The poisioning of our pets has awakened in all
concerned pet lovers a need to know what is in our pet's food. We are
giving our pets the food they eat. They can't go out & shop for
it themselves. So we are the ones between the bad food and
our pets, and if we give our pets poison pet food, we are right to
feel resposible for poisoning our pets.
Just because our legal system regards pets as property
is no reason for this widespread food contamination to be treated lightly.
Civil penalties are limited to paying for people's pets and vet bills,
to my understanding. This is all the more reason for the companies who
we have trusted and patronized for decades to step up and exceed our
expectations in correcting this situation. To do less would be an insult
to the millions of pet owners who have, with our purchases over the
years, contributed to their domination of the pet supply market.
We can go online to seek the various manufacturer's
press releases & other statements about this. Most of these
statements are quite similar to one another. And I think that many
of these companies have taken the position that the consumer is entitled
to no more than a list of their foods that were affected. They do provide
toll-free telephone numbers we can call, in some cases. But we could
spend the rest of our lives on hold, waiting for someone at a call center
to come on the line and give us totally unsatisfactory answers about
our concerns. If you're looking for a retailer to point the finger of
blame at, you are likely to be pointing that finger at Petco or Petsmart.
What can we do? The first thing is to go to whoever
we are relying upon to provide us with this food and demand
answers and assistance.
Diamond Pet Food
Recall Update (5/9/12):
As I sit here
on hold, waiting for a very poorly informed representative
to tell me why the Diamond recall website doen't include Natural
Balance as one of the affected brands (she didn't even know
that Natural Balance was affected), I am writing this to suggest
that you DO NOT call their toll-free number concerning this
recall. This is because you will get no answers that are of
any value. In fact, the people answering calls there are not
employees of Diamond. This is just lame. And so, this is just
another good reason to go to the place where you buy your
pet's food and have this
conversation.
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HERE IS WHAT YOU CAN ASK YOUR LOCAL SUPERSTORE MANAGER FOR:
1) Answers as to exactly what
brands are affected, and what brands are not. And what varieties
of those brands are affected. He or she should provide you with
a list that you can take home and compare to what remains on
your shelves.
2) Answers as to exactly what the
substance in this food was. We have heard that it is an
industrial contaminant (in the case of the 2007 recalls, and
in 2012, it is salmonella). But we heard this from the news
we listen to every day. Those who sell us our food are in many
cases the same corporations who came into our neighborhoods
and replaced the independent pet supply stores, and the very
knowledgable professionals in these smaller stores. We need
to demand that someone in these superstores gets some detailed
information about each and every brand that they sold us. It
is they who are by far the largest customers of these pet food
manufacturers. So it is these huge chains who must apply pressure
on the manufacturers. Ask to speak to the manager of the store,
and demand this action. Tell them that they will lose your business
permanently if they cannot make this effort and get results
for you.
3) Answers as to exactly what we
should look for in our pets to determine if they are affected.
These retailers have the duty to provide you with a list
of symptoms to look out for. Your vet can be helpful,
of course. But that could only be possible if she could have
some cooperation from those affected brands so that she can
advise you. If your vet is not kept in the loop about what kind
of poisoning she is looking for, she is at a serious disadvantage.
In many cases, the manufacturers haven't been forthcoming to
the public with this critical information, and that is shameful
( in the 2012 recall, at least we know that it is salmonella
contamination). Once again, it is your local Petsmart or Petco
in many cases who will need to coordinate an investigation into
the medical implications of this widespread poisioning of our
pets. Tell the manager that you hold him or her responsible
to get you this information because his store sold you this
food. If the manager disagrees with you or refuses to get this
information for you, insist upon getting the name and number
for the district manager. Call this person and
begin again with him or her. In many cases, a district manager
is a store manager who has come up through the ranks. He or
she is probably highly skilled at dealing with retail customer
complaints, and that can mean that you will need to spend more
time and effort extracting some sort of meaningful commitment.
But once again, your pet needs you to take these measures on
his/her behalf.
4) Assistance in selecting a brand that
was totally unaffected by this horrible event.
Assistance in getting more information from the brands
we have trusted to be safe, but were not. Some brands in
these huge chains are probably perfectly safe to consume, but
let's ask these suppliers to confirm this. In many cases, you
will need to find a more responsible supplier of your pet's
nutritonal needs. You will need to do a little traveling to
get to a responsible independent pet supply professional, but
isn't it worth it?
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I want to repeat this: If you have gotten your
pet's food from these huge chain stores, then you should go into their
store and speak with the manager. If enough of these managers
get enough people bending their ears, their company will - or should
- issue some sort of paperwork or pamphlet or brochure containing substantial
and helpful explanations and information which will help us to get
past this mess.
Manufacturers who have pulled products from our pet
supply stores should provide some written information about their involvement
- a letter or brochure - that can be put on the shelves where their
food was/is, as well in some area of the stores devoted exclusively
to this recall. In addition, lists of affected brands and varieties
of those brands should be available for the consumer to take home. These
lists should be updated daily & reproduced in sufficient numbers
to supply every concerned pet lover with a copy. It shouldn't be something
that has to be extracted from the store management like some well-kept
company secret.
