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Pet-food recall: CNN reports from China
By Gina Spadafori
April 4, 2007
- If you have a sick pet or a question on your pet’s health, call your veterinarian.
- If you’re new to the site, please check out our general information page (includes links to recalled foods).
- If you’d like suggestions on what to feed, click here.
- If you want to report a sick or deceased pet, click here.
- If you want to know what you can do, please read our call to action
- If you want to read all our recall-related blog posts, click here.
Nice pick-up from Howl911, a link to the CNN report on the food sources in china. Mmmmm. Yummy! (Won’t open in Firefox … requires IE, sorry.)
Update: We just heard from the folks at Anderson Cooper 360, who covered the pet food recall story last night and interviewed Pet Connection Contributing Editor Christie Keith, that they’ll be doing a follow-up report around 10 PM Eastern Time on CNN. Expect more coverage on the Chinese factory, and a look at veterinary care for affected pets.
Go to the latest blog post | Go to the PetConnection home page
Technorati Tags: pet food recall, dogs, cats,veterinarian, veterinary
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I linked it through Itchmo just fine and saw the clip. Disgusting!
Comment by Linda — April 4, 2007 @ 3:32 pm
Repulsive, revolting, nauseating. In fact seeing that was depressing.
Comment by Steve — April 4, 2007 @ 3:46 pm
And just think, we ship tons of wheat over from China each year and lots of other edible products - fish, mushrooms, etc. etc……vet. meds for our pets….. the list goes on and on.
Comment by Linda — April 4, 2007 @ 3:50 pm
YES I saw it and if there isn’t charges brought against menu foods for the death’s of all these poor pets that died and all of our pets that are so sick. then there is something very wrong with usa. this is what we were feeding our pets. DIRTY WHEAT SITTING ON A DIRTY FLOOR
Comment by Mary Ann — April 4, 2007 @ 3:54 pm
Mary Ann - and worse - we are feeding our pets worse than this. The poor creatures give us love and devotion and they get poison toxic waste garbage junk in return. Unbelievable!
Comment by Linda — April 4, 2007 @ 3:56 pm
Comment by Linda — April 4, 2007 @ 3:50 pm
No wonder we have an alarming increase of health maladies here in the States. This is very disturbing. The least these damn U.S. Executives could have done is set and enforced high standards in that Country when they went over there to begin with and introduced our systems rather then exploiting them without any concern whatsoever for the big picture.
This is disappointment of major magnitude. I’m stunned.
Comment by Steve — April 4, 2007 @ 3:57 pm
I THINK Lou Dobbs will show this on his show. 6 pm est. it was gross and i’m so dam mad. this is what i was feeding my dogs !!!! this is what all of us were feeding them
Comment by Mary Ann — April 4, 2007 @ 4:00 pm
This is a much better piece than the Anderson Cooper (with John Roberts) last night. That piece was light weight. This one is exactly where they should go, absolutely frightening the conditions. And it is even more frightening that we have greedy suppliers who don’t care what they are getting and packers who don’t check their supplies. I only want american regulated and grown products in my pet food, and I want the industry more regulated than it is today. China, hell no.
Comment by Shawn — April 4, 2007 @ 4:06 pm
Did you see this from Itchmo:
Iowa State will test pets for toxins:
http://www.itchmo.com/read/iow.....s_20070322
Comment by Linda — April 4, 2007 @ 4:10 pm
Did you see this where Iowa State university will test pets for Toxins?
http://www.itchmo.com/read/iow.....s_20070322
Comment by Linda — April 4, 2007 @ 4:11 pm
Fruits and vegetables are grown in night soil over in China and elsewhere.
Night soil is Human excrement.
We import fruits and veggies from China, yuck, yuck, yuck!!!!!!!!!!!
Comment by DeeAnn — April 4, 2007 @ 4:11 pm
Comment by Mary Ann — April 4, 2007 @ 4:00 pm
Marketed and packaged domestically of course as something along the spin of, “Sunshines Happy Valley Natural Pet Products. Feline Naturals!”
Revolting beyond belief. The packaging alone probably costs more then the food.
Comment by Steve — April 4, 2007 @ 4:11 pm
I won’t buy another item from China. I regret any economic hardship - as people suffer there too - and I’m sad about it - but I simply will not put my health, or the health of my family, or pets at risk!
Comment by Linda — April 4, 2007 @ 4:13 pm
linda, how true.our pets did not deserve this crap put in their pet food. we take such good care of them. i always throught i was feeding them the best food out there. what a wake up call this was.
Comment by Mary Ann — April 4, 2007 @ 4:16 pm
Linda, Steve and others. You have to tell companies why you/we are not buying a product from them.
Let it be heard!
Comment by DeeAnn — April 4, 2007 @ 4:17 pm
Opened in Firefox for me and played fine. Let me just say - ick.
Comment by Kim — April 4, 2007 @ 4:19 pm
I will. I will send letters to all, not just e-mails. A good project for this weekend. Thanks for the reminder. I already called every rep of mine in Congress.
Comment by Linda — April 4, 2007 @ 4:20 pm
cnn will show this again after a commercial break
Comment by Mary Ann — April 4, 2007 @ 4:21 pm
lou dobbs is bringing up the pet food recall after commercials. said more pets are getting sick . . .
