Pet Owners Likely to Get Little in Suits

[Anna]

Well, this should make Carnut very happy.  All the small breeders, hundreds and maybe thousands that could be out of business, just tough, I guess. Even ones who have invested their own money or have loans to repay for improving their breeding stock.  One near me employs ten people but she can pay more per hour than I can for I can't find any help at all who will work for the $7 I pay.  So the breeders, kennels, groomers, etc. that will be put out of jobs are just out of luck and only large corporations care?

Small businesses employ more than large corporations in this country and running rough shod over them like this is not a really good thing at all.

Article:



Pet Owners Likely to Get Little in Suits
Sunday April 1, 1:33 pm ET
By Mark Johnson, Associated Press Writer  
Pet Owners Eligible for Little Reward in Potential Pet Food Lawsuits

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- Pet owners are not likely to get much compensation if they individually sue pet food-maker Menu Foods over the death of a dog or cat, although they might fare better if they joined forces in a class action suit, legal experts say.
Most state laws consider animals -- even beloved pets -- to be only personal property. That means that even for the loss of a faithful family companion, a successful civil lawsuit would not likely produce much reward, said Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond.

"With animals, all you get is the value of the property," he said. "There are no emotional damages."

In early March, Menu Foods recalled 60 million containers of its "cuts and gravy" style wet pet foods, sold under nearly 100 store labels and major brands across North America. It did so after cats fell sick and died during routine company taste tests.

It is not clear how many pets may have been poisoned by the apparently contaminated food, although anecdotal reports suggest hundreds if not thousands have died. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has received more than 8,000 complaints while the company has fielded 300,000 calls from consumers. The company has only confirmed the deaths of 15 cats and one dog. There is no central database tracking pet deaths in the United States.

Numerous pet owners around the country have sued or are considering legal action against Menu Foods. Some are seeking class action status.

"I would love to find an attorney to take on this company," said Brenda Hitchcock of Tampa, Fla. Hitchcock said she racked up $4,000 in veterinarian bills trying to save her 5-year-old cat "S.S." to no avail. She said she still has two pouches of the recalled food to prove her case.

Ontario-based Menu Foods has taken a low-key approach to the recall, expressing concern for people who have lost pets and offering to pay veterinary bills if a pet's illness or death can be directly linked to the food, but admitting no wrongdoing.

Jack Hall, a product liability lawyer from Pittsburgh, said the owner of a dog or cat used for breeding or of a specially trained animal could argue for higher compensation on the basis of lost potential earnings.

Hall said pet owners would fare better if they joined in a class action suit.

"I would think this kind of case would allow itself to a class action. That could work for somebody here," he said.

Still, Tobias said even a class-action suit could be tricky.

"The factual variations in the cases will make it very difficult to form a class action," he said. "Will people have the proof they need to trace the harm done to the animal back to Menu Foods?"

Dog and cat food sales in the United States reached over $14.3 billion in 2005, according to the Pet Food Institute that represents manufacturers of commercial pet food.

On Friday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said recalled pet foods contained melamine, a chemical used to make plastics, but that its tests failed to confirm the presence of a rat poison, aminopterin, reported by the New York State Food Laboratory. The FDA said it also found melamine in wheat gluten used as an ingredient in the wet-style products. Still, it was not immediately clear whether the melamine was the culprit in the deaths.

"We are angered that a source outside the company has adulterated our product," Menu Foods Chief Executive Paul Henderson said Friday.

Nestle Purina PetCare Co. said Saturday it was recalling all sizes and varieties of its Alpo Prime Cuts in Gravy wet dog food with specific date codes. Purina said a limited amount of the food contained a contaminated wheat gluten from China.

Henderson insisted his company's products are safe and undergo the "highest levels" of testing.

Menu Foods recall: http://www.menufoods.com/recall/index.html

Food and Drug Administration: http://www.fda.gov/




http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070401/pet_food_recall_legal.html?.v=1

[Carnut]

Yep, in life you win some and you lose some.

Don't think the Ten Commandments or the U.S. Bill of Rights said anything about life having to be fair.

It's a cruel world out there and sometimes you just have to deal with it.

But I'm sure an enterprising lawyer will eventually figure some way to make a bundle off this tragedy.

[A's Fever]

Anna,

O/T but just wanted to comment that your puppies are precious!

We have decided to get our first puppy - we are cat people - and don't yet know what breed to get or how to care for a puppy.  But now with this pet food scare we may be rethinking this decision . . .

Anyway, just wanted to say that the pic you posted is just adorable!

[Carnut]

Anna,

O/T but just wanted to comment that your puppies are precious!

We have decided to get our first puppy - we are cat people - and don't yet know what breed to get or how to care for a puppy.  But now with this pet food scare we may be rethinking this decision . . .

Anyway, just wanted to say that the pic you posted is just adorable!

Don't worry about the getting a puppy, the majority of the problem affected cats.

[Carnut]

A cats more at risk article from cnn:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/03/31/pet.food.recall.cats.ap/index.html

[Anna]

Anna,

O/T but just wanted to comment that your puppies are precious!

