Pet-food recall: Where were you a year ago?
By Gina Spadafori
March 14, 2008
Do you remember where you were when the first of the Friday night dump-and-run pet-food recall notices were dropped on a Web site?
I do. Because I blogged it. And then didn’t stop working for the next eight weeks.
A lot of people will be spending the weekend thinking about their dead pets, caring for their sick ones and wondering if it could ever happen again, in pets or even in the human food supply system. The answer?
From Christie’s piece just posted on SFGate.com, on this sad anniversary made even sadder because little has changed when it comes to our government’s lack of ability to protect the food supply:
I didn’t guess when I began covering this story … that it would turn into the largest consumer recall in history, trigger an international trade scandal, launch congressional hearings and proposed legislation on food safety, and result in the indictment of American and Chinese businesses owners. I couldn’t have foreseen that the incident would put a spotlight on Chinese imports that would eventually reveal lead in children’s toys and toxins in toothpaste and prompt a recent recall of the drug heparin.
But it’s equally hard to believe that after all that, the answer to the question “Could it happen again?” is probably “Yes.”
The reason is simple: None of the changes that might prevent a repeat have been implemented. Inspections of pet food plants haven’t improved; the patchwork of state, federal and industry manufacturing standards and regulations haven’t been overhauled; transparency and accountability haven’t increased - not even something as simple as printing the name and contact information of the actual manufacturer on pet food labels - and pet food labeling laws haven’t been revised. The FDA still does not have mandatory-recall authority.
Here’s the rest. I hardly remember those weeks now (they’re just one big, sad blur) except to be grateful to all the people who helped, who supported each other and shared what they knew. We couldn’t have done what we did here without the people and pets we did it for. And I couldn’t have make it through without Christie, without Dr. Marty Becker, without Dr. Paul Pion of VIN and our Web team at Black Dog Studios. And many more people, too.
I know Kim is writing a piece for MSNBC.com and we’ll put that up, too, when it’s posted.
Me? I have never, ever been so bloody keen on anniversary pieces as the rest of the media is. I’ve sighed every time I’ve been assigned one, and I’ve never assigned one to anyone else, either. So this weekend I’m not going to think about tens of thousands of dead and sick pets, a government that let us down (and still does so) and a media that with very few exceptions (USA Today and the L.A. Times, most notably) never realized the implications of the import mess. (And still doesn’t, preferring to cover the details of hiring expensive call girls instead of the sorry state of our nation’s food supply.)
Instead of writing about the one-year anniversary, I’m going to finish writing the first of our three new books, which is technically due in the morning but will really be at the publisher in full on Monday. I like writing. It gets me through the rough spots in life. I’m happy to have to be writing about something else this weekend, instead of revisiting such overpowering sadness.
Kim promises to blog about the new puppy, and Christie is supposed to be home from South By Southwest Interactive sometime today. They’ll have some good stuff to write about, I hope, because I have got to be dedicating my typing somewhere else for the next couple of days.
Please feel free to remember your pets in the comments here — I want to see some names, I want to read those names — and know I am thinking about them all this weekend. And you, too.
That’s it for me until Tuesday. I gotta book to finish.
Update: O, Canada! Geez, at least the U.S. regulatory agencies pretend to care. From the Canadian Press:
After the recalls started last year, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency began a review of its responsibilities to pet food and, according to their website, “determine if room for improvement exists within the Canadian system.”
On Friday, it appeared as though nothing had changed.
“We don’t have a regulatory role - that’s the bottom line,” said Marc Richard at the CFIA’s headquarters in an interview.
“We’re the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. We deal with food - and food is for humans.”
Considering the point that has been made time and time again (including by Dr. Nestle in the previous post) that the human and pet food supplies are interconnected, this seems to be as bone-headed a point of view as can possibly be imagined. This man needs to find another job … forcibly, if need be.
About the image: Do you remember this kitten? She oversaw our recall coverage from start to finish, mostly on our PetConnection.com home page. Just a stock photo, and probably an old one, but this little cutie’s face is burned into my memory forever. I hope she had a good life.
Remembering the thousands of pet who died and their pet parents who still live with it…
Comment by Laura Bennett — March 14, 2008 @ 7:33 pm
I think when I heard about the recall my mouth just dropped open and my heart raced so fast. I am trying to remember exactly where I was and my mind is blank. It was a shocking revelation because my cat had died 12 days before. Her’s was a sudden death. I know that subtle signs were missed and that I will not ever get over. And I ran to tell my husband because we were just dumbfounded how our healthy indoor 5 year old beautiful cat was now dead and buried. We found her on a Sunday morning in her favorite place but … I can’t describe it again. I remember the weekend exactly because my nieces dance recital was that weekend. And it was again two weekends ago and it brought back the memories in a flood. And I remember letting my dog see that she was dead (we agonized over what to do about that and decided this was the way we would handle it so he wouldn’t wonder where she was … he still did look for her) and I remember him putting his entire snout into her body, his best friend, his daughter. She was 8 weeks when we got her and he really acted like her daddy. A 100lb dog taking this little baby under his wing. And he knew and he kept his snout there for an extra second. Not sniffing, just laying it there. And I remember my husband digging her grave and we chose which toys to put on top. I remember it all so clearly.