Comment by straybaby — April 4, 2007 @ 4:21 pm
I spoke with the AP reporter today who is working on the story. The thing I pointed out is that the company identified in China in the CNN story has already said (in the April 2 AP story) that they sold to OTHER EXPORTERS. They even named one. I wrote this other exporter and they said they needed to know who at Xuzhou Anying sold the products to them at their company. Since I wasn’t the one who had that conversation I forwarded this onto the AP reporters in DC and in Shanghai who did the story.
Now ponder on this. Would we even be having this discussion in public if Joy here didn’t dig up Xuzhou Anying’s name buried in an FDA database?
It does not surprise me that the FDA hasn’t revealed who else is buying and selling this wheat gluten. Just like the didn’t reveal the US distributor until the AP did.
Maybe the FDA wants to be more forthcoming, but they are being held back by industry agreements.
As I pointed out, the USDA cut a deal with the people at ConAgra that made info about who bought food propriety. That is why when BSE was found in a cow it got into the human food supply and into a vietnamese restaurant in Truckee. The concern was first for the companies and later for the health of the consumers. If they are playing those games with humans of course they would do the same for pets.
They will position it as “being responsible” but some facts were known weeks ago and the public’s right to know makes a different when pets are dying. This is a timing issue. The longer that the public doesn’t know the more pets are possibly going to get ill.
Comment by spocko — April 4, 2007 @ 4:36 pm
Yes, more pets will die because the FDA is stalling, under the guise of learning all the facts, maybe giving time for the companies to shred documents or clean their facilities.
Would it be any different if babies were dying?
Comment by Linda — April 4, 2007 @ 4:40 pm
So this is what U.S. Corporations have been so excited about.
Comment by Steve — April 4, 2007 @ 4:42 pm
I just don’t understand why this is not getting tons of run the clock coverage. Seems like the media, other than a few here and there, are down playing this big time.
Comment by mary — April 4, 2007 @ 4:51 pm
There’s an election coming up. I think it’s all political - the media runs with what makes top news - I suppose our dying pets just are that big of a deal. Not with the war and healthcare etc.
If Congress would be outraged and it becomes a campaign issue, then maybe, but I can’t see that happening.
It’s just not big enough, not yet, but it’s growing.
Comment by Linda — April 4, 2007 @ 4:54 pm
Sorry - our dying pets just are not that big of a deal!
Typing too fast!
Comment by Linda — April 4, 2007 @ 4:58 pm
Yes, very sad but true. I just watched the CNN video. Had to open up with Explorer… Wouldn’t open in Firefox. That was not pretty. I’m so thankful CNN is doing some digging here. To see that in picture form … well, as they say, a picture speaks a thousand words.
Comment by mary — April 4, 2007 @ 5:00 pm
I’m very discouraged, and not just angry that we are losing so many pets. We think of ourselves as civilized and fight wrong and stand up for what is right. We go to work, pay our bills, and take care of our children and our pets. Now we have to fight for justice for the dead and dying pets and insist that pet food company’s stop making poison food. I think its a sad commentary on our society and our fast-paced lifestyle. And with that, I’m leaving.
Comment by Linda — April 4, 2007 @ 5:06 pm
I had friends who taught English as a Second Language in China about 25 years ago who said that human excrement was used as fertilizer for crops. Yuck!
Let’s watch the update at 10 p.m. EST on CNN.
CNN, thanks for hearing us. I know we are speaking for thousands more who do not even know about this site or the other two major sites. More importantly, we’re speaking for our ill and lost pets and the future safety of all of our pets.
Let’s unravel and expose.
Watch CNN *tonight* at 10p EST.
Bump it up!
Comment by petlover — April 4, 2007 @ 5:08 pm
Latest from ASPCA
http://www.aspca.org/site/Page.....ess_040407
Comment by Carole — April 4, 2007 @ 5:09 pm
I will be watching CNN tonight at 10PM EST.
Comment by Mary — April 4, 2007 @ 5:11 pm
New Press Release from the AVMA…
PRESS RELEASE
Printer-friendly version
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Tom McPheron
Phone: 847-285-6781
Cell: 773-494-5419
e-mail: tmcpheron@avma.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 4, 2007
Tips on Cooking Fluffy and Fido a Home-Cooked Meal
SCHAUMBURG, Ill.
— In the wake of the recent pet food recalls, (see http://www.avma.org for more information), the idea of home-cooked pet food has grown in appeal to some pet owners. The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) warns that preparing a meal for a pet at home is no simple task.
While our pets are an important part of American households, they have very unique nutritional needs. Most importantly, the AVMA warns pet owners against feeding pets table scraps or human food in lieu of commercial pet food. Many foods that humans love to eat can be deadly if ingested by pets.
“Table scraps should definitely not be a part of your pet’s diet,” said AVMA President Roger Mahr, DVM. “Gravies, meat fats and poultry skin can readily cause stomach and intestinal upsets, and even lead to a life-threatening condition called pancreatitis in dogs. Bones will splinter when chewed and cannot be digested by the animal’s system. Chocolate can be poisonous to them, but it tastes good so pets will eat it if they have the opportunity. Dark chocolate used in baking is particularly dangerous to pets, and xylitol–a common sweetener in baked goods–has been linked with liver failure and death in dogs.”