We have decided to get our first puppy - we are cat people - and don't yet know what breed to get or how to care for a puppy.  But now with this pet food scare we may be rethinking this decision . . .

Anyway, just wanted to say that the pic you posted is just adorable!

A's

There is a wealth of help in selecting a puppy, all sorts of questionairres you can take to help decide what is right for you.  Here is a link to a list of them from google.

http://tinyurl.com/2z99xe

But I would think some of the most important things to consider are size, grooming/maintenance you want to do and family members such as children to consider.

I would think any of the companion dogs are preferable as a pet to say the hunting or herding dogs but people do love those breeds as well.  And so do I!  

What you like and want in personality is also important.  I love terriers for their spunk and the determnation they have but some people would hate taht in a dog.  They also dig, just inbred in them to do a bit of that.

Some dogs are said to be better with children than others but I find that if they grow up with them, they are all pretty good.

Lap dogs, the toy breeds, tend to be clingy and some wouldn't like that.  Just things like that to think about but I think I could love and get along with any dog.

It's humans that I seem to have problems with, ha ha!  

.

[Anna]

Yep, in life you win some and you lose some.

Don't think the Ten Commandments or the U.S. Bill of Rights said anything about life having to be fair.

It's a cruel world out there and sometimes you just have to deal with it.

But I'm sure an enterprising lawyer will eventually figure some way to make a bundle off this tragedy.

I believe the same could be said for money-grubbing corporate executives who fail to do the testing on their products that we are assured in their ads have been done.  They, too, can lose some.

This isn't a random act of fate or something that just happened like being struck by lightening or a flood.  It is the result of the direct actions or lack of action by individuals and I believe they should be held accountable.  There is no way anything this massive was just an accident.  If they were going to use the inferior wheat, the least they could have done was lab analysis on it.  Every batch of dog food made is supposed to be tested.

A company that kills its customers doesn't deserve to be in existence.  That is like the man in court who killed his parents then asks the judge for mercy because he is an orphan.


Since Melamine is toxic to dogs, only glass, ceramic or stainless steel seems acceptable to me for feeding dishes.  I always put that in instructions to new owners and have for years long before this happened.  Now I am glad I did because I am wondering about all that plastic in general.

[A's Fever]

Anna,

O/T but just wanted to comment that your puppies are precious!

We have decided to get our first puppy - we are cat people - and don't yet know what breed to get or how to care for a puppy.  But now with this pet food scare we may be rethinking this decision . . .

Anyway, just wanted to say that the pic you posted is just adorable!

A's

There is a wealth of help in selecting a puppy, all sorts of questionairres you can take to help decide what is right for you.  Here is a link to a list of them from google.

http://tinyurl.com/2z99xe

But I would think some of the most important things to consider are size, grooming/maintenance you want to do and family members such as children to consider.

I would think any of the companion dogs are preferable as a pet to say the hunting or herding dogs but people do love those breeds as well.  And so do I!  

What you like and want in personality is also important.  I love terriers for their spunk and the determnation they have but some people would hate taht in a dog.  They also dig, just inbred in them to do a bit of that.

Some dogs are said to be better with children than others but I find that if they grow up with them, they are all pretty good.

Lap dogs, the toy breeds, tend to be clingy and some wouldn't like that.  Just things like that to think about but I think I could love and get along with any dog.

It's humans that I seem to have problems with, ha ha!  

.

Thanks Anna, one of those questionnaires is probably a good idea.  We are leaning toward a lab, but they are so big and our house is small, so I just don't know.  There are several in the neighborhood and they are wonderful family dogs, and my kids' energy level could certainly match that of a lab.  But I need to research a bit more.

[A's Fever]

A cats more at risk article from cnn:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/03/31/pet.food.recall.cats.ap/index.html

Hi Carnut, good to "see" you again!  Thanks for the link.  So far, so good with our cat, hope it stays that way . . .

[Anna]

Pet food recall spreads, and so does confusion

By Elizabeth Weise and Julie Schmit, USA TODAY
The exact nature of the contamination that has led to an expanding North American pet food recall and reports of thousands of sick pets is a mystery that's confounding toxicologists.
It's also confusing pet owners who were told two weeks ago that all potentially contaminated food had been recalled only to learn over the weekend that it wasn't so.

Since Friday, three other pet food makers have recalled small amounts of pet treats, more wet dog foods and one dry cat food. They join Menu Foods, which in mid-March recalled more than 60 million cans and pouches of wet dog and cat food.

The contaminant is now believed to be the chemical melamine, which is used in the making of plastics and as a slow-release fertilizer, the Food and Drug Administration says. It was found in wheat gluten imported from China and used by Menu Foods and other makers, the FDA says. But toxicologists question whether it is toxic enough to cause kidney failure in animals.

The FDA has not publicly identified the firm that supplied the contaminated wheat gluten to the USA. But on Friday, the agency issued an import alert — found on its website — saying wheat gluten from the Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. of Peixian, China, could be detained without inspection until it produced results from "the firm's investigation(s) into the problem of melamine contamination" and documents showing that corrective action had been taken.

