Alert: Splintering dog treat under investigation
By David S. Greene
March 15, 2010
Real Ham Bone for Dogs could be a real problem: Dogs are reported to be sickened or killed after ingesting Dynamic Pet Products’ “Real Ham Bone for Dogs,” carrying the Frick’s Quality Meats label. According to the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, the Better Business Bureau of St. Louis has issued an alert saying the treats, made from 8-inch smoked pork femur bones, are splintering, creating intestinal blockages and death.
According to the BBB, a veterinarian who surgically removed bone fragments from one of the dogs said, “Things like this shouldn’t happen. If you can’t say it’s safe, it probably isn’t something you should have in stores.”
ConsumerAffairs.com has received similar complaints. The bones are sold in stores such as Dollar General, as well as supermarkets nationwide. Where is the FDA, you ask? They are looking into it. Meanwhile, the company in question is quoted in a post from omidog saying, well, you can read it here:
The company said Thursday it was saddened to learn of the illnesses and deaths of customers’ pets, and that quality and safety remain priorities. The packaging contains a warning about the product not being for all dogs, and the possibility that it could splinter.
“That is why every package contains a label that provides detailed instructions to owners on how they can help their pets best enjoy our products,” the company said in a statement. “We strongly encourage owners to supervise their pets with any treats or snacks.”
If you have any of these treats in your home, you might want to consider not feeding them to your dogs and taking them back to the store.
Grace’s Law passes Rules Committee: The Georgia House of Representatives will vote tomorrow on final passage of Grace’s Law. The bill is largely the product of a grassroots effort led by the Georgia Voters for Animal Welfare (GVAW). Grace’s Law would outlaw the gassing or heartsticking (injecting lethal drugs directly into the heart of a conscious animal) of shelter pets in the state, and it was reported out of the Rules Committee on Thursday. The full text of the bill, denoted HB 788, is here. Here’s the reality: Passage of the bill isn’t anything close to guaranteed. The vote could go either way. If you live in Georgia, please call your representative. If you have friends or relatives in Georgia (as I do), kindly pass this along to them. From Valerie Hayes’ Examiner.com article on the bill:
It is particularly important that residents of counties which still use the gas chamber to kill shelter pets call or write in support of Grace’s Law. They are:
1. Ashburn, City of (In Turner County; no county facility; chamber housed in city.)
2. Butts County Animal Control
3. Cobb County Animal Control
4. Cordele, City of (Crisp County)
5. Cuthbert, City of (In Randolph County; no county facility; chamber housed in city.)
6. Haralson County Animal Shelter
7. Hawkinsville, City of (In Pulaski County; no county facility; chamber housed in city.)
8. Henry County Animal Control
9. Lakeland, City of (In Lanier County; no county facility; chamber housed in city.)
10. Mitchell County Animal Control
11. Vienna, City of Animal Shelter (In Dooly County; no county facility; chamber housed in city.)
Bedbugs? Put a dog on the case. Let me state at the outset that this topic makes my skin crawl, but as your intrepid news editor, it’s my responsibility to pass it along. Bedbugs are making a resurgence, and you might be surprised to know that one of the best possible methods of detection is a properly trained bedbug-sniffing dog. The New York Times explains.
Bedbug-sniffing dogs, adorable yet stunningly accurate — entomology researchers at the University of Florida report that well-trained dogs can detect a single live bug or egg with 96 percent accuracy — are the new and furry front line in an escalating and confounding domestic war.[...]
Consider that six years ago, there were 537 bedbug complaints and 82 violations (in other words, verified infestations); last year, complaints topped out at nearly 11,000, with 4,084 violations cited (nearly double that of the previous year).
Didn’t bedbugs used to be less of a problem? Yes. In the 1950’s and ’60’s, they were mostly eradicated with pesticides like DDT, which have since been banned. However, many countries overseas still have bedbug infestations, and increased international travel has brought the critters back to our shores.
Fuji’s new pet camera: Are you in the market for a new digital camera? Got a pet? I’m assuming the answer to the second question is yes, otherwise why are you here? Our buddy Maria Goodavage over at Dogster spotlighted an intriguing new product from Fujifilm: the FinePix Z700EXR compact camera. Digital cameras have featured face recognition capability for some years now. The FinePix Z700EXR goes one step better: It recognizes and optimizes photographic capture of pet faces — both dog and cat, though Maria, understandably, just talked about the dog part (she writes for Dogster, not Catster). The camera looks pretty snazzy, and there are pets it’s particularly good at capturing, but it has some potentially annoying limitations, including:
- it doesn’t do quite so well with black, or predominately black pets (Gina just frowned)
- it’s not good with pets who are constantly in motion (sorry, FayBee, and Christie’s soon-to-be-arriving puppy)
- pets with large, predominately dark, patches around the eyes and/or nose, won’t be recognized as well
- wrinkly, short, muzzled faces (sorry, Mikkel’s pug Willy)
However, if you have a beagle, golden retriever, Maltese, Abyssinian, Maine coon, or any of the breeds shown here, feel free to send me a camera review.
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: Ham Bone, baltimoresun.com. Grace, Phil Draughon.
[Update:
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