The AVMA does not recommend that people attempt to prepare home-cooked meals for their pets because pet nutrition is very complicated and unique to species and individual animals. If you are certain you wish to cook for your pet, the AVMA does recommend you first consult with your veterinarian and do some research on appropriate diets for your pet. A pet owner should only consider recipes for pet food that are developed for dogs or cats by veterinarians or trained professionals in animal nutrition.
Dr. Tony Buffington, DVM, Ph.D., an Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine professor of clinical sciences and a member of the AVMA, agrees that preparing food for your pet can be tricky. In the event a pet owner is determined to make pet food at home, he recommends Home-Prepared Dog & Cat Diets: the Healthful Alternative by Dr. Donald Strombeck as a good cookbook for pets. Dr. Buffington also recommends http://www.petdiets.com/ as one the best Web sites on home-cooked pet diets.
But Dr. Buffington also cautions that it is hard to match the balanced pet diets provided with commercial pet foods in a home-cooked meal for pets, because commercial foods are formulated by professionals trained in veterinary nutrition.
“If your pet is healthy and doing well on the pet food it is currently eating, and the food is not on the recalled products list, there is no reason to change their diet,” said Dr. Mahr.
Comment by Carole — April 4, 2007 @ 5:13 pm
I’m still wondering about garlic. There’s been mixed reviews on that. It seems to be in alot of commercial pet foods, at least for dogs, but the ASPCA website just said it’s not good. I’ve heard strong opinions both ways. How confusing.
Comment by Mary — April 4, 2007 @ 5:15 pm
Thanks everyone for all the good info. I was wondering if PetConnection can tell if they are deaths or illnesses being reported from eating food AFTER the so-called recall? In other words, is there any way to tell in the data being received if pets are currently getting sick from food that is not on the recall list?
Comment by Sandi K — April 4, 2007 @ 5:17 pm
And another thought, if this wheat (or should I say garbage) is just sitting on a floor, what kind of security do they have if any? And what about people across the world that hate the U.S. and there are alot of them nowdays. It would be a perfect opportunity for someone to dump a bunch of chemicals/toxins onto wheat they knew was being shipped to the U.S.
Comment by Sandi K — April 4, 2007 @ 5:23 pm
That’s a really good question. I wonder how they’ll track down what pet is ill from when and what food. I had heard it can take up to a week for our dear pets to show symptoms.
Comment by Mary — April 4, 2007 @ 5:23 pm
Will someone please enter this and then click on the first entry?
http://www.google.com/search?h.....tnG=Search
Some of the folks seem to believe that aminopterin can be mistaken for melamine. Pay particular attention to the section “EDIT TO ADD:” in the first posting on top.
Comment by Lynn — April 4, 2007 @ 5:28 pm
I’ve been feeding both my dogs all home cooked since this tragedy and refuse to feed them anything commercial at this point. I just think it’s too risky and too many questions are still left unanswered. That’s just my personal thoughts and opinion. Maybe I’ll be proven wrong, but I’m doing what I feel is right in my heart. I don’t think it can get any worse than what’s going on out there right now.
Comment by Mary — April 4, 2007 @ 5:31 pm
Ooops. Someone just pasted a post that blew the wrap. Gina? Tech guys available?
Comment by Steve — April 4, 2007 @ 5:32 pm
What do you mean, Steve? I’m so new at this… still in kindergarten here.
Comment by Mary — April 4, 2007 @ 5:34 pm
Posted Apr 4, 5:17 PM Sandi …
I don’t think we can figure this out from the DB, if pets are still getting sick from recalled foods.
Let me tell you all … I’m a pretty fair reporter, but I have learned a lifetime’s worth of information about designing databases that I wish I knew before we started. I would have done a few things differently, asked a couple of more questions, even though on balance I think we did pretty well and got all the basics covered.
That said, I hope I never have to put what I’ve learned to use in such a way. I NEVER AGAIN want to be in a position to count sick, dying and dead pets again, that’s for sure. Even though I am proud we’ve been able to make people sit up and realize that these pets and the people who lost them count and must be counted.
It’s heartbreaking to all, including the folks here at PetConnection. We’re all animal-lovers, and we care about those who’ve lost animals just as much. We grieve for all.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — April 4, 2007 @ 5:35 pm
Steve … ow ow ow. Too long a URL. I’ll ask the Black Dog guys to fix it.
Folks: Please use tinyurl.com to convert a long Web addy to a shorter one. Keeps our design working, and makes everything easier to read.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — April 4, 2007 @ 5:37 pm
Comment by Mary — April 4, 2007 @ 5:34 pm
The page-text wrap for Firefox bug. It was a problem yesterday, they fixed it and it just bugged out again.
Comment by Steve — April 4, 2007 @ 5:37 pm
Folks at CNN’s AC360 are following up on everyone’s posts, dedicated research, fears and the real issues behind this scandal. All I can say is BRAVO !
Comment by Sandro — April 4, 2007 @ 5:37 pm
WOW. Lou Dobbs rocks, too, and definitely deserves some thank-you notes.