And then I remember months and months and months of so much anger and disbelief and wanting to scream at the fraud and lies and greed and Friday night recalls, one after another after another. And if I hear the words “out of an abundance of caution” or “voluntary recall” (as if there is another kind) again, I will surely become violent. And I remember most of all my amazement at the information that these great posters found … wow… and then the realization that our government was so inept. I had a dead cat to prove it but it seemed that no one but the posters cared or realized the gravity of our canaries in the coal mine.
I was consumed. I didn’t trust any food, pet or human. I spent so much time researching home cooked and raw and now that is what I feed. As for me, I haven’t eaten half the things I might have before realizing how unsafe our food is. It has been eye opening in so many respects and so depressing also. And now one year later, I almost can’t bear the thought of reading that we are in the same place. I don’t know what, if anything, has changed. I didn’t think I could even read the blogs about the anniversary and yet here I am telling my story. Thanks for listening.
Mabel: You will always be in our hearts. We love you and miss you every day.
February 2002- March 4, 2007
Comment by Garyn — March 14, 2008 @ 9:33 pm
My heartfelt sympathy to all of those who lost loved companions, and my deepest thanks to the people who worked so hard to keep us up to date, who told us the truth, who supported us through that time. I found this blog then and it helped so much! I lost my sweet dog Shadow sometime before the recall but I believe it was due to her food. She was diabetic but doing well, on the ‘special’ food my vet recommeded and sold-and suddenly she went into kidney failure. When the recall came along a few months later I saw that her food was on the list. I still feel guilty and I miss her.
My other dogs eat better and more naturally now.
Comment by sb — March 14, 2008 @ 10:37 pm
I lost my beloved blue heeler, Scout, on February 25, 2007. I am starting to be able to talk about that wonderful dog without breaking down. She would stomp her feet and demand a treat. She just wanted love. As long as she was being touched, she was happy. She had such a moonie face. She could get anything she wanted. Unfortunatly, I decided to add Iams Active Maturity to her dry food in January and she was gone in February. I’ll say her name again, Scout. Loved so much, gone too soon.
Comment by Allison — March 14, 2008 @ 11:21 pm
I too wish to extend my deepest sympathy to all who lost their dearest four footed friend. My story has a happier ending then those who have commented. I own a smooth coat dachshund who goes by the name of Puddles. I have had him since he was a puppy of 12 weeks. I would buy his dog food from grocery stores and pet supply stores as many of you had been doing. I did not know about the quality of dog food until I joined a play group for this breed and because of the questions raised in their discussions regarding dog food I began to realize the real meaning of “by-products” and that human grade also had a very different meaning. By the time the toxic dog food scandal hit, Puddles was not using any of the dog food brands on the list. I know his life was saved because of my own due diligence but the fact remains why was it necessary? Now there is organic dog food. People buy foods because it is labeled as organic and therefore think it is safe. I say find out what the definition of organic labeling is and see if it matches what you think it means. I think there will be some surprised faces.
Comment by Pauline — March 15, 2008 @ 3:57 am
I was busy - and unaware of what was happening around me with the recalls. Fresh bag of food - picked up at vet’s office. Less than 2 weeks later, on March 26th, my “energizer-bunny” kitty was dead from massive kidney failure. My husband & I learned to give IV’s. I’m force-feeding my guy to “keep his strength up”. I was feeding him poison! Oh how I wish I was more in tune with what was going on. I will live with the guilt forever. I miss him terribly & I know he forgives me - now I need to forgive myself.
Comment by Kathy — March 15, 2008 @ 4:17 am
One year ago tomorrow at 6:30pm I heard Campbell Brown lead NBC news with renal failure and cat food—I immediately called my vet at home as he had my beloved little Smudge in his hospital since Monday the 12th fighting to survive acute renal failure—-he was at a lost to explain why both of my cats had this 3 weeks apart. While Smudge is still with us here today, sadly my kitty Jessica, who made a sterling recovering with labs returning to normal by November, had recurrence of renal failure while treated for a new hyperthyroid and we made the difficult decision to put her to rest in December. I will never forget the sadness of finding my own hands were in part responsible for this to my two cats. I had thought the cats might have layed in my golden’s bed and gotten this from him—he was in the middle of chemo and radiation then, but his oncologist said no.. and now he is in his final days-at 2 1/2. My sadness has returned and is still as palpable as one year ago—-but I know soon I will be healing again by returning to the very “medicine” that has helped me this past year. I surround myself with caring pet owners/parents and do as much research as I can as to how we all got to that sad time in history. So that maybe we can help in part to never let this happen again..
Thanks for allowing us to share our stories.. I am thinking of all the beloved furry family members affected this weekend but also the “2-leggers” that are hurting so much..
Comment by Carol V — March 15, 2008 @ 5:53 am
“We’re the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. We deal with food - and food is for humans.”
