Rat poison found in tainted pet foodfro

from yahoo



By MARK JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer 29 minutes ago

ALBANY, N.Y. - Rat poison was found in pet food blamed for the deaths of at least 16 cats and dogs, but scientists said Friday they still don't know how it got there and predicted more animal deaths would be linked to it. After the announcement, the company that produced the food expanded its recall to include all 95 brands of the "cuts and gravy" style food, regardless of when they were produced. The company also said it would take responsibility for pet medical expenses incurred as a result of the food.

The substance in the food was identified as aminopterin, a cancer drug that once was used to induce abortions in the United States and is still used to kill rats in some other countries, state Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker said.

The federal government prohibits using aminopterin for killing rodents in the U.S. State officials would not speculate on how the poison got into the pet food, but said no criminal investigations had been launched.

The pet deaths led to a recall of 60 million cans and pouches of dog and cat food produced by Menu Foods and sold throughout North America under 95 brand names. Some pets that ate the recalled brands suffered kidney failure, and the company has confirmed the deaths of 15 cats and two dogs.

The latest death, a Yorkshire terrier named Pebbles, occurred Thursday. The dog died of kidney failure after eating some of the food. Her owner, Jeff Kerner, said he was contacting an attorney because he wanted to prevent another pet tragedy.

"Before they put this stuff in the bags, there should be some kind of test," said Kerner, of Sherman Oaks, Calif. "I can't just let it go. Even if they just change the law."

The company expanded the recall — which initially covered only cans and pouches of food packaged from Dec. 3 through March 6 — after the FDA alerted it that some products remained on store shelves.

There is no risk to pet owners from handling the food, officials said.

The
Food and Drug Administration has said the investigation into the pet deaths was focused on wheat gluten in the food. The gluten itself would not cause kidney failure, but it could have been contaminated, the FDA said.

Bob Rosenberg, senior vice president of government affairs for the National Pest Management Association, said it would be unusual for the wheat to be tainted.

"It would make no sense to spray a crop itself with rodenticide," Rosenberg said, adding that grain shippers typically put bait stations around the perimeter of their storage facilities.

Scientists at the New York State Animal Health Diagnostic Center at Cornell University and at the New York State Food Laboratory tested three cat food samples provided by the manufacturer and found aminopterin in two of them. The two labs are part of a network created after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to keep the nation's animals and food supply safe.

"Any amount of this product is too much in food," Hooker said.

Aminopterin is highly toxic in high doses. It inhibits the growth of malignant cells and suppresses the immune system. In dogs and cats, the amount of aminopterin found — 40 parts per million — can cause kidney failure, according to Bruce Akey, director of Cornell's diagnostic center.

"It's there in substantial amounts," Akey said.

Donald Smith, dean of Cornell's veterinary school, said he expected the number of pet deaths to increase. "Based on what we've heard the last couple days, 16 is a low number," Smith said.

Aminopterin is no longer marketed as a cancer drug, but is still used in research, said Andre Rosowsky, a chemist with the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

Rosowsky speculated that the substance would not show up in pet food "unless somebody put it there."

Paul Henderson, chief executive of Ontario, Canada-based Menu Foods, said the company does not believe the food was tampered with because the recalled food came from two different plants, one in Kansas, one in New Jersey. Menu continues to produce food at the two plants.

The company, already facing lawsuits, said Friday it is testing all the ingredients that go into the food.

"We have a lot of work to do, and we are eager to get back to it," Henderson said. "This is a highly unusual substance."

When asked whether there would compensation for medical bills for sick pets, Henderson said "to the extent that we identify that the cause of any expenses incurred are related to the food, Menu will take responsibility for that."

A complete list of the recalled products along with product codes, descriptions and production dates was posted online by Menu Foods and is available at http://tinyurl.com/2pn6mm. The company also designated two phone numbers that pet owners could call for information: (866) 463-6738 and (866) 895-2708.

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Associated Press writers Andrew Bridges in Washington and Michael Virtanen in Albany contributed to this report.

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On the Net:

FDA pet food recall information: http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/petfoo d.html

Menu Foods: http://tinyurl.com/2pn6mm

Please check the list if you have not already; it's very extensive. :(

Okay, very few things actually upset me but this is one of them that really gets under my skin. The company fucked up somewhere and while they're apologetic and trying to fix the problem it should have never happened in the first place. I feel sorry for the people that had to lose a pet and will lose a pet at the hands of a company not caring until it's too late. fuck mune foods.

