http://network.bestfriends.org/dc/news/14009.html

What I’m curious about is some hear say from someone who works in a melamine plant in Louisiana who openly mentioned that he witnessed the FBI inspect the plant because the FBI tracked that they were supplying this melamine product to Canadian purchasers who in trucked it up to Canada then shipped it to China. So theoretically the melamine supposedly came from the States anyway. This is the underlying investigations that they’re not letting the public know about.
According to the source, they recall seeing many canadian licensed trucks going in and out of the plant over the past few months collecting this product, and the source was shocked when the FBI barged into their plant to investigate it. Hmmm****END OF QUOTE****
**************************************
I hadn’t heard this before. I realize it is hearsay, but any follow ups?

I’m still wondering about the rat poison findings that have mysteriously disappeared since the melamine story broke: This is printed on CNN’s site from Mar. 23:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/03/.....index.html

Scientists at the New York State Animal Health Diagnostic Center at Cornell University and at the New York State Food Laboratory tested three cat food samples provided by the manufacturer and found aminopterin in two of them. The two labs are part of a network created after the September 11 terrorist attacks to keep the nation’s animals and food supply safe.

“Any amount of this product is too much in food,” Hooker said.

Aminopterin is highly toxic in high doses. It inhibits the growth of malignant cells and suppresses the immune system. In dogs and cats, the amount of aminopterin found — 40 parts per million — can cause kidney failure, according to Bruce Akey, director of Cornell’s diagnostic center.

“It’s there in substantial amounts,” Akey said.

Donald Smith, dean of Cornell’s veterinary school, said he expected the number of pet deaths to increase. “Based on what we’ve heard the last couple days, 16 is a low number,” Smith said.

Aminopterin is no longer marketed as a cancer drug, but is still used in research, said Andre Rosowsky, a chemist with the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

Rosowsky speculated that the substance would not show up in pet food “unless somebody put it there.”

Paul Henderson, chief executive of Ontario, Canada-based Menu Foods, said the company does not believe the food was tampered with because the recalled food came from two different plants, one in Kansas, one in New Jersey. Menu continues to produce food at the two plants.
*****END OF QUOTE FROM CNN . COM ***********

How can two different diagnostic lab centers, set up deliberately after 9/11 to diagnose potential attacks against our (and our pets’) food supply be wrong about aminopterin (rat poison) being found in two out of three samples of food from two different pet food manufacturing plants?

I would think that Cornell’s diagnostic center (Ithaca, NY) and the NYS Food Lab (Albany, NY)would be quite well equipped (and state of the art) to identify rat poison, since companion animals as well as farm animals (I’ve seen dogs, cats, chickens, rabbits, birds, horses… you name it!) are treated at Cornell. How many animals do you think are rushed there because they’ve consumed rat poison that has been kept on a farm? I would think it’s somewhat common considering that Ithaca (NY) is a beautiful two-college town with a surrounding area (for miles) that is quite rural with considerable farm land. I do not think that Cornell or the New York State Food Lab in Albany (NY) were wrong in their findings.

Again, I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but wouldn’t the public be much more alarmed if rat poison were found to be part of the “adulterated” wheat gluten, rather than an “Oops! An industrial ingredient, melamine, was mistakenly in there”?

As someone earlier suggested, maybe the aminopterin was in there because it was used as a marker for genetically modified wheat (if this is the case). Well, discussion of the rat poison findings has disappeared since the melamine story broke. However, we’ve read that melamine would not necessarily cause the symptoms we’ve seen in pets because a variety of reports have said that it’s relatively non-toxic, unless cats and dogs seem more sensitive to it. Anyone have more info? Any scientists want to jump in here?

I wonderif it was this one:

http://publications.mediapost......_aid=58672

” “It’s been a big scare, but maybe overblown. After all, fewer than 20 pets have died,” says Tom Mularz, senior vice president at Synovate E-Nation. “For the most part, people feel their pets were unaffected by the recall.”

I think some of these folks live in the dark ages.

