Recall Update: Monday
Food Safety News:
- China tests chili and 13 percent fail. Says small companies most likely to fail.
The Food Fight Continues:
- FDA official wonders if China’s pistachio rejection is retaliation or based on real fears.
- Raisins sent back to the US.
Testing Your Own Pet Food?
Here’s our guide to making sure your test results are as accurate and trustworthy as possible. Share your test results with other pet owners and coordinate testing in this thread in our forums.
P.S.: If you have site, please consider adding this badge. It goes directly to our concise recall page that is always kept up-to-date.
June 11th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
Go back to that website: they are now starting to post our comments. I ranted & raved a lot & surprisingly, they left quite a bit of my rant……yeah……
June 11th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
If any of you are following a trail that looks like it’s come to a dead end because you can’t read the language on the website, here’s a tool:
http://www.google.com/language_tools?hl=en
Copy the website address from your browser and pasting it into the “translate a web page” section on the Google page (be sure to only have one “http://” in it or you’ll get nowhere). Then select the language the page is in to be translated into English. Google will then translate the page. I used Chinese to English BETA for some I was tracking and was very pleased with how the translation made the information clear in English.
June 11th, 2007 at 12:54 pm
Sorry if this is long. Jan C asked to have it posted. I am sending a hard copy to Dr. Olson; this is to the editor of this paper. I just now read about the Veterinary News Network and the press releases they write! That explains Olson’s article. This stuff happens in politics all the time. It’s equally unethical in that context to sign your name to something you didn’t write.
e-mail sent to: William Nangle, The Times Executive Editor: nangle@nwitimes.com
I write this as a pet owner who began searching the Web since the pet food recalls began last March for news that will keep my dogs and cat safe. Sadly, I now find that this topic has broadened to an investigation of what will keep us all safe, especially after learning that the USDA and the FDA have no real regulatory powers.
Dr. Randi Olson’s article on nwi.com came up as the first article on a Google search yesterday morning. The article reads like it was written by the Pet Food Institute’s PR firm. I say that with no sarcasm: it simply has all their talking points. Especially this:
“According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, more than 99 percent of pet foods are still deemed safe and have not been recalled. The FDA is testing 100 percent of the wheat gluten, rice protein concentrate, corn gluten, corn meal, soy protein and rice bran being imported from China for contaminants.
The most recent pet food recalls have been undertaken proactively, due to association with involved ingredients and suppliers, rather than as a result of complaints about animals that have consumed the food and become ill.”
Dr. Randi Olson might be a caring vet, but she has signed her name to an article that gives disservice to a profession that promises, hopefully as do M.D.s, to “do no harm.” She should also know that the FDA isn’t testing 100% of anything. In fact they’ve announced in press briefings, which are on their website, http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/h.....food.html.
that they test less than 1% of food exported to the U.S. They test NO ingredients. They are now asking for testing information to be provided by Chinese exporters of those marked ingredients recently found to be tainted. This is hardly comforting to consumers as some toxic ingredients found in pet food were shipped as “non-food†in order to escape even the miniscule chance of discovery!
It is also public knowledge that the FDA is not disclosing some of the brands of pet food that they now know received tainted ingredients but have not been recalled, nor do they have the power to demand recalls. So Dr. Olson is insincere in saying that the recalls have been taken proactively by commercial companies. Nearly 100 class action lawsuits have been filed that may expose what is in these foods and why these companies have been “proactive.â€
It’s a sad commentary that pet owners have resorted to paying for their own testing by private labs after their pets’ died, as the FDA has been secretive; in fact the FDA cannot expose a brand or manufacturer unless the company allows them to! I’m not going to do the homework here that Dr. Olson should have done before she either wrote this article or signed her name to one written for her. Some of these tests turned up positive for acetaminophen (generic ingredient in Tylenol). Dr. Olson only mentioned “melamine†by name as the culprit, which the FDA would have us focus upon. The FDA has yet to acknowledge the acetaminophen findings, which are especially frightening as a single Tylenol dose could kill a cat. This has been reported upon in the press; I hope Dr. Olson and her partners are aware of it if any sick animals present to them with related symptoms.
