This is copy/pasted from a yahoo news story:
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Pet Food Recall Expanded on New Finding
Wednesday April 18, 8:44 am ET
By Andrew Bridges, Associated Press Writer
Industrial Chemical That Contaminated Pet Food Is Found in Second Ingredient, Expanding Recall
WASHINGTON (AP) — An industrial chemical that led to a nationwide recall of more than 100 brands of cat and dog foods has been found to contaminate a second pet food ingredient, expanding the recall further.
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The chemical, melamine, is believed to have contaminated rice protein concentrate used to make a variety of Natural Balance Pet Foods products for both dogs and cats, the Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday. Previously, the chemical was found to contaminate another ingredient, wheat gluten, used by at least six other pet food and treat manufacturers.
Natural Balance said it was recalling all its Venison and Brown Rice canned and bagged dog foods, its Venison and Brown Rice dog treats and its Venison and Green Pea dry cat food.
The Pacoima, Calif., company said recent laboratory tests showed the products contain melamine. It believes the source of the contaminant was rice protein concentrate, which the company recently added to the dry venison formulas. Natural Balance does not use wheat gluten, which was associated with the previous melamine contamination, it said.
Last month, Menu Foods recalled 60 million cans of dog and cat food after the deaths of 16 pets, mostly cats, that ate its products. The FDA said tests indicated the food was contaminated with melamine, used in making plastics and other industrial processes. Five other companies later recalled pet products also made with wheat gluten tainted by the chemical.
The FDA has since blocked Chinese imports of wheat gluten. An FDA spokeswoman did not immediately return messages left seeking comment.
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This is just wonderful.
For awhile I would suggest that people cook pet food for their pets… you have to make sure that what you feed them has their needs met. There is a lot of false information out there on this subject so you have to watch out!
Brown rice, some cooked meat… I’m not sure but this is just too scary.
:(
While looking around for cute easter stuff a friend pointed out a rather cute video on youtube (a website I tend to ignore by the way) and I had to share it… Easter Puppies!
When I originally had this blog up (I broke the original version during a hosting move, I love my new host… you can find a link to them in my links section to the right) I had a nice post about dragonflies, unfortunetly when I broke my blog I lost most of my old posts (somehow I had a couple backed up on my hard drive as html), I lost my original dragonfly post but still have these links backed up.
I went looking around for nice looking dragonfly designs and ran across these:
Also, if your into art prints (framed, matted or just the prints ma’am) I found these earlier today and bookmarked them, Imagekind (the website I’m about to link to) is a really awesome site where you can buy either member art or some “popular artsists” you can choose from multiple sizes, frames and mat formulas. It’s really quite snazzy I think.
I heard about this morning and had to wait for the brands and everything… the brand my b/f’s dog eats is on the list, but not the actual kind… I’m still scared of it though.
This is from msn news.
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60 million containers of pet food recalled
Eukanuba, Iams and store brands tied to kidney failure, deaths
Updated: 2:03 a.m. PT March 17, 2007
WASHINGTON - A major manufacturer of dog and cat food sold under Wal-Mart, Safeway, Kroger and other store brands recalled 60 million containers of wet pet food Friday after reports of kidney failure and deaths.
An unknown number of cats and dogs suffered kidney failure and about 10 died after eating the affected pet food, Menu Foods said in announcing the North American recall. Product testing has not revealed a link explaining the reported cases of illness and death, the company said.
“At this juncture, we’re not 100 percent sure what’s happened,” said Paul Henderson, the company’s president and chief executive officer. However, the recalled products were made using wheat gluten purchased from a new supplier, since dropped for another source, spokeswoman Sarah Tuite said. Wheat gluten is a source of protein.
The recall covers the company’s “cuts and gravy” style food, which consists of chunks of meat in gravy, sold in cans and small foil pouches between Dec. 3 and March 6 throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
The pet food was sold by stores operated by the Kroger Co., Safeway Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and PetSmart Inc., among others, Henderson said.
Menu Foods did not immediately provide a full list of brand names and lot numbers covered by the recall, saying they would be posted on its Web site — www.menufoods.com/recall — early Saturday. Consumers with questions can call (866) 463-6738.