Ann

Wish I wasn’t right in the middle of a big move.

Speaking of celebrities, are there a few actors/actresses who would be willing to appear before a panel? There have to be some pet lovers out there. Celebrities, before, have testified before bodies for a cause.

Names? Do we need some fame behind us to bring these issues to the forefront? What about contacting a celebrity about doing a 30-second commercial about the issue? Perhaps going in with some non-profits to share costs? Just brain-storming here. We need to keep the issue out there.

Why not?

RE The Next Hearing

They’ll also have to arrange to bring in a Steinway grand piano for Elton John to sing his (yet to be written) new song dedicated to all the pets who were poisoned and died at the hands of corporate greed.

Elton, how about a concert for the cause?

ChemNutra CEO: Rat Poison Never Found in Wheat Gluten, Cuts Ties With Supplier
April 13th, 2007
ChemNutra, the US broker of wheat gluten, sent us an email about their reactions and a timeline related to the pet food recall.

Interesting items from the ChemNutra timeline:

Aminopterin (rat poison) identified in Menu Foods products was never found in the wheat gluten. So where did it come from?
Menu Foods told them they were changing wheat gluten suppliers because of “water absorption factor”, not because of contamination.
Menu Foods suspected 4 toxins for more than a week before issuing the recall.
Email highlights are below:

We are appalled and distressed that Menu Foods took so long to recall its products, although it clearly suspected there was a problem for weeks prior to the first recall. And it wasn’t until eight days before they issued their first recall that Menu Foods told us that wheat gluten was one of many ingredients it was investigating… We had no idea that melamine was an issue until being notified by the FDA on March 29. In fact, we had never heard of melamine before… We assure you that we will never again do business with the supplier of the suspect wheat gluten, XuZhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. Ltd.

Entire letter after the jump. The timeline they referenced is here.

Read the rest of this entry »

…..yeah, like I said, that was a media spin article and it wouldn’t surprise me if there was a pretty big slump in pet food sales this past month. PFI head said yesterday that the consumer had increasing confidence in pet food WRT safety issue. I think he lives in an alternate universe. Saying that won’t make it so. I don’t care what the pet food industry says. It’s of no importance whatsoever. We’re the ones with the bucks they want. If anyone thinks they’re going to wake up and say anything meaningful, well I’ve got a bridge…..

Most people will go back to feeding commercial food though, as they don’t have time or inclination to think about what cats and dogs need. I hope that if they got scared enough during this thing to quit feeding commercial food for a while, that the next time their animal looks ill or acts funny they’ll promptly consider the food as a possible source instead of making the assumption that commercial food couldn’t possibly be contaminated.

I don’t care what people feed. It’s really none of my business nor is it my right to tell them. My job is to take care of my own pets. Most of the time I feed raw, the cats get canned occasionally and a few pieces of kibble to get them in the house at night. I think people need to feed what they’re most comfortable with, but if they’re buying a bag or can at least it shouldn’t have poison in it.

Speakers:

1. Vets who saw an increase in ARF and treated sick pets (VIN ? Vet info network ?)

2. A longgggg line of owners whose pets died, walking in w/ photos, collars, and favorite toys, (cans of the killer food?) filing past a microphone one by one & telling their pets’ stories in 7 seconds each. (Owners close to Washington, DC, especially, but representative of the entire country as well)

3. Close-up camera shot of a poster showing pictures of numerous dead/sick pets, such as this one linked from howl911 dot com http://i9.tinypic.com/334i35u.jpg

If the Pet Food Industry can hold up a large copy of the USA Today article saying that they are creating a new pet food commission, we can certainly have a poster to show the magnitude of the loss.

BTW, I’d like to see this poster (creator unknown) made into a full-page color ad in the NY TIMES. I’d contribute money to help get it published there. Many others would as well, I’m sure.

4. Menu Foods CEO there to be grilled.

5. The big 3 - 5 pet food companies there to answer questions about testing of ingredients before manufacturing, inspections, nutrition, etc.

6. Ok. Your turn…