Dog Deaths Surpass 100 Despite Toxic Pet Food Recall

[Colorado Blue]

At least 100 dogs in the United States have been killed in recent weeks by toxic pet food despite a recall of the products, scientists said today.

Some 19 brands of Diamond, Country Value and Professional dog foods have been recalled. But many pet owners are not aware of the recall, researchers at Cornell University said Friday.


Dogs have refused to eat the food and, in some cases, their owners have enticed them with gravy and other lures without knowing they were killing the animals.


"Entire kennels have been wiped out, and because of the holiday these past few weeks, the dispersal of recall information was disrupted," said Sharon Center, a professor of veterinary medicine who specializes in liver function and disease at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell.


The dog food is tainted with deadly aflatoxins that waste the liver away. The bad food could be present in a dozen other countries, too, the researchers say. About two-thirds of dogs that show symptoms from the toxin have died.


The dogs seemed to know their food was deadly.


"Some dogs were stealing food from the kitchen counter," Center said. "Others just stopped eating the food and begged for treats. Unfortunately, some owners used gravy and other mixers to entice their dogs to consume what they thought was safe, quality dog food."

snip

http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20060106/sc_space/dogdeathssurpass100despitetoxicpetfoodrecall

[Colorado Blue]

1. In the event that you use this brand - please take care! nt

[Pirate Smile]

2. Geez, I hadn't seen anything about this. Luckily, my dog eats Science

Diet.

Oh, that would be terrible to have to live with knowing you had lured your dog to eat a food they naturally knew not to eat.

[Maraya1969]

14. Science Diet and Iams ar the same co. and they use ANIMALS for

testing. I kid you not. I've seen one study where they supplied the dogs.

http://www.uncaged.co.uk/iams.htm

http://www.google.com/search?q=science+diet+animal+testing&sourceid=mozilla-search&start=0&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official

I use NUTRO. It has no preservatives and my vet said it was great.

EDIT: These are natural pet food companies

http://www.doberdogs.com/premium.html

[Pirate Smile]

15. Thanks for the info.

[kestrel91316]

16. I sure as hell HOPE they use animals for testing the food,

since it's animal food. Duh.

And they have a legal obligation to do so, since their labels expressly state that the food has been shown through AAFCO feeding trials that the food is suitable for maintenance/growth etc. of the species it's designed for.

Would you have them test pet food on humans? Or perhaps fish?

[Maraya1969]

17. NO the last thing I read about Science Diet's animal testing was for

a pesticide by AVON. It is a new thing since Skin So Soft has been used by so many people. They tout it as being non-toxic so I looked it up and the company that tested it, or one of them, using Beagles was SCIENCE DIET

[LisaL]

21. Exactly.

What should the company that makes dog food test it on? People?
For crying out loud, of course they will test it on animals.

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

27. I don't think you understand- the painful cruel testing on live dogs is

beyond what any of us would expect.
These idiots cage perfectly fine dogs and cats in cages so small they can't even move, and remove "plugs" of muscle tissue usually without anesthesia from areas like the legs where the animal is permanently injured or crippled...when they've done enough tests they "dispose" of the once perfectly fit, loving, beautiful, dog or cat.

This is what testing is about-

We cannot use vivesection and other inhumane methods on our pets {or any animals for that matter) in a modern society.

P.S.
Boycott Iams,Science Diet--
also,
Boycott anything that says" Proctor and Gamble" -they have no problem with harming animals-Tide detergent has burned out many an eyeball of a perfectly fine pet--these innocent pets are killed afterwards..even after the word is out and it's exposed, these clowns still do it every day.

[barb162]

3. those poor dogs

[blonndee]

4. For anyone who's interested, this site has some pretty good, readable

and understandable info about dog foods in general:

http://www.mordanna.com/dogfood

No, I'm not affiliated with this site AT ALL, just found it helpful to evaluate products and companies. Although this kind of contamination MIGHT have happened to any company, this site does kind of help show which companies are most concerned with the ingredients and sources for the food they produce.

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

5. VITAL LINK FOR PET OWNERS re:INGREDIENT INFORMATION*thanks for posting*n/t

[Liberty Belle]

6. Some cat foods are included in the recall, too.

[seafan]

7. Here is a list of specific brands recalled:

(Posted in entirety due to urgency of information)

Three brands of dog and cat food sold in Virginia are being recalled because they may contain aflatoxin.

The food was made by Diamond Pet Food in North Carolina and is sold under the Diamond, Country Value and Professional labels. It's distributed in 23 states, including Virginia.

Products formulated with corn at our facility in Gaston, S.C. may be affected by this situation (see complete list below).