It must be of special interest in Indiana that the FDA recently allowed more than 20,000,000 chickens found in Indiana poultry operations to be released into the human food chain, though they were fed tainted pet food that supposedly was recalled. The FDA admits that the toxins fed to this poultry was not approved in animal feed or human food; yet they hypothesized that this poultry was “safe†for humans, even though no scientific information exists as to the cumulative effect of eating such tainted meat.
It would be interesting to know how much training Dr. Olson has had in animal nutrition during her veterinary training, and whether she and her partners sell Hill’s Prescription Diet or Science Diet, some types of which have been recalled. It would also be important to know if any of her nutritional ‘education’ came from commercial pet food companies, a too common practice in the industry. Even when not tainted by toxic contaminants, many of these commercial brands are too high in cereal ingredients, rendered 4D animals and worse, as unforgettably described by veterinarian Elizabeth Hodgkins, DVM, before the U.S. House of Representatives last April. (footnote deleted here with powerful quotes from Dr. Hodgkins’ addendum to the House record)
I now cook for my pets and have studied what animal nutritionists say about dogs and cats needs, adding those supplements that are necessary. Certain medical conditions that my animals had that had been unsuccessfully treated by several vets cleared up within days of taking them off of “premium†unrecalled commercial food. One dog was thought to have a “sensitive stomach†and vomited frequently, but is not sensitive to the organic meats and other good quality foods she presently enjoys. The quality of my dogs’ and cat’s coats improved in a short time on their new diet, and they no longer shed as much.
Vets that have been vocal in support of feeding commercial pet food admonish pet owners not to make their own pet food. Some say it’s dangerous to do so. Yet they continue to sell certain expensive brands that any pet owner who can “Google†will soon learn do not meet their pets’ nutritional needs, and are not subject to any testing or regulation. The Animal Protection Institute’s website will convince any reasonable person of this fact with a single reading of what goes into much commercial pet food: http://www.api4animals.org/fac.....amp;more=1
How soon will we learn that many of our pets who suffer from diabetes and compromised kidneys and other conditions became that way through improper and/or contaminated diets? That they can only be controlled through another form of improper diet “prescribed†for them by a veterinarian is sickening. One authoritative veterinarian says that dry cat food is the primary cause of feline obesity and diabetes. (Footnote deleted here with quotes from Dr. Lisa Pierson on diet and diabetes, etc.) Animals’ dietary protein levels, etc. can be addressed with good food and medication. Some will say their pets’ conditions improve to the point that they no longer need medication and their quality of life improves with diet alone.
We need veterinarians to join in the effort to stop what too many commercial pet food and animal feed brands have become, a handy and profitable way for large corporations to dispose of the detritus from their manufacturing processes not fit for human consumption. Sadly, such corporate practice is killing and sickening our pets; and now we learn it’s coming full circle into our human food chain.
June 11th, 2007 at 12:59 pm
E. - got my DIGG account.
These are old articles, but very interesting!
http://www.panasianbiz.com/200.....neral.html
http://www.terradaily.com/repo.....0_999.html
I think people should probably file complaints against their local NBC affiliates. General Electric owns NBC, and as you can see from the above articles, they love doing business in China. Can we trust NBC News to be objective?
I think Westinghouse owns CBS, and, of course, Rupert Murdoch owns Fox News.
June 11th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
VNN gives every appearance of being a marketing firm. Check out their staff page… the Bawmann group appears to run the show. Wonder how many pet food manufacturers use their services. Wonder who actually owns VNN too.
June 11th, 2007 at 1:07 pm
Chuck -
“Homemade” pet food is the “original” pet food - kibble and canned food is a very recent invention; in fact, it was invented as a way to use up all the garbage leftover from animals slaughtered for human consumption. Despite several decades of supposed improvements from its original shady roots here in the US, the commercial pet food produced is STILL not produced with any more care for nutrition than it was in the beginning. They find cheap, garbage that cannot be safely used for any other human purpose, and package it as “pet food”, both ordinary and premium. No difference from the early days of commercial foods.
Dogs are opportunistic carnivores, just like we are. Sure, a feral pack of dogs would take down a cow or deer in a heartbeat, if there were no garbage cans, or rabbits or berries or what is usually easy and nearby to eat for that day.
This ain’t Disneyland, buddy. “Some” people, and I just say “some”, want to sanitize the food chain process and imagine all the little animals not eating each other, but singing “It’s a Small World After All” while holding paws/hooves/etc and doing group hugs in the wild. But at the end of the day, it is live beings eating dead beings and plant matter. It isn’t pretty, it isn’t ugly, it is just what it is, and just that simple.
