pet connection

But everyone seems to be revising their counts down, according to the story, because of the absence of verifiable evidence. Which is hard to find since there’s no system in place to count pet deaths, says USA Today’s Julie Schmit and Elizabeth Weise:

The number of dogs and cats killed by contaminated pet food recalled this year will probably never be known, the Food and Drug Administration says.

The FDA received a record 18,000 consumer calls after the largest pet-food recall ever started in mid-March. Officials said in May about half alleged a pet death.

But tying a pet death to the food requires information such as test results from pets’ tissue and blood samples, which the FDA doesn’t have in most cases, it says.

“The sad truth is that we will probably never know with any confidence the number of animals that fell victim to the pet-food poisoning,” says FDA spokeswoman Julie Zawisza.

[...]

The FDA did devote 400 people, a huge number for the agency, to monitor the recalls, collect food samples and take consumer reports. But unlike in human food-borne illness cases, there was no Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staff to do the bulk of the investigation to link illnesses to products.

Here’s the piece.

The Animal Medical Center in Manhattan is legendary, attracting the best veterinary minds in the world and offering the most cutting-edge of care. Landing a residency there is a plum on any veterinary specialist’s curriculum vitae, as I was dutifully informed when, for space, I started to remove it from the biography of my “Cats For Dummies” co-author Dr. Paul Pion.

Dr. Pion, a renowned veterinary cardiologist and head of the influential Veterinary Information Network, has done a great deal since his time at AMC — including establishing the link between taurine deficiency and often lethal dilated cardiomyopathy in cats — but don’t you dare take the AMC out of his bio. It’s that important.

But the storied animal hospital is getting some competition, according to the New York Times: NYC Veterinary Specialists. The competition for star power clients is what drives the NYT piece, but the competition speaks to the expansion of high-level veterinary care and the willingness of people to pay for it.

Heck, even in Sacramento, where the nearby University of California, Davis, Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital was always the place you went for top specialty care, not one but two specialty centers have opened in the last couple of years. I’ve toured both, and let me tell you, many a small town hasn’t a hospital for people half as nice.

I have to wonder: Are there really enough people who can afford tens of thousands of dollars for veterinary care to support these incredible facilities? Seems like veterinary pet insurance would be a good investment, both for your pets and your portfolio!

Here’s the piece.

Clara will be six months old next week:

Here’s a new one, and it underscores the point I made earlier, that the media shouldn’t downplay pet food recalls because they don’t put people at risk. In fact, ingredients are shared throughout the food supply system for both people and pets. Canaries in the coal mine, remember?

In a news release earlier today (Saturday? That’s new, too.) the FDA said:

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expanding its July 18 warning to consumers. This expansion is for consumers and pet owners regarding canned food products and dog food produced by Castleberry Food Company of Augusta, Ga., due to the risk of botulinum toxin. Castleberry is expanding the recall to include all of the following canned products with all “best by” and code dates, and FDA is warning consumers not to purchase or eat any of the canned products listed in the table below.

Here’s the list of Natural Balance Eatables pet food varieties under recall. Lots of food for people, too.

So, this morning I woke up and walked the dogs and looked at my email, and there was a little back and forth between Gina and Luisa over at Lassie Get Help. It went something like this:

Luisa: OMG, Gina, look at this.

Gina: OMG, Luisa, that must be a spoof. No one is that evil stupid.

Luisa: OMG no, Gina, it’s real. I swear. See proof attached. Check the link: It’s their new home page.

Gina: (stunned silence) OMG Christie please blog this immediately.

So I am:

And I have one question: Has Lloyd Levine sold his soul to the devil lost his mind?

Unlike HSUS, who, okay, may have exploited the Vick dogfighting case to raise some money, at least actually has a longstanding anti-dogfighting campaign and has actually done things to eradicate the practice.

If Levine seriously thinks his proposed law requiring that every dog and cat in California be spayed and neutered by the age of 6 months will stop dogfighters, I need him to sit down and take a few deep breaths while I explain to him slowly in words of one syllable that dog fighting is already against the law, Lloyd. Really, it is. Not to mention things like limit laws and animal cruelty statutes and all the forty bazillion existing laws in California that would prevent this kind of thing from happening if the people doing these things gave a damn about the law.

Which they don’t.

Yeah, I can see it now. Dogfighter A comes into the warehouse where their dogs are chained. “Hey, Dogfighter B, did you see this? All our dogs are supposed to be spayed and neutered now. It’s the law!”

Dogfighter B responds, “Oh, wow, I didn’t know that! We’d better run right out and get them all fixed, even though I can sell the puppies from my big winning fighting dog over here for a few thousand dollars. Because you know me, I’m a law abiding kind of guy.”

Wake up and smell the offensive self-serving crap coffee, Lloyd. Of all the half-truths, false impressions, and genuine differences of opinion that have been taken out for a spin since this battle began, this is without question the most egregious example of opportunism I’ve ever seen.

And I’d feel the same way even if I thought AB 1634 was the best idea since drive-thru espresso stands.