Since Friday, the FDA has tracked potentially contaminated wheat gluten shipments to Hill's Pet Nutrition, Nestlé Purina PetCare and Del Monte Pet Products. All three companies issued recalls of various pet food products.

The expanding list has pet owners reeling. "Consumers are now in a panic, and they don't know what to do," says Mark Witriol, co-owner of Pet Food Express, which has 31 stores in the San Francisco area.

Wheat gluten in wet pet foods is largely used as a binding agent. In dry foods, it's used as a cheap source of protein. Wheat gluten is also used in some human foods and is an important component of flour, allowing bread to rise. The contaminated batch of wheat gluten is not believed to have been used in any foods for humans.

Whether other pet food makers may have received wheat gluten with melamine is unclear. The FDA said Friday that it was tracking down companies that may have received contaminated wheat gluten.

A New York state laboratory first said it discovered a rat poison in samples of Menu's recalled pet food on March 23. The FDA's chief veterinarian, Stephen Sundlof, said Friday that the agency's laboratories had not been able to reproduce those findings. A statement from New York agriculture commissioner Patrick Hooker said her agency stands by its findings.

The FDA has registered 14 animal deaths, 13 cats and one dog, officially connected to the recall. By Friday, the agency had received more than 8,800 calls from pet owners but hasn't had time to investigate those reports, Sundlof says.

Though the industry expressed relief that the culprit appears to have been found, toxicologists are baffled. Scientific literature says melamine is not very toxic, says Steven Hansen, a veterinary toxicologist and director of the ASPCA's Animal Poison Control Center in Urbana, Ill.

Levels for the melamine were as high as 6.6% of the wheat gluten, FDA's Sundlof says.

That would mean if a wet pet food contained even 5% wheat gluten, it would have 3,300 parts per million melamine, Hansen says.

But a study on dogs in 1953 fed them 30,000 parts per million of melamine for one year and "nothing happened," says James Popp, president of the Society of Toxicology.

Hansen notes that cats are more sensitive to toxins than dogs.
 

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-04-01-pet-food-recall_N.htm

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I don't think the FDA knows what the component is that is killing the pets.  And I think they are slowly working up to telling us that this is also in the human food chain.  We consume a tremendous amount of bread, buns and crusts.  What are the ods of this much contaminated wheat being in the country and none getting into the human cycle?

They don't seem at all confident that the Melamine is causing these deaths.

There is a factory in Kansas involved.  Carnut lives in Kansas so perhaps he is protecting the local economy at the expense of breeders, show people and others who have a financial as well as emotional interest.

I will never buy anything that has been around Menu Foods again no matter what they do or say.  I will take my big magnifying glass with me and since I order a lot on the internet, well request the extra information to find out if the food I receive has been near Menu at any time.

It is not an honorable job to lie to people and kill their pets.  People do not need a job like that.  Unemployment is very low and has been for three years.  I am sure the factory workers can find jobs elsewhere where they are not involved in lies and killing those they are supposed to protect, our pets.

.

[Anna]

Mon Apr 2, 8:44 AM ET

Unable to come to terms with the death of their pet dog, an elderly couple in southern India committed suicide by hanging themselves, police said on Monday.

The bodies of 67-year-old retired soldier C.N. Madanraj and his wife, Tarabai, 63, were found on Sunday in their home in a suburb of Hyderabad.

Police said the childless couple had held a burial ceremony for their dog of 13 years, called "Puppy," and hosted a feast for friends before hanging themselves in their bedroom.

"The couple described the grief over their pet dog in the suicide note they left on March 29," said police inspector V. Anantaiah.


Mon Apr 2, 8:44 AM ET

Unable to come to terms with the death of their pet dog, an elderly couple in southern India committed suicide by hanging themselves, police said on Monday.

The bodies of 67-year-old retired soldier C.N. Madanraj and his wife, Tarabai, 63, were found on Sunday in their home in a suburb of Hyderabad.

Police said the childless couple had held a burial ceremony for their dog of 13 years, called "Puppy," and hosted a feast for friends before hanging themselves in their bedroom.

"The couple described the grief over their pet dog in the suicide note they left on March 29," said police inspector V. Anantaiah.


Mon Apr 2, 8:44 AM ET

Unable to come to terms with the death of their pet dog, an elderly couple in southern India committed suicide by hanging themselves, police said on Monday.

The bodies of 67-year-old retired soldier C.N. Madanraj and his wife, Tarabai, 63, were found on Sunday in their home in a suburb of Hyderabad.

Police said the childless couple had held a burial ceremony for their dog of 13 years, called "Puppy," and hosted a feast for friends before hanging themselves in their bedroom.

"The couple described the grief over their pet dog in the suicide note they left on March 29," said police inspector V. Anantaiah.


http://tinyurl.com/2enr99

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Although this happened in India, the senitment is the same for many worldwide, the loss of a pet can be devastating.  I also wonder if the US and Canada are the only ones to receive the contaminated wheat.  I would bet this is going to turn out to be a global problem before it is through and also that it is going to be found in the human food chain.  Better hope the Melamine is the problem as it is less toxic to humans certainly than rat poison.

.