Learn about canines, and then maybe you can have a knowledgeable conversation about canine diet.
June 11th, 2007 at 1:07 pm
Maureen Says:
June 11th, 2007 at 12:54 pm
Sorry if this is long. Jan C asked to have it posted. I am sending a hard copy to Dr. Olson; this is to the editor of this paper. I just now read about the Veterinary News Network and the press releases they write! That explains Olson’s article. This stuff happens in politics all the time. It’s equally unethical in that context to sign your name to something you didn’t write.
The problem with ghostwriting is that it’s happening all the time in the medical field–many studies are written by someone else and signed by MD’s. In the case of the MD’s, they are willing to do this because they’ve gotten something from the pharma company–monetary or other (like vacation trips, etc.) compensations.
June 11th, 2007 at 1:09 pm
Maureen, that is an awesome letter! Way to go!
June 11th, 2007 at 1:10 pm
Something I remember re the organic chicken and camphylbactor (sp?) article of late - I read the exact same warning kind of article several years ago.
I think it is a valid concern, but both for organic and regular chicken. Probably resurrecting it due to the current food scandals, but it is otherwise pretty old and stale news. Originally, it was also viewed as a cheap shot attack on organic poultry.
June 11th, 2007 at 1:16 pm
YaYa - I have lost track of threads and where I saw things, but in a post, you discussed Purina feeds. If I recall correctly, you/your farm/? found ANOTHER feed that was better.
If that was a horse grain, which one was it that was better in your view? I have used Purina Eq Sr and some Omolene. We too have had a hard time finding it here at the feed stores - not surprised to see that Purina may be the one being dodgy about the restocking process.
I only grain one of my horses and in the winter, but would prefer to change from Purina. Thanks in advance.
June 11th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
Great snooping about VNN by menusux and pat. Here’s a little more that tells the tale. It serves as a great marketing tool for vets to drum up business. All they have to do is reprint the party line from PFI and pharma. Note that the home page for PFI gives a link to a video made by VNN:
From Christie’s site (contrib. editor to petconnection.com):
http://www.doggedblog.com/dogg.....ittle.html
“Gina Spadafori blogged recently about a DVM Magazine article about the new Veterinary News Network, wondering about the ethical implications of pharmaceutical company sponsorship of the network. This comment really struck me:
I fully expect that this issue will not seem important to many because it’s just “pet news,” mere fluff on the journalistic scale of importance.
I wish she were wrong (although I know she isn’t). Because even though on the face of it this is about pets, it isn’t. It’s about ethics. And the ethical quagmire journalism is caught in right now extends from the New York Times to CNN to Fox News to blogs to nationally syndicated columnists to local newspapers to the pages of pet magazines to health reporting to the wall-to-wall consumer programming on the home, garden, and pet cable networks. In other words, it’s everywhere and it’s everything.’
June 11th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
success. comments are up on the nwitimes article! thank you bloggers for skewering this pet food puff piece!
June 11th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
Debra–you’re right.
June 11th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
Funny re the cat that snagged the fish:)
When I a kid, we had a cocker spaniel who ate cherries fallen from our orchard trees on a regular basis, AND he spit out the pits, which was really funny to watch! He also ate (plus pitted) the fallen ripe Italian prunes (until they got to the point where bees came to feed on them, and we raked them up).
I never had a dog or cat that wasn’t willing to eat fruits or vegetables, and some did it on their own initiative, like the spaniel. Me and the dog ate so many in season that we just about got sick from it, but I can think of worse addictions than feasting on various cherry varieties:)
June 11th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
Ya know…maybe someone with mega money on this blog should come up with a line of cat & dog foods of their own. I can’t believe there is not ANY good commercial pet food on the market today. I have searched and searched….:o( My dogs HATE the Canidae, but they are stuck with it for now. I add half home cooked and then and only then they will eat it. Of course they would rather have bunnies to eat—-
Off to the store I go to buy a shirt that is not made in China.
June 11th, 2007 at 1:23 pm
Maureen Says:
June 11th, 2007 at 12:54 pm
Maureen, please contact me by PM here at the itchmo forum, I would like to ask you something.
