pet connection

One year ago this week, 21 polo ponies died after being given medications compounded by Franck’s Compounding Pharmacy in Ocala, Fla.   Now, the FDA wants to shut the whole operation down.

As Edie Lau reports for the VIN News Service, the FDA isn’t punishing Franck’s for their actions in 2009 (the pharmacy has acknowledged using too much selenium in their mix).  The Feds are making a larger, and potentially more far-reaching charge.  FDA is using last year’s deaths to call into question the operations of all compounding pharmacies:

Compounded drugs are not subject to the FDA drug-approval process, an extensive, expensive undertaking through which drugs are tested for safety and efficacy.

Compounding is a growing business in human and veterinary medicine alike. Veterinarians lean heavily on compounding because relatively few medications are made specifically for non-human species — especially exotic pets such as birds and rabbits.

Under the Animal Medicinal Drug Use Clarification Act of 1994 (AMDUCA), compounders of veterinary medications are prohibited from using “bulk” ingredients as their starting material; products must be compounded instead from FDA-approved finished drugs.

Oh, and by the way,

According to the FDA complaint, Franck’s employs about 67 people, has annual gross sales of about $8 million — $3.5 million is from veterinary products — and filled more than 37,600 prescriptions for animal use between Feb. 1 and Dec. 4, 2009.

That works out to about 125 prescriptions a day, for just one compounding pharmacy. This case will have ramifications for your pet, not just for polo ponies. Stay tuned.

Riding with rescues: We talk nearly non-stop about rescues, but accounts of the process of riding around physically (and literally) rescuing dogs, well, you don’t read those every day.   This story by Sharon Peters in USA Today chronicles just such an experience.  The city was St. Louis, but it might just as well have been Houston, Miami or Dubuque.  The rescuer was Randy Grim, the founder of Stray Rescue of Saint Louis.

“We have to triage our choices,” says Grim. “If a dog looks pretty good, it’s probably not going to be rescued yet. If I had room to put them, I could bring in 100 dogs a day. But we have to focus on the most needy, the ones that really can’t stay on the street any longer.” Injured, sick or pregnant dogs are first priority because their life expectancy is severely shortened by their conditions.

It’s a good story and a great organization. Their website shows animals waiting to be adopted.

The Supreme Court strikes down prohibition on depictions of animal cruelty:  By now you’re no doubt aware of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that invalidated a federal law which had banned depictions of animal cruelty, specifically a video showing vicious dog fighting.  The basis of the 8-1 opinion, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, was that the law was too broad and violated the first amendment’s safeguard of free speech.

The reactions have been strong, to say the least.   Wayne Pacelle of HSUS opposed the decision in the Huffington Post.    Ironically, the most concise defense of the ruling I’ve seen came from someone who knows a thing or two about animals.  Heather’s post in Raised by Wolves summarized the judgement of the majority:

This one is a slam-dunk for the First Amendment, and no, I seriously do not know what Alito was smoking. Though the decision did come down on 420 Day.

And the dude who won his appeal? Sold videos depicting dog fights. Possibly Not Our Sort of Person. Dunno. Haven’t seen the videos, don’t know anything more about him. Mr. Stevens got sentenced to three years for making videos from other people’s footage. Three YEARS.

How much time did Block Courage Award winner Michael Vick serve for personally drowning and beating to death his losing dogs?

Oh yeah. Not one day.

Well bred dogs of yore: I am a sucker for nostalgia, and particularly old movies.   Because I like you, I found a gem I’m willing to share.   Courtesy of our pals at FrogDog Blog, a short movie from the 1930 Richmond Dog Show.   You’ve GOT to check it out.

“various shots of rather plummy people introducing their dogs, including Russian Greyhounds, King Charles Spaniels, Bloodhounds, a French Bulldog and Great Danes. Several sets of cute puppies of various breeds are seen, including Wire-haired Fox Terriers and Bedlington Terriers.”

And finally….please allow me to introduce to you the one, the only, Longcat.

I always like to hear from readers, especially if you have tips, and links for interesting stories.  Give me a shout in the comments, or better yet, send me an e-mail.

Photo credits: Polo, flickr Creative Commons (Jessicamulley). Rescue, strayrescue.org.

Share & Enjoy

Facebook	Twitter	Google Buzz	Digg
Technorati	StumbleUpon	Delicious	Email