From this, I infer that the ingredients used to make pet food are distinctly separate from ‘human food’ (and if so: scary)
OR
The CFIA doesn’t realize that (at least some of) the ingredients used to make pet food are the very same ‘human foods’ they are responsible for inspecting and which have turned up unsafe in past (and if so: scarier)
Comment by slt — March 15, 2008 @ 7:37 am
“We’re the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. We deal with food - and food is for humans.”
This reminds of what a sanitation bureaucrat told some friends they couldn’t live in their teepee while building a house: “teepees aren’t human habitations”. The teepee, btw, had already been blessed by a Crow friend of theirs in a traditional sweetgrass ceremony…
Comment by EmilyS — March 15, 2008 @ 8:02 am
I guess I can say it’s been one of the worst years i can remember. I will name some of My dead pets- Because they count-
NutMeg, beautiful cinnamon bengal girl.
Because, My wonderful tortieshell female girl.
Bob-My rescued big boy, part Maine Coon ,gentle giant.
Grey thing, My sweet little grey cat girl rescued beside the road in a ditch.
Sunshine, My rescued yellow girl, scared always, but sweet.
Inky, My B/W/ bobtail with the best disposition , love, and friendship.
Boo-Our Doxie Rescue, who was hospitalized, but is now doing fine.
Comment by Trudy Jackson — March 15, 2008 @ 9:42 am
Thanks you for making sure we don’t forget this horror. The news cycle moves on, but it takes a lot to deal with a lost friend.
From the day the recall started I began to get emails from distraught pet owners. Everyday folks whose cats were in renal failure and looked sure to die. Now I admit I am a man who wears his emotions on his sleeves but I have NEVER cried so much as I did over the multiple emails I got on this topic. So moving and so unexpected.
I am fortunate, my own 3 Min Pins are fed on a dog food made in small batches and specially formulated by a vet who knows what she’s doing. So there’s no bad preservatives, suspect meat, wheat that’s prone to toxic molds or any other of the sundry “ingredients” typically used in branded pet foods.
The only answer is to take matters into your own hands. Do as I did, find a responsible, reliable dog and cat food made by someone who really knows about animal nutrition and who REALLY cares.
Comment by Ken Alston — March 15, 2008 @ 11:55 am
I corresponded very briefly with Dr. Bicks during the height of the recalls. She was adamant in her support of Menu Foods. Has that changed or does she still use them to manufacture her canned products?
Comment by slt — March 15, 2008 @ 12:22 pm
I also wanted to extend my sympathy to those who loss a furry companion.
My story also has a happy ending. My dog had been sick off and on since early Feb. When I heard Campbell Brown, I thought - could it be… It wasn’t until March 26th that my vet said; “don’t feed her anymore of that food”. Her food had not been recalled yet; but she had all the same symptoms. Her kidney tests suggested she had only 25% function left. The pain in her eyes and the fear - that is something I will never forget. Fortunately for her, I learned from many here and at Itchmo how to home cook and how to get her through the rough time.
This past year has been quite a journey. I’ve learned about CRF, how pet food is made, GMO, NPN, FDA Oasis reports,International supply chains,rendering plants…
But along the journey, I’ve also found so many caring and kind people willing to share information, provide a shoulder to cry on, people who want to make a difference. You are all very special people.
Katie
Comment by Katie — March 15, 2008 @ 2:40 pm
New commentors:
If you’re just coming in here to pitch product, take it somewhere else. I have dumped a ton of self-serving posts professing to be condolences but really a pitch for some boutique food or other.
Knock it off.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — March 15, 2008 @ 3:05 pm
Comment by Ken Alston — March 15, 2008 @ 11:55 am
“The only answer is to take matters into your own hands. Do as I did, find a responsible, reliable dog and cat food made by someone who really knows about animal nutrition and who REALLY cares.”
Yup. That would be me. The only food *my* dog gets - starting around April 2007 - is food that *I* make for him in *my* kitchen with ingredients *I* have purchased and prepared.
But perhaps that wasn’t the “only answer” you had in mind when you posted . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Comment by The OTHER Pat — March 15, 2008 @ 3:50 pm
We were already dragging ourselves around with very heavy hearts, conversations quiet and minimal as our beautimous kitty had already died on March 11th. I remember seeing the first report on the news and feeling like I had been kicked in the gut, the wind knocked out of me. I couldnt breath, it felt like forever. Then I remember running downstairs, screaming for dear husband. I ran into the garage, grabbed the food we still had, and ran back upstairs to find recall lists only to find her specific flavor of food wasnt on the list even though it had wheat gluten in it and other foods from the same company were involved. I remember to this day, the gut-sickening feeling of guilt, the feeling that I somehow needed to to tell her that I didnt mean to kill her and that I was so very sorry. I remember dear husband falling to his knees in the middle of the driveway sobbing his heart out. Her food was finally officially put on the recall list on April 12th, close to month after the recalls began.
Comment by Sandi K — March 15, 2008 @ 5:16 pm
One year ago today I was home mourning the loss of my Brandy. I was too sad and too busy making plans to bury her at my farm to watch the news. I remember laying in bed that night with the tears coming silently down the sides of my face wishing I could have had her with me for one more summer.
