth Wilkins
March 25th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
53177 Terri Braun
March 25th, 2007 at 2:39 pm
Jennifer S. Jackson 81330
March 25th, 2007 at 2:41 pm
lorinda cherry 07933 peasle hold these companies accountable for this crime
March 25th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
18914 Tom Hurley
March 25th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
95661
Todd Wood
March 25th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
Judi Palmer
31312
March 25th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
Teresa Aiello
11764
March 25th, 2007 at 2:57 pm
77651 Keri Sanders
We must demand that petfood be strictly regulated, human grade, and to not be tested on other animals. Have you seen the undercover IAMS videos- the way they make dogs and cats suffer in heartwrenching terrible living conditions? We have to stop this abuse!
March 25th, 2007 at 3:05 pm
95336………LORI J. NUNEMAKER
March 25th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
Renee Moad
73645
March 25th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
06516
Kelly A. Brereton
March 25th, 2007 at 3:25 pm
90802 Sheila House
March 25th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
Giza, Kathy 60625
March 25th, 2007 at 3:33 pm
48101
Susan M. Barnard
March 25th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
76117 - Vicky Jones
I am in total devastation. I have lost my handicapped cat whom I’ve nursed from the day he was born. He had a neurological disorder and was blind. He had seizures due to this disorder and was on meds to control them. There is no way that he could ever be replaced. One of a kind that never knew what a cat was. He went with me every where I went. He slept with me. He depended on me to care for him. There is so much I want to tell about him so everyone would know my loss. But I’ll be brief for now. He was my companion, my child and now he’s gone. If this company was testing the food on their poor lab animals, then they knew something long before they made it public. They can never repair the emotional damage that so many families have gone through because of this. I tried to get my baby to the vet, but they were so busy they couldn’t get him in. This was in February, the announcement was made March 17th, this is not acceptable. I know in the end God will take care of this and everyone involved will get their just. I don’t wish anything bad for anyone, but when you put the almighty dollar before life the you get what you deserve.
I, as others, don’t have the have any extra money. Everything I make I use to pay bills, feed my animals and survive. When I called the vets office I was told if I wanted to pay extra they would work him in. Now if they could work him in, why didn’t they just do it? I would have given my own life for Special, he was my baby. But I didn’t have any money and they want theirs right then. What do you do?
I had fed Special a pouch of the Special Kitty-Duck and Wild Rice, it was his favorite, on Sunday Feb.11th. About an hour after feeding him he started having seizures. This was strange because his meds had that under control. I never once thought it could be the food. By the next morning Monday Feb.12th he was lathargic, not eating or drinking, not going to the bathroom and his breath was awful. He was getting worse and I couldn’t get him in to see the vet so my only option was to stop his suffering and have him put down. I didn’t have any tests done, he was already too far gone and I didn’t want him to suffer anymore. I took pictures of him that day and that’s all I have left. Sad to say they just don’t show my true Special. He was 10 days shy of being 2 years and 8 months old. I miss my baby boy.
March 25th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
emilya piansay 94112
March 25th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
98155 Teri Evernden
My Bene cat was effected by ingestion of Eukanuba Cuts & Gravy food purchased at Petsmart in Bothell. He is in treatment for renal failure and we are not clear if he has suffered permanent damage yet. He will be retested at the vet’s office tomorrow 3/26/07 after being on Sub Q fluids for 2 weeks. We are hopeful that we caught it in time but cannot be sure if we will lose him or not. This has been a very emotional and exhausting 3 weeks since it all started.
March 25th, 2007 at 3:58 pm
61738 Rita Burtis This is an American tragedy that should not have happened and must never, ever happen again.
March 25th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
This is an American tragedy that should not have happened and must never, ever happen again. Rita Burtis 61738
March 25th, 2007 at 4:12 pm
10023 Jane Miller
March 25th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
31001
Carolyn Gibbs
Dillard Gibbd
March 25th, 2007 at 4:26 pm
27357 Faith Walker
This is America. We must have accountability of big companies and safe foods for our pets. There must be punishment when these tragedies occur. There must be quality control and the quality control should not consist of feeding trials. We must know what’s in the food and who made it.
I will never again buy food from any of the companies who used Menu to produce their foods.
March 25th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
So Menu Foods says it will pay for the vet bills….how about the cost of replacing the pet the spaying the vaccinations ? how about the emotional suffering ? I bought a kitten for my 7 year old daughter last summer her first pet. Sadly March 8th we euthanized this lovely cat after feeding it Nutro pouches with POISON !
March 25th, 2007 at 4:36 pm
30043
Cathie Steinberg
I’m signing this petition in hopes of better laws and regulations. I had my precious 17 year-old kitty, Jinxy, put down on Dec. 15, 2006. I had him tested on Dec. 8, 2006 — only 2 days after I bought the food. He had always been very healthy and I didn’t understand his rapid decline in health, of course, until now.
I had some of food left in my pantry and it matched the affected lot numbers. If you buy items at PetsMart with the PetPerks card, they can pull your file and email you what you’ve purchased. I had purchased pouches from several of the ones recalled. This makes me sick to my stomach to know that I feed my darling kitty poison. I’m very lucky that my other 2 kitties don’t like wet food or I would have their deaths on my conscience too.
March 25th, 2007 at 4:37 pm
Greg Thompson 75007
March 25th, 2007 at 4:44 pm
Joan Appleton 77088
March 25th, 2007 at 4:44 pm
daniel seyb 52625
I hope Menu Foods gets sued into oblivion, and their executives jailed, at least for a couple weeks.
March 25th, 2007 at 4:45 pm
31063 Evelyn Hart
March 25th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
92557 KAREN GEORGE
March 25th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
Anyone making pet food out of meat that has been thrown\
away because it isn’t fit for human consumption should be
required to eat it first. Just because a pet is considered to be an “animal” by many non-pet lovers is no excuse to make
and sell the product. My cat is not just a pet to me. She is
just as important in my family as any other family member, and in some cases, more important. Don’t punish dogs and cats by feeding them garbage, because they are defenseless
beings and a thousand times better than the people making
the food they are now eating. Money talks loud, doesn’t it?
March 25th, 2007 at 4:58 pm
Don’t you all get it! These are our children. They are not property. They are not pets. They walk, breathe, eat, drink, greet us. They are God’s creatures.
I sign this for my kitty, Dylan, euthanized Feb. 23, 2007, 12:15 p.m, and for all those who died as a result of negligence.
Voice for Dylan
Gloria Monde 92056
March 25th, 2007 at 4:59 pm
98034 Suzanne Agenbroad
March 25th, 2007 at 5:07 pm
Our animals depend on us to feed them nutricious food to keep them healthy so they can have a long and happy life…..THIS FOOD SHOULD BE SAFE!!!!!
Please have a heart and test all pet food before shipping to stores, etc.!
Please be responsible and be liable for the deaths you have caused
and at least recompense some money for these losses even though you can never replace the pet or undo the heartache and heartbreaks you
have caused.