Judy’s babies, Bernadette and Wilhelmina, have been vomiting and suffering from bouts of diarrhea for the last six weeks. Judy took her girls to the vet several times, and even took a package of the Three Dog Bakery Entrée meal for her vet to examine. He told her the ingredients looked good and to continue with the food. A few more trips to the vet when she noticed a smell of rotten food on her dogs breath. Never suspecting the food was bad, until, she noticed that one of the packages was ‘bloated’ and swollen. “I pulled out a package to feed my two min pins and it was swollen and when shaken, just watery. I did not open the package and noticed that the other packages were similar.” All of the remaining packages were in various stages of bloat.
Judy left a voice mail message with Three Dog Bakery (the pet food manufacturer), their return message simply instructed her to return the remaining food packages to them – not to return them to Walmart (the place of purchase). No instruction to care for her pets, nor any information if Three Dog Bakery would investigate were provided in the message. Another follow up call from the Directory of Marketing told Judy they would test that batch of food, and contact Walmart.
Judy next went to WalMart; she took the night manager to the pet food aisle to show him the pet food products, on the shelves ready for sale, as well in various stages of bloat. The dog food packages were swollen and apparent to be problematic. The WalMart night manager told her he could not remove the products from store shelves unless there was an official recall. She pushed on with another manager, who politely sent her on her way with a ‘thank you, we’ll check into it’.
Two sick dogs, a dog food with visible signs of a problem, and no one is listening to a concerned pet owner that is trying to prevent other dogs from becoming ill.
Judy then wrote me asking for suggestions. I realized that TruthaboutPetFood.com needs to provide assistance to pet owners in these types of problems. So, I’ve developed a special page on the website with some basic advice if you suspect a pet food is making your dog or cat sick. The page is titled ‘What to do if You Suspect a Pet Food is Contaminated’ and is linked at the top of the Home page (directly under the Search box). This page will change when additional resources become available. For those of you who have been through this process, please feel free to send me any suggestions to add. The information on the webpage is copied below.
Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,
Susan Thixton
Truth about Pet Food
Petsumer Report
www.TruthaboutPetFood.com
What to do if You Suspect a Pet Food is Contaminated
Where do you turn if you suspect your pet’s food is contaminated? Do you call the pet food manufacturer or the FDA? There are little official guidelines provided by the FDA, however here are some options for you in case you suspect your pet’s food is poisoned or contaminated.
Every suspect pet food contamination should be initially reported to your veterinarian. If you think your pet’s food is suspect of making your dog or cat sick, take your pet to your veterinarian immediately. Recount to your vet in as much detail as possible, everything your pet has consumed (treats, ‘people food’, ect) in recent days and when the symptoms first appeared. Your vet will decide if any further testing or treatment is necessary.
Stop feeding the suspect food immediately when your pet gets sick. Do not throw the suspect food away; keep the remainder for possible testing.
As soon as possible, contact the pet food manufacturer regarding the symptoms your pet has experienced. Some will ask you to send them the remainder of the pet food (don’t send them everything you have) for their own testing; if you do this make arrangements in advance for the pet food company to provide you a copy of their results. Some manufacturers will take your information and promise to return your call; some will return the call, others won’t. Lack of interest in the complaints of a customer will tell you how much the pet food manufacturer actually cares about their products and the pets of their customers.
Most pet food manufacturers will keep a portion of every batch of pet food made for a year (or so). Responsible manufacturers will investigate every complaint, working with the pet owner to determine the cause of the pet illness. If need be, the manufacturer can test the batch to determine if there is a problem.
Promptly report the incident to the FDA. The FDA website states if you consider the incident an emergency, call the agency's main emergency number, staffed 24 hours a day, 301-443-1240. Otherwise, call the FDA consumer complaint coordinator in your geographic area. Click here for a list of FDA Consumer Coordinators. Non-emergencies for veterinary products call FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine at 1-888-FDA-VETS (1-888-332-8387).
Report the incident to the place of purchase.
Responsible retailers will report the incident to their sales Reps and/or the pet food manufacturer. Many smaller retailers (such as independent pet shops) will keep track of all customer complaints and possibly even pull the product from store shelves until resolved.
Should you wish to have the suspect pet food tested, there are many private labs that will test the food for contaminants and toxins. Many veterinary colleges provide pet food testing resources, however many will need the recommendation for testing from your veterinarian. One of the best is Cornell University Veterinary School. http://www.vet.cornell.edu/about/contact.htm
A Google search (or similar Internet search) for ‘food testing laboratories’ will provide you a slew of possible independent labs. The vet school or independent lab will provide you with instructions on how to ship the food for testing.
Copies of any positive for contamination lab results should be provided to the pet food manufacturer and the FDA. Depending on the results, the FDA should investigate the incident further (ask them to do this).
Most pet food contaminations occur due to manufacturing errors. However, some contaminations can occur during warehousing of the pet food.
If laboratory test results prove positive the food was contaminated or poisoned, you have the option to consult with an attorney. Sadly, legal action is often the only way to hold a pet food manufacturer accountable.
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