It was not until the next morning while watching the Today Show that the shock began to sink in. I rushed to the pantry and pulled out the remaining cans of Sprout Beef Cuts & Gravy and ran to the computer in a panic. And there it was.
I recall the frustration in talking to my vet who brushed me off saying that the one lot then posted did not match my lot number so (of course) there was nothing to be concerned about and her diagnosis was correct. Over the next weeks (of course) the lot numbers grew and grew and there was no denying the symptoms and the correlation with Brandy’s sudden ilness with the new case of food.
In those next days as I heard the reports and put my head together with other bloggers here the truth about Xiong’s company came out. I saw Nadine’s post from their web site and alarm bells went off! NPN? Non Protien Nitrogen? Surely that could not have been that STUPID!
I spent the next several days going between my computer at home and the farm where I had taken her where I made her a make shift coffin from two cedar planter boxes and some treated planks. In between I and my son chipped at the frozen ground on a small hill under a tree by the old stone silo. I could not bare the idea of the dirt crushing down on her so I bought some paving stones and made a stone crypt to shield her.
I made two wooden hearts and drilled a 5/8” hole thru them to show the hole she left in my heart. One went in the box with her along with her chew bone and her favorite pillows to lay on. On the face of the hearts I burned her name and on the back a put an inscription explaining to whoever might one day dig her up, who she was and a request to treat her remains with respect.
I positioned her plot facing the approach to the farm so that she could see me coming from as far a distance as possible so she would know. And, so she would see me for as long as possible as I drove away. And finally, so that I always saw the place every time I went there to make certain that I would never, could never forget. So there she lays, forever waiting for my return to our favorite place. Forever laying on the hill where we had spent so many days while I labored on the place I had once hoped we would both be every day. At least that hope still lives.
I dont know what I would have done without the folks here… Nadine and Lynn in particular. It did me a world of good to have allies and just to know that there were other people out there who were not willing to just let it drop because they are all “just animals”. I think I made a few friends.
Today I went out to visit her again. I am working out of town these days and only get there on weekends so I was grateful that the aniversary fell on this day. It was a day much like the day a year ago. Sunny in the morning and damp and grey and the afternoon. Then I recall seeing some of Brandy’s last prints in the melting ice on the lawn. Today the melting paw prints of a different dog could be seen, Scout.
I sat by her grave and talked to her again as I do every time I go there. For some reason on this day Scout came and sat next to me - unusual for him when he is outside. I think he could sense that I was in a sad state. So, I talked to them both.
I asked again for Brandy’s forgiveness for being so rash in ending her life. And I promised Scout to do better by him.
As I straightened up the gravesite which is coming out from under its snowy cover I saw that her bowl which I keep there for her is now cracked from the ice that caked up in it.
I also noticed that Scout was limping. When I examined his foot I saw that he can cut a hind toe pad somewhere on all the debris laying around the broken down old farmstead and he was leaving a little pink bloch in his foot steps in what was left of the once white snow. Maybe this is why he came over and sat by me.
March 15th seems to be a particularly bad day for dogs… at least my dogs. I could not help but take note that someone else here posted the loss of their Scout.
When I found my Scout at the shelter they told me the address of the place where he was found as a stray. It was exactly one block from my home on my street. I looked at my son and said “Maybe he was looking for us?” He has been my constant companion ever since. But before I could bring him home I took him to the farm and showed him to Brandy and begged her not to be angry or sad for my having replaced her so soon. I was too lonely to be without a companion and going to the farm without one to look after me was too painful.
Hopefully this little white setter with the brown spot will be with my for many years.
But I will forever after be particularly watchful on the ides of March.
http://www.newistech.com/Brandy1year.jpg
(picture taken last week before the snow melted)
Bernie
Comment by Bernard J. (Bernie) Starzewski — March 15, 2008 @ 5:21 pm
Brandy would not want you to be without a pet. I’m sure of it. Thank you Bernie and everyone for sharing your stories here.
Comment by slt — March 15, 2008 @ 5:33 pm
Don Earl is on http://www.WomanRadio.net right now, talking about Chuckles death. Click on “Click to Listen” to hear.
1 yr ago I was nursing 2 cats who had just been spayed & neutered; nursing 1 dog who had just had a cancerous tumor removed AND wondering why nearly all of them were refusing to eat, puking & lying around sickly.
LUCKILY ~ I switched foods - immediately. All 5 survived and CONTINUE to eat home-cooked meals.
MenuFoods closed at .77 Friday. Shame on them for even keeping their doors open. WHO ON EARTH IS BUYING FROM THEM ANYWAY??
Comment by Kat >" — March 15, 2008 @ 5:41 pm
Bernie - How sad & beautiful. I remember last year when you were on here & Brandy had just passed away.
I’m sure Brandy knew how special she was to you — and still is.
I also remember when you got Scout last year. You have a lot of love to give. And, I’ll bet Brandy is resting in peace, knowing you have another canine friend to watch over you.
I wish you well, Bernie!
