Someone in the government has been counting dead pets
By Christie Keith
February 6, 2008
We may have been waiting for the FDA to drop its “fourteen confirmed pet deaths” mantra, but a different federal agency got there first. In a press release proclaiming, “Thousands of pets suffered illness, death throughout the United States,” a Department of Justice news release announced:
(T)wo Chinese businesses and their top executives, along with a United States company and its owners, were indicted by a federal grand jury today, in separate but related cases, for their roles in manufacturing and importing a tainted ingredient used to make pet food, which resulted in the death and serious illness of countless pets in the United States last year.
This is the same news we blogged earlier today and updated later with comments from Sen. Durbin and the indicted owners of ChemNutra themselves. The government’s press release is now available on the Department of Justice website, as are copies of the indictments against the Chinese companies and ChemNutra and its owners (PDF files).
USA Today did some of the best mainstream media coverage of the pet food recall last year, thanks to reporters Elizabeth Weise and Julie Schmidt. From their story tonight:
The indictments allege that Sally Miller, a Chinese national trained as a food chemistry engineer, knew that products coded incorrectly wouldn’t be inspected by the Chinese, and her company did not inform its pet-food customers that Chinese inspections were not done.
Wood said prosecutors aren’t alleging that the Millers knew the product was toxic, only that they knew it had been exported to the USA under false pretenses, the Associated Press reported.
[....]
Dongsheng Zang, a professor of international law at the University of Washington in Seattle, says because there’s no bilateral treaty between the U.S. and China covering these issues, “legally and practically” the indictments of the Chinese companies have no impact.
The only recourse for the U.S. companies who lost money would be if their contracts included an arbitration clause.
“The Chinese companies are probably liable under contractual terms,” Zang said.
Strangely missing from every news story I’ve tracked today is any mention of Wilbur-Ellis, a second U.S. firm that imported some of the contaminated, mislabled protein concentrate that found its way into pet food. They weren’t indicted, which in and of itself I’d think deserves a mention, if not some questions. This story may have another chapter.
Oh, it’s not over yet, Christie, I’m sure! Very early on there was a question of how much of this product was imported prior to the November 7th shipment. This case is just about that time frame. It was alleged that tracing was going to be prior to that time but don’t think we ever heard about it again.
Comment by Nadine L. — February 6, 2008 @ 11:24 pm
NPR did a piece this morning where they cited ‘over 4,000 dead pets and thousands more sickened’ and also mentioned that there are more than 10,000 lawsuits ( or was it 20,000?) pending against pet food companies.
At least we aren’t hearing the magic number 16 this time around.
Comment by 2CatMom — February 7, 2008 @ 7:57 am
Chinese firms charged in pet food case
// 07 feb 2008
A federal grand jury in the US has charged two small Chinese companies and their US importer for their roles in producing pet food blamed for the deaths of more than 4,000 cats and dogs.
The companies charged are Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development (XAC), a small processor of plant proteins in the city of Xuzhou; and Suzhou Textiles (SSC) ,a Chinese export broker that shipped XAC’s products to the US Las Vegas-based ChemNutra , a buyer and importer of food and food components from China was also charged.
Wheat gluten
The indictment was the result of an investigation by the US Food and Drug Administration and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement into adulterated pet food that left an estimated 1,950 cats and 2,200 dogs dead. The three companies exported more than 800 metric tons of wheat gluten to the US in at least 13 separate shipments, with value totaling nearly $850,000, between Nov. 6, 2006, and Feb. 21, 2007, using Kansas City as the port of entry.
The Chinese companies and named parties were charged with 13 felony counts of introduction of adulterated food into interstate commerce and 13 felony counts of introduction of misbranded food into interstate commerce. Each felony count is punishable by up to three years in prison. ChemNutra and the Millers were charged with one felony count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 13 misdemeanor counts of introduction of adulterated food into interstate commerce and 13 misdemeanor counts of introduction of misbranded food into interstate commerce. The conspiracy count carries a maximum sentence of five years; the misdemeanor counts, up to a year each.
