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)
Your email will not appear below and will be kept securely by us. Your email will be used ONLY in the purposes of carrying out the petition. It will not be used for spam, sold or marketed to any other company. We hate spam as much as you do. Only your name, Zip code, and any comment you make will appear.
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
May 19th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
I absolutely agree that pet food companies should be held accountable, It is their responsibility to make sure the product they sell to the public is safe for our beloved pets!
Kathryn Noble 75057
May 19th, 2007 at 4:17 pm
92630
Chelsea Gahran
May 19th, 2007 at 4:19 pm
01913
Barbara Pouliot
May 19th, 2007 at 8:08 pm
90036
Dannielle Dormer
May 19th, 2007 at 8:11 pm
90036
Carrie Wiltshire
May 20th, 2007 at 2:34 am
Diane Jouron 95257
May 20th, 2007 at 6:51 am
Becky Maag
43512
May 20th, 2007 at 7:47 am
Pamela Nelms 55108
This is an sad sad event that completely took me by surprize. This should not happen in the U.S.
I am shocked that we buy any food from China, where there is virtually no safety controls such as here, no regulation, and wide spread and the apparently normalized deception of buyers of what it is that is being sold.
If the FDA/USDA cannot assure all food safety from imported foods, there should AT LEAST be the requirement that the land of origin for all ingredients be clearly disclosed so that consumers may make their own decisions about if they want to make that purchase for their family and pets.
Also, FDA/USDA should change labeling requirements to have all additives on the label, not just the ones added by the last manufacturer, (as is done now) but also, all additives added by the companies, farmers etc who provide the ingredients that become the product.
Labeling and food safety requirements for animal food, including pets, should have the same standards as food known to be destined for human consumption. OR, the FDA/USDA should develop a label, such as the “certified organic” process, where animal food is labeled “Meets all FDA/USDA standards as applies to Human-grade food” or something like that, again so we the consumers can make choices that fit our priorities.
May 20th, 2007 at 9:54 am
The lack of care by the government institutions not only speaks of the disinterest in the wellbeing of our animal population but of human life as well.
May 20th, 2007 at 1:07 pm
Linda Webster 55419 - This issue further substantiates the needs for labeling of food and all components of food products as to country of origin and for better procedures for monitoring food products entering the US from other countries. It seems like the current methods of testing by FDA need to be improved.
May 20th, 2007 at 1:09 pm
Linda Webster 55419
May 20th, 2007 at 5:10 pm
95051-5370
Robin F Kernan
Stronger rules and inspections for food products for human and pets is direly necessary now. A stronger FDA not bound by business and trade agreements with other countries. Human and pet life is important. Stronger laws need to be applied regrdless of pressures from business interests with connections to China. Thank you.
May 20th, 2007 at 5:12 pm
Ms Robin F Kernan 95051-5370
May 20th, 2007 at 7:47 pm
Pets are part of our families, mine are my children. ALL Life is worth the extra effort. The FDA must improve its methods.
May 20th, 2007 at 7:49 pm
Sherry Vize 40219
May 20th, 2007 at 9:32 pm
33326 Melissa Lasek
This is totally unacceptable that so many pets have gotten sick and died.
more people need to care and get involved and check this stuff out completely before realeasing for resale to humans or loved pets.
May 20th, 2007 at 9:45 pm
Tonya Mackey 98532
May 20th, 2007 at 9:46 pm
Patrick Mackey 98532
May 20th, 2007 at 10:12 pm
Robert Watkins 62471
May 20th, 2007 at 10:51 pm
16947
Louise Johns
Keith Johns
May 21st, 2007 at 1:25 am
Jackie Kennedy
27370
My pets are my babies and I pay good money for the food that they eat & I put my faith and trust in these foods and my babes put there faith & trust in me that I am feeding them good food and NOT poison.
So if I have all this faith & trust in these companies and it is OUR money that keeps there businesses going,
then WHY can they NOT go the extra step to ensure that things like this never happens again??!!
May 21st, 2007 at 1:28 am
Jackie Kennedy
27370
My animals ARE my babies. And we spend good hard earned money to bye decent foods for my babes and I put my faith & trust in these companies & My babies put there faith & trust in ME that I am feeding them good food and NOT poison. So why cant these companies take the extra step to ensure that nothing like this happens again?
Afterall it is OUR hard earned money that keeps them in business along with our trust & faith…
This is our payback??
May 21st, 2007 at 1:51 am
My cat has kidney disease but I did not find her cat food on the recall list. Strange though. Pet Food companies should be held accountable for this.
~ Peter Iasillo
May 21st, 2007 at 3:55 am
90405 Marcie Monroe
May 21st, 2007 at 4:10 am
All of the pet owners on myspace are up in arms regarding this scandal!!