There was a nice, fair, informative piece in the middle of the show today, as advertised. AND THEN, at the very very end of the hour, almost like a little extra personal commentary, he doubled back to the recall and explicitly pointed out again that the state of OR. ALONE is confirming 38 deaths, but the FDA is only confirming 14 nation-wide. And then he grimaced and said something *like*, obviously that number is ridiculously low. He said if your pet is ill, you NEED to go to the vet, and seriously looked like he might cry as he said it.
He also said they’ll be posting food recommendations (with input from VIN, I believe) on cnn.com — not brand recommendations (as Lou pointed out, no one wants to step out on that particular limb since “safe can change so quickly”), but ingredient recommendations, how to read a label, etc. I guess it’s not up quite yet, tho… or, at least, I couldn’t find it two min ago.
This show just wrapped up about a half hour ago in central time zone. Seriously — watch through the closing credits, even though the official segment’s over.
Mary — I, personally, think garlic is wonderful for both dogs and cats. I’ve seen good explanations of why garlic is both good and misunderstood in articles at http://www.sojos.com (Sojourner Farm’s page) and in the Ask the Vets/FAQ at http://www.designinghealth.com (Missing Link’s manufacturer’s page).
Basically, it’s one of those ingredients that can be dangerous if you go nuts with it, so a lot of people say better safe than sorry… but you’d have to go *Quite* nuts with it for it to be a problem, and I find it’s got lovely benefits in rational doses.
Comment by Becca — April 4, 2007 @ 5:38 pm
I agree, Gina. Thank you and everyone at Petconnection. It must be awfully difficult and depressing to face this every day. I, thankfully, do not have a sick pet, but when seeing the stories and reading them on here, my heart breaks for every one of them, including the pet parents. Thank you again for this wonderful website and all the work being done.
Comment by Mary — April 4, 2007 @ 5:40 pm
Geez, it looks as if CNN has jumped on this, big-time. Hooray for them.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — April 4, 2007 @ 5:40 pm
Oh okay, Steve. Thank you for that.
Comment by Mary — April 4, 2007 @ 5:41 pm
situation room will be discussing it and they said they traced the food back to china, so i’m guessing we will see the china video?
Comment by straybaby — April 4, 2007 @ 5:44 pm
Comment by Becca — April 4, 2007 @ 5:38 pm
Becca, thanks for that info. I had made a batch of cookies for my dogs last week and used some garlic powder. After reading more on it, I thought I shouldn’t give it to them. That makes sense if they’re talking a very large quantity. I only used a dash or two.
Comment by Mary — April 4, 2007 @ 5:45 pm
Pet Connection people, there is a bug in WordPress whereby it doesn’t wrap long URLs. No matter how many times you ask people to use TinyURL, new users that come along will repeat it. Go to the WordPress plugin page and download Force Word Wrapping.
Comment by Sandro — April 4, 2007 @ 5:47 pm
Comment by Mary — April 4, 2007 @ 5:41 pm
I believe it’s actually a bug with Firefox that Mozilla needs to address. I hope they get with it.
Comment by Steve — April 4, 2007 @ 5:55 pm
Comment by Steve — April 4, 2007 @ 5:55 pm
I think I know what you mean now. The page is way off center on here and it wasn’t like that previous. I don’t think it was anyway. I prefer FireFox over EI though. Hopefully Mozilla will work it out.
Comment by Mary — April 4, 2007 @ 5:59 pm
It is about time a little of the horrible situation animals find themselves in in China was exposed. The commercial fur industry in China is one of the worst examples of cruelty to dogs, cats and other animals that you will find anywhere in the world. Just do a little searching on the Internet. Even the Humane Society has posted on their website information about the unspeakable cruelties that animals, including dogs and cats, suffer in China so that a few can profit.
No, this is not a post about the fur industry - it is a post about the unspeakable cruelty that cats, dogs, and other fur bearing animals suffer for the profits of commercial interests in China.
Comment by MFEMFEM — April 4, 2007 @ 6:00 pm
Comment by Mary — April 4, 2007 @ 5:59 pm
Actually Gina is having her techs fix it. It should go back to normal soon hopefully.
Comment by Steve — April 4, 2007 @ 6:01 pm
I’m dyslexic tonight. Meant to say IE not EI.
Comment by Mary — April 4, 2007 @ 6:01 pm
Comment by Steve — April 4, 2007 @ 6:01 pm
That would be good. It’s harder to finish reading the lines this way, but doable. When I saw it happen I didn’t realize that everyone on here sees the same thing. Again, I’m learning. :)
Comment by Mary — April 4, 2007 @ 6:06 pm
Comment by Steve
Actually Steve, I’d be much more inclined to believe it’s and IE bug. IE is not a standards based browser and will do things Microsoft feels is appropriate. In this case it turns out for the best (the URL wraps), but in many other instances it’s a nightmare :)
Comment by Sandro — April 4, 2007 @ 6:09 pm
Comment by MFEMFEM — April 4, 2007 @ 6:00 pm
I knew of a few things China has done in the past but this stuff I’ve been learning is just shocking. Some of it being so horrendous I’ve had to stop reading. I won’t be buying (knowingly anyway) a stinkin thing from that country, ever!