Kat
Comment by Kat — March 15, 2008 @ 6:08 pm
Thanks, Kat. I remember you too.
The symptoms you describe were spot on what Brandy had. And when she got better for a day, what did I do but give her more! She liked that sloppy stuff and I was so glad to see her eating again…
And yet my now X vet insisted that it could not have been the food all based on the lot number. Yeah right. I have not been back to that clinic now and take Scout to a new doctor near the farm since I HOPE to move out there shortly. But frankly I think its a crap shoot since you really dont know how someone is going to react to a tough situation until they really have to.
I have always been suspicious of the minimal government crowd but was never really rabid about it. But, the reality check I got one year ago turned me into a pro-government activist. As one scandal has rocked the market place after another and mostly from China (mostly) I do not hesitate to put it in the eye of every conservative I meet that the “Uncle Miltie” school of unfettered markets is no more valid than the Nazi eugenics movement of the 30s (which happened to be based on the same ultra-Darwinian philosophy).
I have come to the conclusion that the real goal here has been the same as that of a criminal who resolves to first remove the cops from the city so he can plunder it at will.
We need trade and commerce but we also need rules and the mechanisms to enforce the rules. Anybody who says otherwise is trying to pick your pockets.
I am FED UP!
Not one Republican. Not no where! not no how!
Obama 08
The opinions expressed here are entirely my own and not necessarily that of petconnection.com.
Anyone who says otherwise is itching for a fight!
As I am sure both Scout and Brandy would say if they could… “Bite me!”
I am boycotting the Olympics too.
Comment by Bernard J. (Bernie) Starzewski — March 15, 2008 @ 6:30 pm
Just an update on Scout’s foot.
He is a big baby and quite obviously enjoys the attention and seems to want help.
I already said that when he cut his foot he came over and sat next to me. But just now when my wife wanted to look at it and brought out her basket of medicines he just laid himself down in front of her and held his foot out toward her for her to see!
Im not kidding he was like a little child showing mommy his boo boo!
Brandy was much more stoic. She really didnt want you poking and proding or touching her owies but would lay still in a worried kind of way.
Scout, for all of his outdoor toughness and crazy running is a pussy cat in dog fur. Dont tell me that dogs dont know to come to humans for help. And they know how to ask for it too.
Comment by Bernard J. (Bernie) Starzewski — March 15, 2008 @ 6:43 pm
If I didn’t like you before (which I did), I sure am liking you now.
As you say, this is entirely my opinion, not of the pet connection, but deregulation seems to have led to some lawlessness and I am scared for all of us. (Maybe with a little paranoia kicking in).
My cats Brandy and Batman survived, but I feel that Brandy wants you to remember the good days you had with her and she wants you to enjoy Scout.
Obama or Hillary—save us! We need help. McCain, I just do not want any more American wars so the country can get better food for cats, dogs, horses, and humans.
Comment by Colorado Transplant — March 15, 2008 @ 8:28 pm
My problem with Hilary is not that she is a woman but that she is a woman trying to convince us that she can be as big an idiot as any man.
If I am going to vote for a woman its because all the southern white men have made a complete mess of things and I want to give a woman or black man a chance to see what they could do with it.
If I want a rough and tough (on Iraq or Iran) buckaroo I will vote for one. I much prefer the genuine article when I can get it. It certainly seems that Obama is that article.
Comment by Bernard J. (Bernie) Starzewski — March 15, 2008 @ 8:52 pm
My heart has been heavy today.
Yes, we all made some new friends here last year, Bernie. It was amazing how an impassioned, diverse group of people that had never met, who were from all over the U.S. and Canada, could work together apolitically and come up with all sorts of critical information quite rapidly. I couldn’t—-and didn’t—-sleep for those two months. Fortunately, my husband had taken a new job on the other side of the state beginning that March 15th. The second week of May when he came back for me to move to our new house, I hadn’t packed a thing in our house! He truly understood.
We are in our new house and over this year we have adopted two dogs, Keagan, an Old English Sheepdog mix, and Molly, a beautiful black Cocker Spaniel. Keagan is my shadow and Molly loves the world. Kind of like Mutt and Jeff, they offer lots of love and laughter. They join our Norwegian Forest Cat rescue, Mrs. Murphy.
Just before Calvin was euthanized quietly under a tree in the woods on our veterinarian’s property, I held him, kissed him, and promised him—my “velcro” dog—that I would never leave him. Calvin’s ashes, his picture, his collar, and his footprint are, and always will be, at my bedside where he slept (and snored!) every night for 12-1/2 years. He was the most special of all of our Bouviers that my young boys and I, a single parent at the time, raised. We’d had him since birth, hand-picked from our final litter. My young son even helped mother dog and broke the sack. When Calvin passed on, so did an era for our family, making it even harder for me. Oh, the memories. Calvin’s gentle ways and sense of humor are deeply missed by so many still.