Once again, personally, I would rely upon the knowledge
and advice of an independent pet supply professional (if
you have any left near you). The ones who have survived the "pet
store wars" of the last 25 years (the onslaught of the warehouse
mega chains) are true professionals in every sense of the word. These
people are dedicated and truly invested in having the products and
information you will need to provide your pet with a safe meal.
If you know of a responsible independent pet supply
store where you feel confident purchasing your pet's provisions, click
here to tell me their name, address & phone #. I will
publish a list when I have a handful of reliable stores. Also,
if you have a favorite brand of pet food which you believe is safe for
your pet to eat, I would appreciate hearing about that, too. You would
be helping others who feel trapped and worried about what to feed their
cat or dog. (UPDATE as of 5/30/10: I simply have no way to confirm
individual pet food recommendations as safe, so I won't publish a comprehensive
list of food, except from my own personal standpoint. But I'm always
interested in building a business relationship with a strong local independent
pet supply provider. So please do me a favor and share the contact information
of your favorite store with me, OK?)
What commercially available pet foods can be
safely consumed by our pets? For starters, I would recommend Merrick
, who produces all of their food themselves, and uses only domestic
ingredients. Paul
Newman's Organic Pet Food also seemed to not get caught
up in this debacle, and my cats like it. Nutro
is another brand I have come to trust, and my cats enjoy their canned
and dry food. Although Nutro's pouch foods were affected in 2007, they've
apparently taken the necessary corrective action. They now own their
manufacturing facilities (as of May, 2012), and don't buy any ingredients
from China (according to my conversation with a Nutro representative
in May, 2012). Although, please be advised that they do source some
of their ingredients from other countries (the lamb is from New Zealand,
for example).
Back in 2007, I was satisfied with the news posted
at Natura (sadly, I need to say now that this satisfaction
was unwarranted), makers of the following brands: Innova, Evo,
California Natural, Healthwise, Mother Nature, and Karma (www.naturapet.com).
I understand that many brands used Menu Foods (who owned the
facility where much of the poison pet food was canned in the 2007 recall)
to do their canning & have few other options in the short
run. Natura's CEO posted a statement pledging to either purchase or
build their own canning facility from scratch (UPDATE as of 2/12/10:
This is still in the planning phase nearly three years later.).
He has promised that in the meantime, Natura will keep their own QC
inspectors at the Menu Foods plant (It is my understanding that
this is not happening), and will use only domestic ingredients
(ingredients are NOT all domestic, according to a Natura customer
service representative. However, it is their contention that nothing
from China is used - according to this same phone representative on
2/12/10.) I need to say here that I'm sad to make these changes
in what I reported in 2007, but I believe this is an accurate appraisal
of their situation in 2010. I also regret impuning a company that was
NOT IMPLICATED in the original crisis, but it now appears
that they've made more than one promise that remains unkept. Since their
pledges to take these measures seemed reasonable and prudent at the
time, why did they abandon all three strategies? And did other companies
let their PR releases handle the problem in a similar way? Three years
later, what has changed?
I urge you to read all of the various companies' statements
addressing this recall and draw your own conclusions. If the statement
at a company's website is vague or incomplete, do not buy their product.
Since Diamond's 2012 list of recalled foods is also not complete, I've
tried to identify here all of the brands that they had ANY involvement
with, and you should seek answers from your local store concerning any
of these brands.
There are long-term implications of feeding our pets
contaminated food. Symptoms may be delayed by years, and then suddenly
manifest themselves in a number of ways, not the least of which is organ
failure and allergies. Some proactive measures on our part now may help
prevent this in the future. I highly recommend this
book on pet allergies for anyone suspecting that their pet
is allergic to their food. It is an eye-opening look at some major causes
of suffering in our pets. This book isn't for the faint of heart, but
is certainly has changed the way I look at the food I put in my cat
bowls.
I recently went to a well established feed store in
Chester County, PA, and watched a woman stand, almost paralyzed, in
front of the vast canned cat food rack. Finally, I asked her if she
was trying to find cat food that was not poisoned. She almost looked
relieved when I asked her this, and I wonder how many more people
like her are doing the best they can with the limited information that
has come out from the various brands. She was at least looking to see
if the can contained wheat gluten. That is a very good start, and I
told her that she was a step ahead of many pet owners by just taking
the time to read the label. But it's a shame that just going out for
cat food had to be a chore filled with trepidation and apprehension
for her. In the same store, I have asked an employee to show me a couple
of brands that were unaffected by this contamination. I must say that
he stepped up to the plate and took as much time as I needed to feel
a little better about what I was about to open up for my cats.
You may not trust any brands at this time. That may
not be a bad strategy - just to let them all win back your trust. In
the meantime, you might consider cooking for your pet. Get creative.
They might snub human food at first, but they will learn to eat it.
But don't just open a can of tuna for your cat. Remember that pets need
wholesome foods just like we do. Please consult your veterinarian concerning
your pet's individual nutritional needs, but don't feed your pet a brand
that you haven't researched. Just because the brand name has the word
"Science" or "Dr. this or that" or
"Natural" doesn't mean it's healthy.
-tommy
Feline Design