Comment by Mary — April 4, 2007 @ 6:09 pm
So the American Veterinary Medical Association
says
And
Understanding pet nutrition is a good thought, but do folks here think that is a proactive enough stance? Especially considering the delays and uncertainty that have characterized this crisis. I still think that Assuming the food is good until your pet gets sick seems to be a flawed strategy at this stage of the game.
Of course this would all be easier to take if I didn’t know that the foundation that funds the American Veterinary Medical Association
lists these companies at big donors.
http://www.avmf.org/html/FoundNews.asp
Benefactor - $100,000 or above
Merial
$25,000 and above
Chicago Veterinary Medical Association
The Cleveland Foundation
New York State Veterinary Medical Society
$10,000 and above
Idexx Corporation
Steven Leuthold Family Foundation
Oppenheimer Brothers Foundation
Pennsylvania Veterinary Foundation
VCA Antech, Inc.
Diamond - $5,000 - $9,999
Dr. & Mrs. Roger Mahr
Dr. & Mrs. Richard Coon
Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Inc.
MWI Veterinary Supply
Louis & Celia Nussman Fund
Rathmann Family Foundation
L.E.A.W. Family Foundation, Inc.
Comment by spocko — April 4, 2007 @ 6:15 pm
THANK GOD FOR CNN . the more people see this the more outrage they will get. the FDA Better bring charges against menu foods.
Comment by Mary Ann — April 4, 2007 @ 6:16 pm
Comment by Sandro — April 4, 2007 @ 6:09 pm
Could be. I much prefer Firefox. Faster and more secure.
Comment by Steve — April 4, 2007 @ 6:19 pm
I emailed a little while ago asking a cosmetic company (Eleysee) if any ingrediants or packaging comes from China, and that I will not be making any future purchases if it does.
I added additional info and a link back to petconnection.com. The owners of that company are pet lovers too; waiting for a reply.
Comment by DeeAnn — April 4, 2007 @ 6:20 pm
Unbiased advice, huh…Good find Spocko, it amazes me how these people shamelessly assume consumers are complete dimwits.
Comment by Sandro — April 4, 2007 @ 6:20 pm
Amen to that, spocko!
Comment by Mary — April 4, 2007 @ 6:21 pm
Spocko Here. Let me just provide you Firefox users with a quick work around until the Black Dog people get in and fix the long URL problem.
If you are comfortable adding a FireFox extension to your browser you can add an extension that allows you to look at a page as if it was in Internet Explorer!
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1419
Then when you have a problem viewing in Firefox you just click the Icon (lower righthand corner ) that is of the Firefox logo and it renders the page in IE. (You then see an IE logo to tell you that you are viewing this tab in IE.) Simply click the button to move back to Firefox viewing.
I did it when the URL caused problems and it looks readable again.
Comment by spocko — April 4, 2007 @ 6:21 pm
Head of The FDA Dr. Andrew C. von Eschenbach.
http://www.time.com/time/magaz.....81,00.html
Comment by Steve — April 4, 2007 @ 6:24 pm
Yes, CNN seems to be ahead of the rest on this. I’m very thankful for them and all the rest getting word (the correct word) without the spin, out to the public. The correct numbers are staggering. People need to know and the ones who are liable should be exposed.
Comment by Mary — April 4, 2007 @ 6:24 pm
Thanks for the tip, Spocko. I was bouncing back and forth from each browser to open up links on here earlier. I never knew you could do that.
Comment by Mary — April 4, 2007 @ 6:26 pm
While the tech people at Pet COnnection ahve their faces in code, another suggestion would be to increase the spacing between posts. Right now the spacing is the same as the page’s line spacing which makes it somewhat confusing, for my poor ol eyes anyways :)
Comment by Sandro — April 4, 2007 @ 6:37 pm
I saw the Iams & Menu foods cruelty video by PETA at youtube and I was shocked. I have seen a lot of animals that have been abused and that were in pain when I worked in an HS animal shelter, but I have never before seen such blatant disregard for animal suffering as bad as that I saw in that video.
I am not a PETA fan in general as they get too extreme on some issues; but I do agree with PETA’s efforts to stop the cruelty towards these poor animals that end up in these company labs. I will never forget that video as it really opened up my eyes and ears.
I also cannot forgive all these companies that waited so long too alert pet owners that there was a problem with some of the pet foods out there. The wait helped the pet food companies big time, as evidence such as food labels gets tossed in the trash.
Since we lost 2 cats (and I cannot absoulutely prove the food is the culprit); I can only take my own actions and choose to go back to feeding the more expensive Natural Balance and Chicken Soup foods. Funny how it is that since the change, my surviving pets have started eating better after a few days off the old food.
If I had known about the pet food problem sooner I might have been able to save at least one of my two cats. My two cats aren’t entered into the database because they ate foods not listed in the recall. They were fed Friskies canned loaf, Sci. Die. dry, and Sci. Die. Canned., Nutro Max dry, Nutro Max Wet . None of the foods were slices and gravy styles.
* BTW Normally I don’t feed cheap food like Friskies, but the first cat that died suddenly stopped eating her food and we bought the stuff to try to get her appetite back. It makes me sad to think she could have been trying to tell me something was wrong with her food.