This is for all who lost a pet:
“There is one best place to bury a good dog. If you bury him in this spot, he will come to you when you call - come to you over the grim, dim frontiers of death, and down the well-remembered path, and to your side again. And though you call a dozen living dogs to heel, they shall not growl at him nor resent his coming, for he belongs there. People may scoff at you, who see no lightest blade of grass bent by his footfall, who hear no whimper: people who may never really have had a dog. Smile at them, for you shall know something that is hidden from them, and which is well worth the knowing. The one best place to bury a good dog is in the heart of his master.”—-B.H. Campman
Comment by Nadine L. — March 15, 2008 @ 9:03 pm
The story of my fight with Menu Foods starts here with Chuckles’ Story:
http://www.petfoodrecallfacts.com/chuckles.html
The problem is not a need for more money, bigger government or more regulations. The problem is a lack of enforcement and public oversight. Picking which one of the two entrenched gangs of horse theives to vote for every 4 years, will not make a bit of difference to those who own horses. For those who want change, you’d better figure on doing it yourself because there is NO ONE in our government today that will do it for you.
Comment by Don Earl — March 15, 2008 @ 9:11 pm
Nadine: Thanks for that lovely quote.
I always think past people and pets will be alive in our memory, anyway.
Bernie, I was trying to be impartial. I just want some rules, laws, and regulations followed that the Congress has passed. I want the FDA to have power to recall food if that food is not fit for pet or human consumption. I am a dreamer, I know, but maybe someday I will have my dreams fulfilled.
Comment by Colorado Transplant — March 15, 2008 @ 9:33 pm
I lost my kitty, JuJu, a year ago. She was a victim of tainted pet food…which never was recalled, even though many people were having issues with it. When I spoke with this company’s rep, instead of care and understanding, I got defensiveness, and “we will reimburse you for the food.” They didn’t seem to care that I lost more than a few dollars for pet food…I lost my beloved cat.
I will never forget. And if the pet food industry thinks that everything is back to the way it was before…then they are sadly mistaken. There are many of us who will never forget what they did…and we do continue to tell others even today.
They have done nothing in the past year to win back our trust. Which to me, means they don’t care.
JuJu, and the thousands of others who died, stand as sad memorials to the pet food industry’s greed and our government’s inability to protect it’s citizens.
Comment by Marcy — March 15, 2008 @ 10:18 pm
You are right, Don Earl.
If there are enough citizens who are activists, then maybe (and I mean maybe) the government will do something about it and maybe the law will be enforced.
However, it is up to us. I am glad I have this blog to go to for information about the latest blunders (to put it mildly) made in our food production system.
Comment by Colorado Transplant — March 15, 2008 @ 10:23 pm
I was wondering if its still going on. My cats have been eating Friskies all last year, but Purina bought them out & changed the flavors. The first Vet charged me 156.00 just to do a blood test. Then she wanted to do x-rays & exploratory surgery, which would have been over 1000.00, but I asked here is there anything you can do to save my cat. Here answer was NO! I’ve been feeding my cats Meow Mix for the past 2 months, & in this time I had one cat die of liver or cancer, that’s what the first vet said. Then this month another one of my cats stopped eating, same symptoms, took her to a different vet, cost 75.00, but she got a shot & 2 different medications, the vet said She has liver failure. I don’t know how long she got to live. I know there both old, but they had never been sick before. All of a sudden My cats are dying. I’ve had cats all my life & have never seen anything like this. I don’t think they have done anything to fix this horrible problem. Know I worry about the rest of my cats. I don’t know what to feed them.
Comment by Candy LeBlanc — March 16, 2008 @ 12:34 am
Attention Animal Lovers-Bad lot of Friskies Seafood Supreme
*please read the paragraph later, done in red, to see why I am sending you this e-mail*
I have recently purchased 5 cases of Friskies cat food (five different flavours), a fellow employee also purchased the same 5 cases.
I have discovered that my cat refuses to eat anything from this case Friskies Seafood Supreme. (lot#73361157). I have had my cat for 16 years he has eaten Friskies, all flavours on a regular basis. In fact he eats anything, except carrots.(loves macadamia nuts).
So I wrote a letter to Friskies (Nestle). While I was waiting for a reply I asked my co-worker if she had any problems with the food we bought. She said her Three cats would not touch the stuff either.
Friskies replied with “It is difficult to explain why a pet refuses a variety of food they previously enjoyed. One possible explanation is a slight difference due to normal variations that can occur from batch to batch. Appearance and odour of product can vary depending on season, source of ingredients and plant manufacturing it. Some animals sense of taste and smell are so keen they can detect these variations. They refuse to eat because the product tastes slightly different than what they are accustomed to eating. Another possibility is that the refusal to eat is a way of requesting a change. Some animals will go off feed for no explained reason. They will simply refuse to eat something that they have always enjoyed.
We value your loyalty and support of Purina Friskies canned cat food and are most anxious to restore your confidence in our product. Thus, I am sending you by mail a Free Goods Certificate for complimentary cans of Purina Friskies cat food.
I went out to a different store, made sure it was not the same lot and gave my cat Seafood supreme and he ate it.
I was not interested in a coupon for 6 free cans of food, I am worried that with all the pet food scares, that someone’s cat may actually eat this and get sick. I replied stating so and letting them know of my coworkers 3 cats as well.