Comment by William Kanitz — February 7, 2008 @ 8:28 am
After taking the time to sit and read through the entire indictment (thanks to Steve for the link) the worst part for me right now is to wrap my arms around the fact that the Millers claim not to know of a problem——in the indictment on 01/05/07 an email was sent to ChemNutra from a pet food company saying the moisture content was too great—-why did CN not look into this further knowing this product was not inspected by normal means apparently with Mrs’ help?—-and why only one pet food company notice something was not right with the moisture content??? Imagine how many poor pets could have been saved from their suffering, which continues today, and death! I could not read this yesterday as it was exactly one year ago yesterday that I was at my vet’s for the first time with an inkling that something was not right—- 4 weeks after CN was made aware of a problem!!!
I suggest reading through the indictment if you can—-we all need to know what “allegedly” was going on and when!
Comment by Carol V — February 7, 2008 @ 10:44 am
Yes, and remember: It was a pet-food company — Iams — that triggered the recalls, by telling Menu that if they weren’t going to call the recalls, Iams WOULD.
Say what you want about Iams, the fact remains that they saved a lot of lives by using their clout to tell Menu it was over.
Here’s the transcript from the Congressional hearing.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — February 7, 2008 @ 10:59 am
Agreed on Iams.
Had they not forced the recall when they did, I can’t imagine we’d have done the bloodwork so quickly. Tyson was a young, otherwise healthy cat, and we probably would have just assumed that the pouches hadn’t agreed with him. (He was poisoned two days before the recall, the night Iams made the call to Menu.) That delay in treatment might well have cost him his life. However, because of the recall, we were able to pick up on the ARF almost immediately, and Tyson was spared. Two weeks ago, he celebrated his fifth “birthday”. His kidneys have recovered, and he may well go on to lead a relatively normal life.. no thanks to Menu.
I will always be grateful to Iams for coming forward when they did. (Would’ve been nice if it had happened a day or two sooner, as T. never would have been poisoned in the first place.. but, hey- I’ll take what I can get.)
Comment by Tyson's Mom — February 7, 2008 @ 8:39 pm
Just wondering if there could possibly be more of this tainted food still out there. We have lost three cats in the last two weeks…I just started thinking tonight the first one died soon after we opened a new bag of dry cat food. That bag is gone and so are most of our kitties. They were farm cats and were allowed to come and go, so we thought they had gotten into some poison or something (not from us). Anyoone know of any recent pet foot recalls? I can’t find anything on dry cat food since 2007.
Comment by Lynn M — February 7, 2008 @ 9:45 pm
I think there was tainted food before the recall and I think there will be more of it in the future. Until we can hold these rendering plants accountable we will get all sorts of poisons in the product. I have seen no evidence that the meat suppliers and vets that are taking the dead and poisoned pets to rendering plants are stopping that process. But all the government intervention is a healthy beginning. I would like to see more indictments for the other parties involved.
Comment by Concha Castaneda — February 8, 2008 @ 7:01 am
I am glad that Iams did what they did but there are other companies such as Nutro that werent so great. One of their last recalls was April 10th, close to a month after the initial recalls. Imagine how many pets ate that food after 3-16 that didnt need to if they had just listened to complaints they were receiving.
Comment by Sandi — February 8, 2008 @ 8:40 am
“At least we aren’t hearing the magic number 16 this time around.
Comment by 2CatMom — February 7, 2008 @ 7:57 am”
Maybe some of those “My Pet Counts” postcards got into the right hands after all. Makes me feel a little better about our efforts to bring attention to the numbers.
Comment by Marilyn — February 8, 2008 @ 9:39 am
Where can I go for information about the claims? We paid over $5,000 in vet bills for a kidney biopsy, sonagram, medicines, hospital stay, etc. after Harry got sick (days before the recall was announced) and are still having medical costs for treatment for our “son”. His kidneys are permanently damaged but at least he lived. We filed a claim almost a year ago with Crawford and Company, who was handling the claims for Menu Foods. The certified mail receipts (one for a follow-up inquiry) have come back, but we have gotten no reply. Any advice out there? Thanks.
Comment by Ann Hill — February 20, 2008 @ 10:44 am
A year later - almost - has there been any tie with Del Monte with this pet food scandal. My imported Stafford bitch became deathly ill last year with all the sypmtoms of poisoning from her food. (Stomach pain, refusal to eat or drink, brown urine, blood and mucous in stools, etc.) I was feeding a Del Monte product - Nature’s Recipe Lamb and Rice.
Comment by Kristi — February 20, 2008 @ 7:53 pm