Personally, I don’t want China’s food or medicines for my animals or my friends and family. Their food protection laws are too lax imo. I personally don’t trust edible stuff from any third world country that allows chemicals banned here in the U.S. to be used in farm production.
Deregulation (Thank Reagan for that!) has harmed consumers imo. The American Consumers are once again let down, and people and animals have suffered again unnecessarily. Our FDA should be doing a better job to protect us consumers. Enuff said.
Comment by Grace — April 4, 2007 @ 6:39 pm
We’re making a big difference here with the partner sites. Let me tell you it is unbelievable how glued to the political circus, celebrity gossip, and world of spin people are in the rest of the blog world.
From what I’ve seen we’re really a major driving force here in getting these stories out and into the mainstream. Every little step is a major victory.
Comment by Steve — April 4, 2007 @ 6:40 pm
Comment by Steve — April 4, 2007 @ 6:24 pm
Interesting! We’re on a good track here.
Comment by Nadine Long — April 4, 2007 @ 6:42 pm
Steve, good ole’ Aesop! By the way, The Tortoise and the Hare has always been a favorite of mine (next to The Three Bears).
Comment by Nadine Long — April 4, 2007 @ 6:46 pm
Just a word of thanks to Gina for all the hard work and long hours you and other folks at PC have put in on this, both the database and the blog.
You’ve become a honest-to-god lifeline for pet owners desperately seeking better info than they’re getting from conventional media.
Thank you SOOOOO much.
Comment by Laura — April 4, 2007 @ 6:47 pm
Glad to see CNN stepping up to the plate with increased coverage and scrutiny of the “facts” (such as the 14 death statistic). Like another commenter, I too was impressed by Lou Dobb’s personal comment about the Oregon death statistic vs the “official” count at the end of this evening’s program.
Just sent positive feedback to Lou Dobbs and Anderson Cooper, as well as Senator Durbin. Hopefully the media will cover Senator Durbin’s press conference tomorrow (Thurs).
Comment by karen — April 4, 2007 @ 6:48 pm
I believe that’s true. Every little step helps and is a victory for us, those who are trying to do right and protect those who can not protect themselves. After being so outraged and angry at this whole thing, hearing about the numbers of cherished pets perishing needlessly, I have not stopped thinking about.. what can I do to help?
Comment by Mary — April 4, 2007 @ 6:51 pm
This tragedy is finally getting serious nat’l media attention in no small part due to our persistence. Please keep sending your comments and positive feedback to the media to ensure this issue gets the attention it deserves. Dobbs & the Coop, U Rock!!! I knew you wouldn’t let us down.
Comment by catlover — April 4, 2007 @ 7:00 pm
what can I do to help?
Comment by Mary — April 4, 2007 @ 6:51 pm
For now your doing exactly what your supposed to be doing. Working to help people. Don’t underestimate your impact.
Comment by Steve — April 4, 2007 @ 7:03 pm
grace that video with the beagles is on peta’s web site
Comment by Mary Ann — April 4, 2007 @ 7:03 pm
OMG - I just watched the piece on the China plant. That was utterly disgusting. I can’t believe that our government allows products into this country from plants such as that. It’s sickening.
Comment by Adrienne — April 4, 2007 @ 7:13 pm
Comment by Steve — April 4, 2007 @ 7:03 pm
The more I read and find out, the more I feel compelled to get involved.
Comment by Mary — April 4, 2007 @ 7:13 pm
Thanks folks. Here is another interesting find.
ROGER MAHR, DVM the person quoted as AVMA President is also a member of the American Association of Food Hygiene Veterinarians.
http://www.avma.org/aafhv/default.htm
Who are they?
“The American Association of Food Hygiene Veterinarians (AAFHV) is an organization of veterinarians whose professional activities and interests encompass the many contributions of veterinary medicine to a hygienic food supply.”
Okay so they got the plug in there to consult your vet before feeding him from your table. Good on them. But how about pushing the pet food industry instead of the consumers? It’s great that we consumers make demands, but the vets are the ones they respect since they will recommend or not recommend their foods, and I’ll bet a lot of them are pissed that they went and recommended the exact same foods to people that made them ill in the first place!
They should make a few demands. How about something like this:
(THIS IS JUST MY suggested text. Your thoughts are encouraged and welcomed-Spocko)
So, what do you think? What is it missing?
I’ve tried to address some of the issues I’ve been reading about here.
Comment by spocko — April 4, 2007 @ 7:14 pm
I believe what is happening here is absolutely tragic. I hoped the FDA would come forward with more information about the number of pet deaths. I know they are strapped for cash and if you look at the reporting process of adverse reactions of humans using human medications you will find the same type of gross underreporting. I also hoped that the media would have started filling in the gap to inform the American public on the number of illnesses and deaths caused by the tainted pet food. But this has not occurred either.
I myself would like to know if it is possible to get some of these numbers from our local veterinarians. Would we be able to poll our local veterinarians as to the number of animals diagnosed with Acute Renal Failure and number of Deaths every month from January 2006 through May 2007? From this information we could decipher what would be “normal” monthly number of cases of Acute Renal Failure veterinarians see before this whole fiasco began, and what numbers per month they have currently. I don’t know if they actually keep those kind of statistics. I know it’s not a perfect determinant on the food linked to illness and death, but it would give us a rough idea to the extent of the damage.