Repeated calls to that number over several hours Friday night got only a busy signal. Attempts to reach a company spokeswoman for an explanation were unsuccessful.
The company said it manufacturers for 17 of the top 20 North American retailers. It is also a contract manufacturer for the top branded pet food companies, including Procter & Gamble Co.
P&G announced Friday the recall of specific 3 oz., 5.5 oz., 6 oz. and 13.2 oz. canned and 3 oz. and 5.3 oz. foil pouch cat and dog wet food products made by Menu Foods but sold under the Iams and Eukanuba brands. The recalled products bear the code dates of 6339 through 7073 followed by the plant code 4197, P&G said.
Menu Foods’ three U.S. and one Canadian factory produce more than 1 billion containers of wet pet food a year. The recall covers pet food made at company plants in Emporia, Kan., and Pennsauken, N.J., Henderson said.
Henderson said the company received an undisclosed number of owner complaints of vomiting and kidney failure in dogs and cats after they had been fed its products. It has tested its products but not found a cause for the sickness.
“To date, the tests have not indicated any problems with the product,” Henderson said.
The company alerted the Food and Drug Administration, which already has inspectors in one of the two plants, Henderson said. The FDA was working to nail down brand names covered by the recall, agency spokesman Mike Herndon said.
Menu Foods is majority owned by the Menu Foods Income Fund, based in Ontario, Canada.
Henderson said the recall would cost the company the Canadian equivalent of $26 million to $34 million.
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Thats a lot of pet food, and a lot of money.
Just to make it easier (incase you can’t sit still long enough to read all that) the link to find the specific brands (and .xls lists of specific flavors and other info) is www.menufoods.com/recall
Believe me, you don’t want your pet getting kidney or liver failure, it’s painful for them, messy and if you care about them it’s painful for you too.
Please pass this info around to anyone you know who might be affected.
Projekt Dog is a really neat design set from Chicago artist Julie W. Farrell, her shop BarkArt is one of the most original “pet shops” I’ve seen on Cafepress (and I look A Lot). Tons of awesome dog breed specific illustrations (allthough in my opinion she could have more doxie designs. hehe), she also has a neat set of “Year of the Dog” designs, it’s year of the pig now but you can always celebrate the year of the dog!
In the Projekt Dog department she invites you to email her if you don’t see your desired dog breed, I’ve linked her email address below (click on the Projekt Dog banner image).
About this design she says “Many different dog breed designs done in a unique and urban way. Showcases the akc breeds and their classic personalities. From the French Bulldog to the Labrador Retriever, you will find a dog design you will love!”
Each design has extra versions also, like “Greyhound Mom” and “Greyhound Dad”, I’ve found that breed specific parent designs draw a lot of attention, dogs tend to make their parents proud.
Check it out and if you want, feel free to post a comment here about what you think of these awesome dog illustrations. I just thought you might like to see them :)
A new shop & new neato items (and designs!) by CRS
This Tabby Cat you see here is one of the many new designed for this shop, He is also introducing you to my fun new design group called “Valuable Pet Lessons”!
If you have a cat (or cats!) you know that cats all believe this to be true and you’ve noticed that they seem to think they are wild cats half of the day time too! Running around the house (or yard) like crazed creatures or bouncing off your computer chair like a pinball, typing to your friends online or taking a cat nap on your lap over your nice comfortable newspaper while you tried to read it…. Crazy furry creatures!
Keep your eyes peeled for new Valuable Pet Lessons, they will be popping up everywhere :)
A new shop & new neato items (and designs!) by CRS
The new shop is Called “Creatures Great and Small”, featuring all sorts of wildlife and pet type critters!
The Calendar you see here is one of the many new items designed for this shop.
Each page has two images of each African mammal, both the common and proper name and a location fact about where that animal can be found. The animals included are:
• Jan - Lion • Feb - Giraffe • Mar - Black Rhino
• Apr - Spotted Hyena • May - Plaine Zebra • June - Kob Antelope
• July - African Elephant • Aug - Impala • Sep - Wild Dog
• Oct - Cheetah •Nov - Warthog •Dec - Leopard