Man, you ROCK as a letter writer!
June 11th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
Anyone know where to get vitamins/bonemeal, not from China? Want to go all home cooked, still feeding 1/2 CA Nat. Wondering what people are using.
June 11th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
Further digging leads me to believe that Chuck is, indeed, an Independent Field Representative for healthypetnet, as many have speculated.
Debra Says: June 11th, 2007 at 12:46 pm ******
Probably correct.
And if it is, why do reps for pet foods continually use stupid arguments when trying to convince people to use their product?
Maybe it worked in the old days; but the last place I would try a really dumb unknowledgable argument now would be on the Internet. Chuck needs to try those lines in the real world with people who still are not paying attention and don’t have two brain cells to rub together.
And Dr. Randi Olson is exactly the kind of vet I am seeking to avoid ever using for my animals. Dated material, out of touch with current events, simply paying no attention to what is going on, and doesn’t appear capable of putting 2 + 2 together and getting 4. No ability to deduce anything.
June 11th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
Menusux
This information is as out of date as a Model T on a freeway. posted on that news comment board
Good one….loved it!
June 11th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
E. Hamilton Says:
June 11th, 2007 at 1:23 pm
“Maureen, please contact me by PM here at the itchmo forum, I would like to ask you something.’
E., I’m new at this blogging thing. How do I contact you? Are you blogging in one particular area in the itchmo forum?
I’m loathe to put my e-mail address online as I use it for biz (I’m a free lance researcher). So give me directions as to how to contact you.
p.s. I admire how you keep going forward here with all that you and your pets have been through. It’s all so horrible and sad.
June 11th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
TC,
Unlike us humans, most animals eat what their body needs, and will just eat it if it is available.
I had a dog that ate corn on the cob raw! I had picked corn, husked it, washed it and left it on the lawn, and I thought the KIDS had eaten on it–she even ate it a few rows at a time.
I am sure glad she never learned to go to the garden and pick the corn and husk it!
My son’s border collies eat English walnuts that fall from the tree.
These funny pet anecdotes give me a needed break from all this serious news (that isn’t news to the major news media)
Thanks for the post.
June 11th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
TC Says:
June 11th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
“Chuck needs to try those lines in the real world with people who still are not paying attention and don’t have two brain cells to rub together.”
And here’s a way to contact some of them ;-):
info@petfoodinstitute.org
June 11th, 2007 at 1:49 pm
If anyone wants to cut and paste anything from the letter I wrote to the editor of tmi.com, which published Dr. Randi Olson’s “letter”, here are the footnotes that are the heart of the argument against her statements. I think these two women veterinarians are superb.
I think you can tell where they are to be inserted in the letter as I made a note in what I posted here:
Maureen Says:
June 11th, 2007 at 12:54 pm
Footnote 1. Elizabeth Hodgkins, DVM. Supplemental Testimony for the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Hearings, April 12, 2007.
“Pet foods are far from regulated as human foods are. 4D meat (meat from dead, dying, diseased or disabled animals) CANNOT be used for human food, but it CAN be used in pet foods and is used routinely by at least some manufacturers. Other ingredients that would not be allowed in human foods, such as rendered tissues, are allowed in pet foods. Further, human food health claims are very difficult for human food makers to get. Virtually ALL pet foods contain unsubstantiated claims for safety, completeness and balance that NO HUMAN FOOD in the world would ever be able to get. While some pet foods are likely to be adequate food for pets, many are not, yet there is no testing done to differentiate the good from the bad in this self-regulated industry. FDA has delegated the responsibility of pet food regulation to an association known as AAFCO. AAFCO itself ADMITS it has NO regulatory AUTHORITY or enforcement capabilities, so although there are several layers of APPARENT regulation, there is actually no regulation of pet foods today.â€
Footnote 2. Lisa Pierson, DVM. http://www.catinfo.org/
Excerpt: “Diabetes is a very serious – and difficult to manage – disease that is very common in cats. Why is it so common? The species-inappropriate high level of carbohydrates in dry food wreaks havoc on the blood sugar level of an obligate carnivore. The blood sugar level rises significantly upon ingestion of dry food. With chronic hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas down-regulate, or “burn out,†leading to diabetes.