If that was possible, maybe there would be a way of having a volunteer from different counties across the US, call their local veterinarians for this information and we can try to track the info in a database on a national scale.
I know I’d be willing to make those calls in my county. I also could try and track volunteers’ results as well.
This is the only way I could think of (so far) to get some much needed answers and not depend on waiting for the FDA or the media to get around to it eventually, if at all.
Let me know if you think this is possible, and if so, if you wanna do it?
Comment by Sue — April 4, 2007 @ 8:08 pm
Sue - I would be glad to help you out with that project. We have to get a handle on this situation somehow and it’s obvious to me that the FDA certainly isn’t going to contribute any factual numbers.
Comment by Adrienne — April 4, 2007 @ 8:16 pm
I may have missed it, but I thought it was worth double posting for those that don’t have time to read everything. Here is the URL for CNN’s Pet Food Page which includes the videos and article (the one of where the flour came from in China is the first video). They are doing a really nice job. I watched Anderson tonight, but they didn’t show the entire Chinese Video. But they did mention that there might be hearings next week. I am in DC and I want to go up. Here is the URL:http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/.....index.html
Comment by Shawn — April 4, 2007 @ 8:45 pm
Unbelievable how nasty that warehouse in the CNN video was. If that is human “food grade” wheat gluten than how nasty must the animal “feed grade” be? There is no way that company could have any quality control with it sitting out on the ground like that. Disgusting. And you gotta figure that the company had made it look better than what looked a few days ago when the FDA document that named them was found. They knew they would get media attention and cleaned up best they could. We can figure that the conditions were way worse before.
Big thumbs up to CNN on the piece. I think it will help open people’s eyes to the fact that unless we change the system, its only a matter of time till its us next. We have to demand better of our government as well as the pet food industry and suppliers!
Hey, remember just a couple days ago when this was getting so *little* media coverage? Progress being made!
Comment by Laurie — April 4, 2007 @ 8:56 pm
I was at the vet’s today, and asked about pets treated for kidney failure due to bad food. I was disheartened to hear that although they’ve seen them, and diagnosed the symptoms, so far no owner has been able to afford the blood work, let alone the treatment.
So … without a blood work confirmation, the vet would not report them, and the owners most likely wouldn’t. So the numbers we have are not pets ill and dead, but pets ill and dead whose owners were able to afford the vet care, and get the correct diagnosis, and who’s vet’s report, and/or have internet and self-report.
I wonder what kind of percentage anyone would want to conjecture—1/3 of animals have received vet care? 1/2? Several people at my job have mentioned that their pet died “probably from the food” and when I questioned them, they did not take the pet to the vet, and didn’t remember exactly which food, whatever was cheapest right then—which was most likely recalled store brand food.
I think an idea of the true numbers may become more apparent when all this is over and the same companies are back to business as usual, and finally realize that people aren’t coming back to buy their food, because they have no one to buy it for.
Comment by carly — April 4, 2007 @ 9:00 pm
I just want people to know that today i found out some information that the FDA new about the tainted pet food since June 2006.Due to milions of dollars and political mumbo-jumbo they covered it up,until now.People want to know the actual numbers of deceased cats and dogs,well i can honestly say that it’s in the tens of thousands.I found these numbers to be true by doing research asking vet hospitals how many deceased they have had in the past three months.I also asked, since last June how many cats and dogs died from the same symptoms.The numbers were staggering!!!!
Comment by Dar — April 4, 2007 @ 9:06 pm
While the bags of grain sitting outdoors on a glorified porch were pretty nasty, I couldn’t believe the bit about the lard made of sewage! I’m wondering where THAT got shipped.. *skeeve*.
Seriously, though.. if we banned Canadian beef over a single mad cow incident, why aren’t we doing anything to address the litany of gross violations found in Chinese imports?
Comment by Gwen — April 4, 2007 @ 9:33 pm
Carly I bet it’s closer to 10% that got vet care. If you heard of a ‘few’, just multiple that times … thousands. Maybe tens of thousands. My belief from the first day was that there would be tens of thousands pets dead from this once all was known, and I’ve seen nothing to change that. It will never be official - but we’ll know. It goes back long before December - maybe not these ‘incidents’ - but crap in our pet food killing our pets did not just start happening 3 months ago.
In my town of 75,000 people, I’ve met ONE that was following this story at all before I told them to. ONE. And that includes specialty pet store workers!
People really have an insane amount of trust in the media, the government, their vets, manufacturers and retailers. For the most part , I’m shocked to find out, people seem happy to believe what they’re told, and give their power over to everyone else.
I have to say, for the first time in my life I comprehend how atrocities have happened in the past… people just let them happen right in front of them, pretending not to see.
