pet connection

We’ve been covering both the proposed sales tax on veterinary services here in California (a move that other states will surely try to follow) and, of course, the peanut-product recall, which continues to grow with the closing of a second plant in another state and so many additional products recalled every day that I can hardly find my e-mail for all the FDA announcements.

The VIN News Service has produced good stories on both subjects. First, the sales tax on veterinary services, which seems to be out of the current California budget proposal:

The latest negotiated plan between the governor and the top four state legislators was revealed to the public on Tuesday, in very broad terms. Nobody apart from the leaders has seen the actual language. But, during the announcement, at least some of the plan’s specific measures for raising revenue were discussed, and the veterinary service tax was not among them.

[...]

Alicia Trost, a spokeswoman for Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, says lawmakers are not revealing details of the plan at present because it is scheduled to go to the floor of the Legislature’s two chambers on Friday, where a vote could take place.

But she says newspaper reports about the plan are accurate and notes that none of the reports mention the veterinary services tax.

“So, good news for you,” she says.

The change comes just days after California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office advised against the idea, predicting that such a tax would create “inequities in the tax structure” because it suggests taking away the sales tax exemption from some services but not all. Opponents of the sales tax also warned that it could increase the cost of affected veterinary services by as much as 10 percent, which could significantly decrease demand.

And the ongoing peanut recall, which includes pet products among the hundreds of products for people:

A 3-year-old shepherd mix hospitalized with bloody diarrhea and vomiting in Oregon last month tested positive for Salmonella Typhimurium, and state health authorities connect the illness to tainted peanut butter in dog biscuits.

The dog’s illness is the first confirmed animal case of Salmonella linked to contaminated peanut butter or peanut paste that originated from a Peanut Corporation of America plant in Blakely, Ga.

The problem is more widespread among humans. On Tuesday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 600 cases in 44 states. Nine people have died.

The contamination was the subject of a congressional hearing Wednesday, where victims’ family members vented anger concerning the possibility that the peanut company knowingly put tainted product into the marketplace. Peanut Corporation of America President Stewart Parnell and Blakely plant manager Sammy Lightsey were called to testify, but refused to speak, citing their Fifth-Amendment rights against self-incrimination.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Steven Sundlof, DVM, director of the Center for Food Safety, also answered questions before lawmakers, defending his agency’s response to the outbreak. He stated that the outbreak has prompted FDA to tighten its food safety policies. Inspectors now will routinely collect samples for bacterial testing whenever they visit a facility. Such analysis previously was conducted only when a problem was suspected.

Among nearly 2,000 peanut-butter products recalled are a handful of pet treats, including Happy Tails Multi-Flavored Dog Biscuits, the source of the Oregon dog’s infection. The biscuits were recalled on Jan. 23, but the dog ate the contaminated treats before then.

Dr. Sundlof, defending the FDA’s actions. Again. Wow, it’s all like a bad dream that won’t go away. When will the new administration take the broom to the FDA leadership? Or better yet, look at the USDA and FDA and implement wholesale reform of these non-functioning agencies.  So far, we’ve been lucky. Next time, thousands of dead pets and sick people may seem just a warm-up.  My nominee for Dr. Sundlof’s job? Dr. Emilio DeBess, Oregon’s straight-shooting public health veterinarian.

You can follow the VIN News Service at news.vin.com, or pick up their RSS feed at the same site. What an addition to the world of pet and veterinary news sources. Good work, folks.

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