Many cats have been successfully weaned off of insulin - or had the dosage significantly lowered - when transitioned to a low carbohydrate canned food such as Wellness (3-5% carbohydrates). Please see this thread on the Feline Diabetes Board to read about many caregivers’ success with their diabetic cats once all dry food was removed from the diet. It is very important to always discuss a diet change with your veterinarian if your cat is diabetic and on insulin. However, please be aware that many veterinarians underestimate the favorable impact that a low carbohydrate diet has on the insulin needs of the patient. If the insulin is not lowered accordingly, an overdose of insulin will occur which can be life- threatening. I strongly suggest that all caretakers of diabetic cats home-test to monitor blood glucose levels using a standard glucometer as a matter of routine, but careful monitoring is especially important when implementing a diet change.
Many veterinarians prescribe expensive diets such as Purina DM (Diabetes Management) and Science Diet m/d but you can do much better for your cat (and your pocketbook) by feeding other more nutritious - and lower carbohydrate - canned foods(…)â€
June 11th, 2007 at 1:53 pm
Go to the forum, sign up there , in the Join the Alice Army thread, section is make a difference, there are plenty of posts by me and you can click the private message thing on any of my posts to send a private message.
I will not even see your email unless you send that to me and quite frankly I would rather you DID NOT send me your email, I don’t need to know your personal email.
DO NOT POST EMAIL ADDRESSES HERE- I will not respond because anyone foolish enough to post a personal email address on an open forum with PFI spies KNOWN to be watching is not going to be much help. I am not trying to be mean but we have work to do and we need people who are over the begging and handholding stage.
June 11th, 2007 at 1:58 pm
http://www.commondreams.org/news2007/0608-04.htm
Feingold Pushes For Access To Locally Grown, Healthier Foods For Kids
Urges Senate Agriculture Committee to Include Parts of his Rural Opportunity Act Farm Bill
June 11th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
Pet Naturals of Vermont is a pet vitamin company willing to work with people. Their website is petnaturals.com and phone is 888-340-1995. I certainly don’t have all the anwers everyone needs, but I spoke to a really nice man named John who is willing to look information up. And he does call back. I was interested in their liquid vitamins because they’re easier to add to homemade pet food. Also, John was very interested in the Itchmo site, because people are always looking for -up-to-date information.
June 11th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
Maureen:
Thanks for posting that letter. Boy oh boy, you write a beautiful letter. That’ll make them sit up & take notice.
Lots of comments popping up after Olson’s article. You all did a great job. Now the public gets to see two sides of that subject. Bet me the PFI is pissed.
June 11th, 2007 at 2:36 pm
The PFI has a ways to go to get as pissed as I am but I am working on it!
June 11th, 2007 at 2:38 pm
You go, E. You have good reason to be upset & I cry for you whenever I think of what you’ve lost. You have a ton of people backing you up……me included.
June 11th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
JanC thank you for the kind thoughts.
Everyone, listen up!
I appreciate the good thoughts from everyone but this is not just about MY losses and I have vowed to never let the sun see my tears until this battle is won. My pets are dead, this is a fact.
Crying won’t help make sure it has less chance of happening to others. Fact.
Begging for press coverage has NOT worked. Fact.
I am going to find ways that DO work. Fact.
I need help and action one hell of a lot more than I need or want sympathy.
And ALL our dead and sick pets-ALL OF THEM- need the help and action too.
Sympathy is nice but it won’t raise the dead, heal the sick or change a thing.
So thank you for your sympathy, everyone, and please get up OFF YOUR KNEES and go to work.
Make the PFI cry, better yet, make them broke and gone.
June 11th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
I’m with you, E. It really is time to fight. We can sympathize with each other when we’ve won. There is a whole new crop of junior Senators and Representatives out there. You can find them at Senate.gov and House.gov. You can arrange a meeting with them when they’re in town. They all have local offices. They need to remember–we voted them in and we can vote them out. Big business may be able to give them money, but we can kick them out. That is our power. Don’t let them intimidate you.
June 11th, 2007 at 3:21 pm
This man is so deluded he thinks congress dropped everything to investigate the deaths of a dozen cats!
http://tinyurl.com/3ab9zv
Maybe he should hear from some better informed people?
June 11th, 2007 at 3:29 pm
if Congress was willing to drop everything to investigate the deaths of a dozen cats due to contaminated pet food from China, perhaps bringing all the executives of the companies responsible for this recent rash of outbreaks, recalls, and illnesses to Washington for a few days of questioning (under oath) might help us get to the bottom of this.