They have taken a sample of 2 cans of my cat food and will get back to me.
I am afraid they will not get back to me or once again give me some public relations that says there food is great.
Why do I feel this way. There is no regulatory body in place concerning food for pets in Canada
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/cap.....menu_foods
If you did not read the article here is a quote “We don’t have a regulatory role - that’s the bottom line,” said Marc Richard at the CFIA’s headquarters in an interview.
“We’re the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. We deal with food - and food is for humans.”
Pet lovers I am sure would cringe at this quote.
So because I have a few people in my address book I was hoping you could pass this on to any pet lovers you know.
1. If you have any Friskies seafood supreme (lot #73361157) and you cat is not eating it please send an e-mail to Francine.Dupont@purina.nestle.com
2. You could express there concern with the Canadian Food and Drug Administration
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/en.....mene.shtml
3. You could express you concern with info@humanesociety.com
4. If you have access to a blog please post this on my behalf
I am not doing this because of my cat. I am doing this out of concern for everyone’s pets, If I lost one of my 2 boys I would be devastated

Comment by Bill Craine — March 16, 2008 @ 5:19 am
Remember - you can always send your own samples to ExperTox for testing:
http://expertox.com/documents/PetFoodTesting.pdf
Comment by The OTHER Pat — March 16, 2008 @ 7:17 am
Has the FDA accepted/taken action on any of the test results from ExperTox?
Comment by slt — March 16, 2008 @ 8:04 am
Don Earl,
I dont agree. I’ve heard that “they are all alike” arguement before most notably from Nader in 2000. I am not buying it.
Anyone who thinks that this country would be in the fix that its in if Al Gore had been “selected” by the Supreme Court is smoking something.
Yes, to a large extent the Democratic party has been coopted by big money too. Organizations like http://www.dfa.org are trying to change that by challenging the so called “blue dog” Democrats with more populist candidates with a series of significant successes.
One of your statements is notably self contradictory. You say it does not take bigger government or more money but you expect enforcement. Enforcement does not spring from the earth like grass. Enforcement takes money. And this is in fact - all about money.
When Bush says he is tough on crime but withdraws millions from local enforcement programs does he have the right to say that liberals are soft on crime?
When he orders his officials to prevent States from enforcing consumer laws so national banks can entice borrowers into teaser rate mortgages and then repeals the depression era Glass - Stegal Act to they can repackage the loans into publicly traded securities so we say that this is the resonponsibility of only the borrower who was lied to? Yet tax money has now been spent to bail out banks and security firms who were part of the scam.
When the FDA has rules in place but no money to hire people to do the enforcement, is it not the money and failure to expand the agency when trade patterns change that is at fault? Where will the enforcement come from if the money is not provided?
When law enforcement is deprived of the resources to enforce the law, criminals and not the public prosper.
Of course the second great lie is that taxes have to be raised on YOU to support this when in fact taxes were cut on the greatest beneficiaries of these cuts in enforcement which reduced your protection and increased their profits.
THAT is why I will not vote Republican or tolerate the opinions of anyone who does.
That is also why I have a problem with the whole Billary thing. While I think that Bill did a fair job of manipulating the Gingrich bunch, he also made comprimises that should not have been made that I think have lead to the perception that both parties are alike. I see nothing in Hillary’s campaign that leads me to believe that her administration would be any different and her position on the war and Iraq are good examples of that.
There was an SNL skit back in 2000 that did a fast forward to 2008 to see what the world would be like if Bush, Nader or Gore were each elected in different universes.
Gore was telling people to open their text books and expressing frustration on the poor quiz scores.
When Nader was speaking in the background pigs were flying and two devils were having a snowball fight.
When Bush came on he was appologizing for breaking the Hoover Dam and complaining how hard the job was.
I think commedy can serve as a way of channeling up what we all know at the core. As professor Gore educates us about global warming we see what Bush has done and we should also be able to look back and see the scorched earth of dead people and dead pets and reduced expectations and realize the great lie that lets loose Pandora’s box.
That lie is that “They are all alike”. NO, THEY ARENT.
BTW, if you live below Hoover Dam maybe you should move to higher ground.
Comment by Bernard J. (Bernie) Starzewski — March 16, 2008 @ 8:22 am
I thought I would add this one comment:
When I made my complaint to the FDA about Brandy’s food they said they would send someone to collect the remaining cans for testing.
They never came and never contacted me again.
Comment by Bernard J. (Bernie) Starzewski — March 16, 2008 @ 8:25 am
Bernie writes:
“THAT is why I will not vote Republican or tolerate the opinions of anyone who does.”
Now, Bernie … you can be intolerant of anyone you choose, but not here.
Remember the rule on PetConnection.com: If *I* can’t discuss politics, nobody can. :)
So let’s move away from this line of discussion, OK?
Comment by Gina Spadafori — March 16, 2008 @ 9:26 am
I see that Christie and I were thinking along the same lines in our focus. My piece will be up on MSNBC.com tomorrow morning.