Comment by Kim — April 4, 2007 @ 10:13 pm
No more Chinese catfish - they’re bottom feeders and like to eat at night! No more Chinese aspartame - it turns into formaldehyde above 85 deg. Great reporting by CNN anchor Anderson Cooper on Xuzhou Anying and the contaminated wheat! One fellow was wearing a gas mask (probably had TB) while he was covering the wheat gluten! The piles of dust covering the bags - were they insecticide or aflaxtoxin? The FDA should get a ground sample of that place. This is ‘food’ grade?
Comment by Sue Dunn — April 4, 2007 @ 11:14 pm
Comment by Kim
I know what you mean… most people gladly parrot the hype and never stop to question or go on to actually research. Its taken a lot of work by some of these awesome bloggers to get information and research out there.
The bad news is that it won’t make well or bring back the victims. The good news is that the major media are beginning to jump and run with info and connections made from just a handful of blogging sites. If we can get the public educated and aware via media we can force some very important changes that need to be made to get our pets’ food, as well as our own, much more safe.
CNN showing up in China at the warehouse where the poisoned wheat gluten originated was a *wow* after a very slow and frustrating start at getting the public to see and hear the truth. Just a couple days ago major media was still pretty much ignoring the scope of the situation.
So keep talking and telling people. This issue should be one that even those that don’t have pets will get interested in…we all have to eat!
Comment by Laurie — April 5, 2007 @ 12:27 am
It is a sad fact that most of the pets poisoned probably didn’t or won’t see a vet. I don’t even like to think of how many.
The pets reported to the FDA and even the Pet Connections site had owners who got good vet care and diligently followed up. Most of those were diagnosed around the time of or after the recall. There are also those pets, like mine, who died despite treatment before the recall of March 17 2007. She was buried and the deadly food long gone before the first recall was announced and connection to it was made.
And then there are the untold hundreds? thousands?, that for whatever reason that fate was unkind, will *never* be counted. We will never really know. Thats sad. I think I fight this battle for them, the ones that have no names or vets or maybe even no owners (as in several cats at our local no-kill shelter who died from this),as much as for my own beloved cat.
If our system for food safety is this broken, we have better get busy and fix it.
Comment by Laurie — April 5, 2007 @ 12:55 am
I think maybe the aminopterin that the New York lab found is from the heavily applied loose material on top of the wheat gluten bags at the Xuzhou Anying storage facility (in the video) that may be used to keep vermin away. That’s why the worker is wearing a gas mask? The aminopterin was absorbed by the paper bags containing wheat gluten and the penetration of it was not consistent to deeper layers of the bag or a bag was on top of another so the aminopterin didn’t penetrate. The FDA labs samples tested probably were from material deeper within the bag with no aminopterin. (With regard to the melamine tested on dogs many years ago, it was probably a shorter exposure and this current exposure time period might really extend to the time when Xuzhou Anying shipped the very first order of wheat gluten to Menu Foods’s facility and the pet food was distributed to when it was halted and manufacturing ceased and it was recalled, but it seems to be low toxicity. So it might not be a 100% valid comparison of toxicity in that melamine material, but it is believed to be low.) The actual dates of aminopterin exposure probably are the same, too, to way before the recall dates given by Menu Foods (from the time the first pet food was manufactured from the wheat gluten from Xuzhou Anying and distributed to the time production with it ceased and it was recalled and beyond if any is still out there in circulation. So many dogs and cats could have received a long, chronic exposure of differing levels of exposure to aminopterin among the cans and pouches and dry food. There are frequent reports here of dogs and cats dying before the stated recall dates. The material situation at Xuzhou Anying exists there today. Suddenly many dogs and cats started dying and only then was the problem was first identified, when the vets noted it. The reality is it probably extends way back and but was not identified due to lack of data. Also, by focusing only on the melamine, and of course the FDA did because they found no aminopterin in their samples, it was very confusing and the sampling between labs did not correlate. So exposure time is probably much longer than Menu Foods believes it is, extending from when the pet food was first manufactured with the Xuzhou Anying wheat gluten and distributed to even today if any it is still out there and pets are eating it, regardless of dates. All dates of this pet food containing their wheat gluten from Xuzhou Anying are potentially contaminated but some have been recalled of course. Also, some of the dry that is untested to date due to being outside of the stated Menu Foods recall dates may also be contaminated if from that wheat gluten source because the probable exposure time is extended to the same time period for the cans and pouches, to the entire potential exposure period also. I would not use any of it, regardless of the date. And as long as China denies it and switches companies frequently to avoid detection, the problem will exist. Menu Foods only did recent animal testing, so they don’t know how chronic the problem really is and different cans or pouches or dry may have had different levels of aminopterin which would cause confusing test results, some dogs and cats died and some might have been fine. Possibly the cats higher death rate was due to longer exposure or higher levels of contamination in their food than the dogs or it might have been due to random variability. Lab test results may be highly variable and not correlate well due to variability of aminopterin contamination. Another thought is maybe the melamine degraded and the material effects are different with longer-term chronic exposure to it than with the possibly shorter test period years ago. Also chronic low (or a mix of high and low) levels of aminopterin might possibly be cumulative without showing high levels present at the time of testing.
Comment by Sue Dunn — April 5, 2007 @ 3:55 am
Here’s a link — off the topic — but, just another PROOF how inept our government is:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/.....usat_N.htm
Comment by Kat — April 5, 2007 @ 9:03 am