From the above artile
***************
who dropped what where? Almost comical if it wasn’t so serious
June 11th, 2007 at 3:40 pm
Life’s Abundance Instinctive Choice canned cat & kitten food is made at the Menu plant in South Dakota.
This is the response I got from them when I e-mailed them about where the food is made:
~~~Dr. Jane Bicks, our formulator and in house vet, inspects & tests EVERY batch that comes out of Menu in SD and Ohio Pet. The plant in SD is a specialized plant equipped per her instructions.
We produce small batches of all the foods so we don’t run into the big company problems that big batches cause.
If I can be of any help, please contact me anytime!
Eileen Young~~~
June 11th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
If you go to this page, there is an e-mail address at the bottom to contact Mr. Marler.
http://www.marlerclark.com/victimassistance.htm
June 11th, 2007 at 4:03 pm
TC! I hope you see this Post!
We started using Kents Equine Feeds about 2+ years nearly 3 now.
{I called Kent end of March too about the Melamine and where the “food” came from which I was told is Milled at Evergreen Mills and from Midwest Grains etc}. They even have a statement On their website now for it. Very nice folks too.
The horses love it and we do not get any varitations in “mood” from it like some feeds can cause {the “hot” I talked about}.
They all Glow :-D Despite the mud packs they all have from all the rains here, underneath- brushed up So Beautiful! :-P
{just once I’d like to go out this year and not have to deal with All that mud cake! LOL}
Funny I noticed a couple years ago too that Clinton Anderson began using Kent for his horses too :-)
He’s working on a Champ Cutter and Reining for the near future. He told Us {at a Clinic} he wants/would like to ‘retire’ to do That F-o-r-e-v-e-r :-D
We really like the results with the Kents, TC.
I feel ’safe’ too.
Hey, Purina’s Loss :-) But now I’m Glad they were Soooo
tight and stingy about shelves Full of only Purina products and not allowing Other Brand in a persons store if they wanted Purina AND others to sell. Scheeesch
I’d be Freakin’ if my horse had been on Purina AT THIS TIME! Yikes!
I’m glad you see No woes with yours!
http://www.kentsequine.com
June 11th, 2007 at 4:13 pm
Oh pooh TC! :-P No ’s’
here ya go:
http://www.kentequine.com
Sorry!
June 11th, 2007 at 4:28 pm
Gentle reminder, FCC complaints do a lot more good than just complaining that the media is not covering the story.
If you have EVER posted that your local TV station is not responding to your pleas for coverage, DO something about it!
http://tinyurl.com/gc48v
June 11th, 2007 at 4:43 pm
If your newspaper is not giving coverage, check with their website or give them a call. The person you want may be called a News Ombudsman, Readers’ Representative or Public Editor. Some of them are listed on this website: http://www.newsombudsmen.org/usmem.htm.
But please complain!
June 11th, 2007 at 4:55 pm
an article about what happens when people believe the sort of yarns Dr. Olsen is spinning:
http://www.kptv.com/news/13479982/detail.html
note the paragraph about the veterinarian.
June 11th, 2007 at 4:59 pm
So has the Pet Food industry learned anything.
As in . . . trying to spin, cover up, and lie your way out of crisis doesn’t FIX THE PROBLEM?
June 11th, 2007 at 5:07 pm
The vet didn’t know Blue Buffalo was recalled. And his/her head was where? And a kitten died?
June 11th, 2007 at 5:17 pm
Susan, i suspect that incidents like this are playing out nationwide. at least this vet had the presence of mind to follow up on the cause of death for this poor kitten, and i doubt that the mistake of assuming “it’s not pet food” will be repeated in that particular practice. but how many times have people been told after losing a pet that contamination wasn’t the problem, when in reality no testing was done? and how many times have animals simply died at home because their owners were not observant enough to realize that something awful was happening? i talk to people *every day* who believe the pet food crisis is past tense, and the media is encouraging that notion by under-reporting, or running tripe pieces like the one with Dr. Olsen’s byline on it. i doubt that this kitten’s story will have much of an impact nationally, but it’s enough to keep me seeing red for yet another day.