The Gaston facility date codes are unique from other Diamond facility codes in that either the eleventh or twelfth character in the date code will be a capital “G” (in reference to Gaston). The range of date codes being reviewed are “Best By 01-March-07” through Best By “11-June-07.” Diamond’s quantitative analysis records substantiate that Diamond’s corn shipments were definitively clear of aflatoxin after December 10. As such, “Best By 11-June-07” date codes or later are not affected.

Gaston facility products recommended for temporary removal from sale include:

* Diamond Puppy Food
* Diamond Original Dog Food
* Diamond Low Fat Dog Food
* Diamond Hi-Energy Dog Food
* Diamond Maintenance Dog Food
* Diamond Premium Adult Dog Food
* Diamond Performance Dog Food
* Diamond Maintenance Cat Food
* Diamond Professional Cat Food
* Professional Reduced Fat Chicken & Rice Dog Food
* Professional Chicken & Rice Adult Dog Food
* Professional Puppy Food
* Professional Large-Breed Puppy Food
* Professional Reduced Fat Cat Food
* Professional Adult Cat Food
* Country Value Puppy
* Country Value Adult Dog
* Country Value High Energy Dog
* Country Value Adult Cat Food

Aflatoxin is a naturally occurring toxic chemical byproduct of mold, which can cause sickness in pets. Symptoms include sluggishness, a reluctance to eat, a yellowish tint to the eyes or gums and severe or bloody diarrhea.

Pet owners who see those symptoms should take their pet to a veterinarian immediately. For more information call the company at 573-229-4203.

Or visit the following websites: http://www.diamondpet.com or http://www.fda.gov

http://www.wtkr.com/Global/story.asp?S=4276915&nav=ZolHbyvj

[barb162]

9. Thank you re the Cat food; I thought it was just dog food

affected

[seafan]

10. You're welcome. I hope the word spreads quickly on this. n/t

[Colorado Blue]

12. Wow - I didn't know that either.

[Milspec]

18. Due to the products we make

My boss and I check http://www.fda.gov every day. This warning come out before Christmass. We post all the generally applicable warnings.

[blackhorse]

8. I was sort of amazed

the first time I saw people in Poland feeding leftovers (or additionally prepared food) to their dogs. For the Poles, packaged dogfood made no sense. Having had some time to observe one dog there, I wondered if I would see any nutritional problems in him. None, the dog was in great health and certainly ate with gusto.

Cheers

BH

[barb162]

11. I found out from a 20 yr. old Pole who just came here in Dec.

that her family had 5 cats and they ate scraps and they were all between 15 and 20 and healthy. Also the cats never had vet care, lived outside or in the barn, etc.

[LisaL]

22. There is nothing amazing about it.

A lot of European countries did not even have dog food for sale until just recently. But it's extremely inconvenient to cook for dogs or cats.

[FLSurfer]

24. Extremely inconvenient might be a bit

harsh. I am as lazy as anybody you have ever met, yet I cook my dogs food.
We keep a crock pot on the counter filled with a wonderful stew for our dog.
You can also alter the recipe for any illness they might be suffering from.

I honestly didn't post simply to contradict you, but to have people would give it a try before dismissing it as too much work.

Best wishes to any dogs or cats that may be suffering from the actions of this pet food company.

[LisaL]

25. Oh I did give it a try.

Out of necessity, because I am from one of those countries that didn't have dog or cat food. Cats did run around freely and never saw a vet. Dogs and cats were fed table scraps. And I can truly say how inconvenient it is to not have commercially available food.

[FLSurfer]

26. OK fair enough.

I do it and find it just another part of my typical day.
We all have limits on time we can devote to each task.
I, luckily, have a wife and daughter to help with it.

[Sven77]

13. genetically modified corn killed these dogs

you thought starlight corn was bad. this stuff is spreading all over.
http://infowars.com/articles/science/dog_food_recall.htm

[sweetheart]

19. Does the link support that?

corn fungus is a mexican delicacy, huitlacoche (one i'm quite fond of):
http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/huitlacoche.htm

obviously this must be a different kind of fungus, but why
do you assert that it is because of GM?

[Shakespeare]

29. It's not GMO corn, it's moldy corn.

I know a little about this--there was a big scare with dairies in Texas back in the late 80s when cattle had been fed tainted corn (and it ended up in our dairy supply). Several dairies were temporarily closed, and EVERYBODY had to go through repeated testing for the contaminants. Aflatoxins are a byproduct of moldy corn, and they can be deadly.

I'm as anti-GMO as you'll find, but GMO corn is not the reason for these toxins.

[greiner3]

20. The repugs in congress;

Will just pass a law saying that the dog food companies are exempt from lawsuits. :sarcasm:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

23. I sent the original story to all my friends,

and asked them to pass it along to their e-mail list.

Even if they don't have a dog, they might have friendes who do.
This is so sad! :cry:

[flvegan]

28. Kick to ensure everyone saw this.

[lonestarnot]

30. Oh my thanks. I had not seen this.