Comment by Kim — March 16, 2008 @ 11:16 am
Reply to: Attention Animal Lovers-Bad lot of Friskies Seafood Supreme
Comment by Bill Craine — March 16, 2008 @ 5:19 am
I wouldn’t feed Friskies anything, even if they gave it to me for free!
In reply to a comment above, as to if it’s still going on?
My boss told me that she knows of several animals that have died lately of kidney failure. And a co-worker’s friend’s dog just died of the same two weeks ago.
Coincidence? Hmmmm… Be careful of what you are feeding your pets.
Comment by Marcy — March 16, 2008 @ 11:26 am
I was at the oral surgeons with my eldest son who was going to have his wisdom teeth pulled. His cat, Whiskers (who was beloved by the whole family and loved us all), had died March 9th, 2007. Whiskers had been healthy until a few short days before his death, when he was diagnosed with 75% kidney failure. Imagine my dismay when the recall was for the cat food (Special Kitty) that I feed him. I still feel responsible for my beloved friends death. If only I had chosen another cat food to feed him. I blogged about it at The Last Meow http://thelastmeow.blogspot.com/
Comment by Alasandra — March 16, 2008 @ 11:47 am
I’ve waited all day to allow the parents who have lost their dearly loved pets to have their say. God bless each and every one of you and your family who has passed on, those who are still suffering from the poisonous foods effects and the pets who were left without their companions. When I woke this morning, the first thing I did was light a candle for 2 of my pets who passed on years ago, not in this month, but on this day, and another candle for everyone of you and the pets who suffered so needlessly. My heart cries out for you. Namaste
Comment by VJ — March 16, 2008 @ 2:58 pm
Hello all: Please note that as indicated above, further off-topic insultings of a political nature will not be tolerated here.
I’ve just deleted a couple of them in the moderation queue, and will be happy to vaporize more.
There are plenty of other places on the Internet to insult each other over presidential politics. So go find them.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — March 16, 2008 @ 3:42 pm
I am all for anniversaries; as my mother said, “That which is buried in the ground is forgotten.” Please remember and read the labels on whatever you buy to eat yourself or feed to your children and your dear pet friends. I’m so lucky that my beautiful cat, Nemerah, wasn’t part of this horror.
Comment by Cathy Z. — March 18, 2008 @ 5:57 am
I’ll never forget those terrible days that stretched into weeks and months. I was home sick with the flu and my daughter had just gone out and bought some more “poison” food for our dogs. They only ate a bit of the pouches each day to make their kibble taste better. They loved the poison gravy. For those couple of days before the news broke my little Lilly wasn’t eating good but she’s picky so we didn’t realize she was sick till we heard the news. I was in shock but still didn’t realize the magnatude of the situation. I cooked the dogs some chicken and thank God none of our cats ate any of the foods that were recalled. My little dogs visited the vet and both were sick for weeks but did recover. One is on medication because her liver enzymes are elevate and she is still doing well. We still cook for the dogs and they have done well on ground turkey or boiled chicken with either pasta or rice and veggies. They had their checkup last week and have maintained their weight well on what they are eating (a concern of ours and the vets that they would either gain or loose weight) they take a vitamin everyday. I feed the cats dry food that wasn’t ever a part of the recall and occassionally friskey’s canned but never one that has gravy or cuts.
I want to add my sympathy to everyone who lost a beloved animal.
Comment by Lilly and Lucy's mom — March 19, 2008 @ 12:24 pm
I was just at the grocery store buying my stuff for the monthly batch of dog food. As I reached for a carton of yogurt, the guy standing next to me said “That’s my dog’s favorite kind!”
Well - I wasn’t going to let THAT go by of course (G!) and I told the man and his wife that I was actually buying the yogurt for my homemade dog food, and asked them if they remembered the pet food recalls. They did, and I told them that this week marked one year since it all started. They told me they were buying their dog food from a local company that assured them that all the ingredients were obtained locally, and I encouraged them to take nothing for granted, but follow up and research, research, research. I reminded them that the pet food companies had lost the right to our automatic trust.
Yup - I don’t let those opportunities pass without taking advantage of them . . . . . .
Comment by The OTHER Pat — March 19, 2008 @ 1:06 pm
We had lost our quite healthy ~18yo Pom, Bubbles, from sudden kidney failure, on February 20th. We were feeling a tiny bit better by the middle of March. I heard about the recall, but only that it was Iams and some store brand.
A couple of days later, I saw an article and read it, as I am always interested in news about pets. That article said that several/many brands were involved. I started to get that sinking feeling, and I checked Menu Foods’ website. Nutro Ultra wasn’t listed yet, but Nutro’s other brands were, with the dates that our cans had. I sat there in disbelief that our dog was a part of it.
Suddenly, we weren’t feeling at all better; in fact, we felt much worse. It was a nightmare.
Our story, in a nutshell and in detail, is in earlier comments on this blog. I want to thank everyone at petconnection.com (and Itchmo, etc.) for the work you did, as well as the people who wrote comments about their own research into the companies and melamine/cyanuric acid. It was amazing.
Comment by Pamela J. Betz-Baron — March 30, 2008 @ 5:23 pm