Thanks to the Associated Press for this article.

Maker of Tainted Dog Food to Pay $3.1M
By MEG KINNARD

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A company that made contaminated pet food that killed dozens of dogs nationwide will pay $3.1 million in a settlement with pet owners, an attorney said Friday.

The pet food, which contained a mold called aflatoxin, was produced at Diamond Pet Foods‘ plant in South Carolina. The company will set up a fund to reimburse pet owners for the loss of their dog, veterinarian bills and the cost of any unreturned contaminated food, said attorney Jim Andrews, who represented a Knoxville, Tenn., family that sued the company.

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Thanks to the Associated Press for this update.

Bad Pet Food May Have Killed Nearly 350
By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — More than 300 dogs and cats may have died earlier this year as a result of eating contaminated pet food, a survey released Thursday shows.

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Thanks to Donna B. for barking in this great news!

This is great news! Something for your news blog if you’d like.

We are pleased to announce that we have the first new law passed that will help with the pet food problems.

H.R. 3580, in conference, was passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the President.

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By now you are probably aware that Bravo Raw Foods has recalled some of their products due to contamination. Dogster Nika barked in the following response from Bravo Foods to a question from a someone writing to the company regarding the recall.

If what the Bravo spokesperson says about the FDA looking for easy targets is true, that’s very sad. How about doing the job we need, FDA? Raw dog food is soooo easy to target! How about going after the more widespread and dangerous threats like tainted food additives from China? How about testing imported fish and vegetables?

The Question: One would hope that the powers that be at Bravo would have had the decency to notify people themselves.

I’m sorry that it’s not possible to individually notify every Bravo user of the recall and that by federal regulation we must issue a press release to the AP wire service so that it has wide distribution. We did that *voluntarily*-. Also - only 3 specifc Bravo products from 3 *specific*
batches are being recalled, not all of our products.

I also am somewhat surprised to see a raw feeding group upset about this recall.

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I guess we all suspected this was coming didn’t we? Millions of human Chinese-made toys have toxic levels of lead. It should be no surprize that pet toys are just as dangerous.

So where do we buy North American-made or European-made dog toys? If you’ve got a source, please bark it in!

Thanks to Mojotiki for barking in about this story.

(Joy note — I received a comment from a Wal-Mart spokesperson. Please see the end of the post for the official Wal-Mart comment on this story.)

Thanks to Consumer Affairs for this news.

Lab Tests Find Lead, Other Toxins in Pet Toys Sold at Wal-Mart
Vets say there’s no risk to pets but others aren’t so sure

By Lisa Wade McCormick
ConsumerAffairs.Com
Copyright © 2007 ConsumerAffairs.Com Inc. All Rights Reserved

September 16, 2007

Two Chinese-made toys for pets sold at Wal-Mart stores contain elevated levels of lead, chromium, and cadmium, according to a forensic toxicologist whose lab tested the products for ConsumerAffairs.com.

Two veterinarians, however, said the levels of toxic metals found in the toys do not pose a health risk to dogs or cats. Whether the toys are a hazard to children and adults who handle them isn’t clear.

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Here we go again! Another problem with Chinese food products. What a surprize (NOT). I used to feed Nutro but you can bet I won’t be touching ANY of their products again!

Happy barks to the FDA officials who stepped up and did their jobs by stopping Nutro’s tainted food.

Thanks to Mike for meowing in this article from ConsumerAffairs.com.

FDA Blocks Nutro Pet Food Shipment from Entering U.S.
Products “appeared to contain poisonous substances and unsafe additives”

By Lisa Wade McCormick
ConsumerAffairs.Com

August 28, 2007

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in July blocked more than 100 Nutro Products — various styles and flavors of its dog and cat food — from entering the United States.

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Should other dog food have been recalled last year? The Itchmo Blog is reporting that one Kentucky breeder blames Nestle Purina food for the death of three of her dogs.

If you know more about this or have suspected Purina food has harmed your dog, please bark in.

Breeder Claims Purina Dog Food Caused Her Dogs’ Deaths
Posted on Tuesday, August 14th, 2007
By Emily Huh

Professional dog breeder Julie has been waging an one woman war against Nestle Purina for the past year.

This Kentucky woman blames the pet food company for the recent and puzzling deaths of her three dogs, two Bichon Frise and a Labrador Retriever.

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Thanks to Mike for barking in this press release from PRNewswire! More “pawer” to these lawyers!

Audet & Partners, LLP Files First-Of-Its-Kind Class Action Complaint in U.S. Against China-Based Company

Suit Seeks Relief for Violation of Chinese Consumer Protection Law on Behalf of Pet Owners Impacted by Melamine Poisoning

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 8 /PRNewswire/ — The law firm of Audet & Partners, LLP has filed a class action lawsuit against Binzhou Futian Biological Technology, Co., Ltd., a company based in Binzhou, China, seeking relief under the laws of the People’s Republic of China and California. The complaint, filed in California State Superior Court (San Francisco) (Case #: CGC-07-465924), seeks damages and other relief arising from injuries to pet owners whose dogs and cats became sick or died from ingesting melamine.

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I feel terrible for the pet parents who lost their furbabies in the recalls earlier this year. First the horror of having your pet poisoned by the very company you trust to feed them. Then, they are insulted by having their dogs’ and cats’ deaths disappear from public attention and basically forgotten.

We can help keep the memories of those who died much too early alive. If we value the lives of all of out pets we MUST make sure these corporate crimes are not swept away from public memory! We must fight for safer foods and better labeling of country of origin so that those who callously taint food products can be identified and punished.

Thanks to Mike for meowing in this article from USA Today.

Pet-food death toll unlikely to be known

By Julie Schmit and Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY

The number of dogs and cats killed by contaminated pet food recalled this year will probably never be known, the Food and Drug Administration says.

The FDA received a record 18,000 consumer calls after the largest pet-food recall ever started in mid-March. Officials said in May about half alleged a pet death.

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The House Committee on Energy and Commerce met today to discuss food safety in the US. There is a webcast of the proceedings.

The title of this hearing is fittingly “Diminished Capacity: Can the FDA Assure the Safety and Security of Our Nation’s Food Supply? – Part 2.”

Thanks to Mike for meowing in this news and link.