=) I feed my puppy human food the same stuff that I eat so I know its safe

purina is not on the list.niether is meow mix, or whiskas....
I almost had a heart attck when i heard about this. I would go crazy if I lost my meow cat....

our cats still fat and screaming so whatever we get's probably good

In the last two day i've spent nearly three hundred dollars in vet bills for both of my cats, not to mention what it cost to come running home early from visiting family in TN. My mom had taking care of them while I was away and didn't hear about the recall until it was a few days into this mess. Roxy, the fifteen pound calico, seems to be doing ok, but Shea (my "mini-kitty") is sick now. The vet can't tell what's causing it. Hoping like hell it's just some funky virus. The bill is likely to go up as I have to bring her back a few more times this week for fluids and blood work. It's wonderful that the company is saying that they will pay for bills incurred as a result of their fuck up, becuase the plane ticket home on such short notice sucked. These fuckers need to be put out of business for good. It is completely unacceptable that they would jepordize the health of animals just to turn a buck.

And unless you know how to work Excel, the original notification was useless.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tatum radcliffe

In the last two day i've spent nearly three hundred dollars in vet bills for both of my cats, not to mention what it cost to come running home early from visiting family in TN. My mom had taking care of them while I was away and didn't hear about the recall until it was a few days into this mess. Roxy, the fifteen pound calico, seems to be doing ok, but Shea (my "mini-kitty") is sick now. The vet can't tell what's causing it. Hoping like hell it's just some funky virus. The bill is likely to go up as I have to bring her back a few more times this week for fluids and blood work. It's wonderful that the company is saying that they will pay for bills incurred as a result of their fuck up, becuase the plane ticket home on such short notice sucked. These fuckers need to be put out of business for good. It is completely unacceptable that they would jepordize the health of animals just to turn a buck.

And unless you know how to work Excel, the original notification was useless.

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I hope that everything comes out ok. I'm a big pet lover. I have a damn zoo going on here. We got lucky my 3 dogs only eat dry dog food. We use a costly brand that I strongly stand by. I was shocked to find the brand on the recall list!

The way they make pet food is pretty sketchy in general. If you have the opportunity, check out the book Food Pets Die For . Not that long, but thoroughly upsetting.

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Originally Posted by Janiac02

The way they make pet food is pretty sketchy in general. If you have the opportunity, check out the book Food Pets Die For . Not that long, but thoroughly upsetting.

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i did some research about animal testing once upon a time and now refuse to buy IAMS

Yeah there's a website on that too which I hear is pretty informative, but I haven't checked out. Believe it's Iamscruelty.com or something on that order. It's horrible that companies masquerade themselves as animal health concious, and caring, when after all it's always for the almighty dollar.

wow. 16 cats and dogs. hold the fucking press, and call my lawyer!

says the hypocrites that don't bat an eye at species extinction every day.

can we at least just be honest and admit that we are upset on an emotional level at the loss of a valued entertainment commodity and that we really don't care about animals?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Morning Glory

wow. 16 cats and dogs. hold the fucking press, and call my lawyer!

says the hypocrites that don't bat an eye at species extinction every day.

can we at least just be honest and admit that we are upset on an emotional level at the loss of a valued entertainment commodity and that we really don't care about animals?

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No its more like 1000 cats and 700 dogs!!!!! thats the new count. Do you know what the Barton Spring Salamander is? I've worked to save it. So I do care about animals. As for the entertainment commodity I know all about that. I foster pets. Thats why I have a Zoo over here. lol

well, that's great. and that statement doesn't apply to you then. Not really toward anyone individual on this board either. just how our society deals with things. But what animals need is wild nature to thrive, they don't need to be domesticated and forced to rely on the industrial production that's killing them.

also, I appreciate those that posted links.

Just an update I read...

• NEW: Recall expands to include dog biscuits, more Menu Foods products
• Menu Foods recalled 60 million cans of wet pet food March 16
• 200 plaintiffs added fraud to class-action lawsuit against company
• Toxic chemical traced to a Chinese company; company denies link

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/05/pet...rss_topstories