My Boxer was showing the signs of possible poisoning in January, and I immediately changed her food to a raw food diet. Thank goodness I did, as the food she had been eating, and that came highly recommended by my vet when I adopted her in December, was one of the foods early on the recall list!!! I was furious when I began reading the ingredients, and saw all the grains and by products, artificial colorings and flavorings!! I wouldn’t feed these things to a human child, why would I feed them to my canine and feline children??
Shame on you big corporate pet food manufacturers!!!
May 21st, 2007 at 6:46 am
28690 REBA VANHORN
May 21st, 2007 at 9:31 am
23188 Rob Heittman
May 21st, 2007 at 10:39 am
Mara Scott 90630
May 21st, 2007 at 11:32 am
Alison Heittman, located in 23188
Thank you for putting together this petition. Parents strive to teach their children to be responsible and accountable for their actions - shouldn’t the same be true of large corporations?
May 21st, 2007 at 11:56 am
92307 Annie Lancaster
May 21st, 2007 at 1:42 pm
90232
Ute Friesleben
May 21st, 2007 at 3:09 pm
Kristin Hutchinson 66203
I have two additional suggestions regarding regulations for ingredients used in not only pet foods, but also used in foods to be given to animals intended for human consumption or which may be used in creating foods for human consumption.
The first is that any company ordering such ingredients be required to test the food for a wide range of toxins, including melamine and cyanuric acid (with any additional contaminants to be added to the required screening if it is discovered that they are being added to foods, in order to ensure that even if the supplying companies stop using the current contaminants, if they find others that will give them the same profit-enhancing results, the law will require that they be tested for as well), and that if any contaminants or toxins are found, the entire shipment be destroyed. While this would be quite expensive for the company, hopefully it will encourage them to select suppliers that are less likely to resort to contaminants, even if it means not going with the lowest bidder.
The secion is that any company shown to have sold contaminated foods be put on a list of embargoed companies that no food supplier (for human or animal consumption) is allowed to purchase from. Again, this is perhaps a bit draconian, but it gives companies a strong motivation to *not* adulterate their products. If the company can show that the contamination was a genuine error and that they have corrected the conditions leading to it, or if they will allow spot inspections from US FDA officials, they can be removed from the embargo list. If, however, they fail any inspections or if a subsequent shipment is found to be tainted, they will receive a permanent ban.
This is a very serious issue, since it not only affects our pets (for whom animal companions are more than just “pets”) but has the potential to affect food for human consumption as well.
May 21st, 2007 at 3:13 pm
30161
Lisa McCord
May 21st, 2007 at 7:12 pm
01040 wanda vazquez
May 21st, 2007 at 7:12 pm
01040 wanda vazquez
May 21st, 2007 at 7:42 pm
40509
Linda Burton
May 21st, 2007 at 9:20 pm
49203
Ruth Sawyer
May 21st, 2007 at 9:21 pm
49203
Ruth Sawyer
May 21st, 2007 at 11:11 pm
Kelly Wieland 91501
FYI… I had to euthenize my 10 year old Birman on Feb. 1, 2007 due to a diagnosis of IBD after extensive tests! He had been eating Hills Science Diet C/D, recommended by his DVM for the entire time! I’m now convinced that the food was contaminated and this is before the recall in March!!!!!! WHEN WILL THIS STOP?????????????
May 21st, 2007 at 11:41 pm
30809 OLLIE C. LAFONTAINE
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:46 am
10956 Barbara Jordan
I believe the pet food companies must be held accountable. Its their product in the end !
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:48 am
10956 Barbara Jordan
I believe the pet food companies must be held accountable. It’s their product, they produced it.
May 22nd, 2007 at 8:10 am
49039
Christine Hampton
I think the pet food company that we bought the dog food from should be realiable for the vet bill that we all encountered. I have an out standing bill that has not been fully paid for, and I don’t have the money to pay them. It was $ 105.00 bill and I paid only $ 45.00 ON IT. that’s all the money I had. As my mate has been laid off and we are hurtting very bad. I son’t have the money to keep going to the Vets with all this dog food scare, and I dearly LOVE MY DOG!! AND don’t want anything to happen to her.
thank you Chris Hampton
May 22nd, 2007 at 8:15 am
I agree with you 100% I know I don’t have the money to keep taken my dog to the VETS And we all shouldn’t be afraid to purchase dog food IN FEAR THAT IT’S GOING TO KILL OUR LOVED DOG’S OR CAT’S…LET THE DOG FOOD COMPANY BE RESPONABLE FOR THE COST OF THE VET BILLS, AND FOR THOSE WHOM LOST THERE BELOVED PETS!
May 22nd, 2007 at 8:18 am
85253 Janie White
May 22nd, 2007 at 10:46 am
Deborah Ward
92867
May 22nd, 2007 at 10:53 am
19438
Stephanie Norris
May 22nd, 2007 at 10:57 am
30742
BJ Darnell
May 22nd, 2007 at 11:30 am
53527 Michelle Rutta
May 22nd, 2007 at 11:44 am
Sheila Walker
95726