ANIMAL PEOPLE is the leading independent newspaper providing original investigative coverage of animal protection worldwide. Founded in 1992, ANIMAL PEOPLE has no alignment or affiliation with any other entity.

 

This site built and maintained by: GREANVILLE ASSOCIATESand CRESCENT COMMUNICATIONS •Rev. 12.1.05 Copyright ANIMAL PEOPLE, INC. 1992--2006

 

 

 

 

 
   

 
powered by FreeFind

ESSENTIAL DESTINATIONS

MONTH: May 2007

Liability cases loom over melamine-tainted pet food

 

EMPORIA, Kansas--"To the extent that we identify that the cause of any expenses incurred [by pet keepers for veterinary care] are related to the food, Menu will take responsibility," Menu Foods chief executive Paul Henderson pledged, after ordering the first of a flurry of pet food recalls.

But that was just before pet keepers and law firms coast to coast began alleging in more than two dozen attempted class action cases that Menu Foods responded too slowly to the crisis, caused by melamine contamination of pet food ingredients. The contamination kills dogs and cats--especially cats--by attacking their kidneys.

"There have been media reports that Menu Foods started getting complaints as early as December 2006, but FDA records state the company received their first report of a food-related pet death on February 20," wrote Christie Keith, contributing editor for the Universal Press Syndicate feature Pet Connection. "On February 27,

Menu started testing the suspect foods. On March 3, the first cat in the trial died of acute kidney failure. Three days after that, Menu switched wheat gluten suppliers, and 10 days later, on March 16, recalled the 91 products that contained gluten from their previous source. At that point, Menu had seen a 35% death rate in their test lab cats. Another 45% percent suffered kidney damage. The death rate for animals in Menu's tests was around 20%."

In the interim, alleged Keith, "No veterinarians were warned to be on the lookout for unusual numbers of kidney failure in their patients. No pet owners were warned to watch their pets for symptoms. Thousands of pet owners kept buying [contaminated] foods for their dogs and cats.

Pet Connection began asking pet keepers to submit reports about dogs and cats who might have been poisoned by the contaminated foods. By mid-April the alleged toll included 3,900 dead pets and 12,000 suffering from possibly related illnesses--and this was still less than half of the number of cases anticipated in a study done by Banfield Pet Hospitals.

The first round of blame-fixing came at an April 12, 2007 U.S. Senate hearing.

The pet food industry "is highly regulated, but not effectively regulated," testified veterinarian Elizabeth Hodgkins. "We don't have products that are as safe as the labels suggest."

"Because only about 30% of pet food plants are inspected every three years, quality control is based largely on self-regulation," wrote Karoun Demirjian of the Chicago Tribune's Washington D.C. bureau. "Individual companies are supposed to inform the FDA when it appears that pet food coming from their plants may have been compromised," as Menu Foods did.

The melamine contamination "was a foreign substance," responded Pet Food Institute executive director Duane Ekedahl. "All the regulation in the world would not have captured that substance."