June 11th, 2007 at 5:18 pm
Steve,
I looked at the PFI website and found:
“PFI is dedicated to:
Promoting the overall care and well-being of pets.
Supporting initiatives to advance the quality of dog and cat food.
Supporting research in pet nutrition and the important role of pets in our society.
Informing and educating the public on pet proper feeding and pet care.
Representing the pet food industry before Federal and State governments.”
I think we need to remind them of their first four goals.
June 11th, 2007 at 5:22 pm
pat, i called a vet hospital with a large feed store attached, asking if I could leave a list of recalled foods for the customers. I was told no, that it would upset the sales reps. The sales reps’ feelings matter more then their customers’ pets? That is messed up. Some vets are great, but others love the money.
June 11th, 2007 at 5:34 pm
Susan, that’s totally messed up, and i would make it a point to tell everyone who will listen that they should not bring their pet to that practice. i’ve had many wonderful vets over the years, but there is that certain percentage who look at veterinary medicine as nothing more than a lucrative business. those practices should be identified. have you considered relating that story to the avma or its local chapter?
June 11th, 2007 at 5:39 pm
I have e-mailed the story to the state VMA. I stopped using that vet when they insisted it was not the Royal Canin that made 2 of my cats sick. The Royal Canin was recalled 3 weeks later. I switched to another vet immediately. I KNOW I don’t have antifreeze stored in the house. If I had listened to them, both cats would be dead.
June 11th, 2007 at 6:21 pm
The dying is not done, there is STILL poison out there and getting the news out is a priority only to us.
Shame there are so many clueless vets and even more of a shame that the ones who are doing something about this disaster 3 FREAKING months into it are telling LIES and STILL not mentioning the SYMPTOMS of the poison that pet owners need to know!
Any vet that is selling the big lie that all is safe is in the pay of the poisoners.
Need to lose their license is what they need, see if taking money from the PFI to lie was worth it.
June 11th, 2007 at 6:42 pm
Susan, do you have more info on this Vet shop/store? Website, name of major partners please? State it’s in?
I’m FURIUOS about the reson they chose to give, for not allowing Food warning lists! To HELL with the Reps!
I’ve found/am finding public shaming is one route to go. Post the Website and Names and a typed complaint, Like in a Blog, It gets Found {via the Net} and picked up and back to the seat of the Issue.
Got a Chamber of Commerce for them? Look and see if they are members.
What is this kill the pets and save the Reps?!
Its not that hard for a Business to tell a Reps No.
And no because we want to carry a Different Product IF that’s All they are worried about! Good Grief!
As in, we dont NEED You or your product.
What is the Vets office AFRAID OF?!
The Reps btw should be Checking to make sure the Previous Recalled foods Are OFF the shelves!
Why is Anyone “Babysitting and holding the hand of” a Sales Rep??????????
When someone behaves in this manner Call them on the Carpet anyway you can. Even by Internet. As long as it is the truth.
Unbelieveable story Susan.
BTW, Anyone going to Call the Vet whose “Navigating the Pet food Recall****” etc. article is Full of Holes?
Her number was listed in the end. Name of her clinc too. {I think it is a suburb of Chicago}
Call her and tell her she has Lots of replies to her Brillant article, to Read?
She must not mind the “publicity” as all the Info is provided right there- free advertisng- IOW.
Be creative, come up with ways for these types to be Held Accountable!
PROVE what they say.
I left the petfoodrecallfacts.com in my post there, but was not allowed the http: etc part.
Don’t want to upset the sales Rep! HA! That’s a Great one.
WheW, sorry, had to get that off my chest. :-P
June 11th, 2007 at 6:48 pm
An article titled ” Changes made to farm bill “in todays Finger Lakes Times . 2 ammendments it states submitted by Rep. Randy Kuhl, in regards to H.R. 2419, the farm bill extension act of 2007, were passed unaminously. The second ammendment would increase the annual payment limitationsunder TAP(tree assistance program) from $75,000 a year to $150,000!!!! This program is designed to assist growers with costs associated with replacing tree according to Kuhl.
This sounds like another farm welfare program , why not use some of that money to provide clean air , save water and save food for our citizens and pets?
The 2007 Farm Billis to be considered before the full house agriculture committe on June 26 07 according to the article. Please lets write email and call our elected officials and tell them we want money to go toward protecting our water , air and food.