| Time for a class action suit, folks:
A Chicago woman sued Menu Foods on Tuesday, alleging the pet food manufacturer delayed announcing a recall of 60 million containers of dog and cat food despite knowing its products were contaminated and potentially deadly.
Dawn Majerczyk, 43, said her orange tabby, Phoenix, fell sick last week just two days after he ate a single package of Special Kitty. It is one of 95 cat and dog food brands recalled by Menu Foods of Canada. Friday's recall came two weeks after nine cats died during routine company taste tests of its products, the Food and Drug Administration said.
This is outrageous! MenuFoods knew this product was deadly as early as last month! I am absolutely floored that they allowed deadly products into the marketplace after animals died during internal testing.
A responsible company would have immediately halted distribution and issued a recall. A responsible company would publicly name it's wheat gluten supplier so that other companies could ensure their products are not tainted.
There is absolutely no justification for waiting for the public to begin complaining before recalling those deadly products. None whatsoever. And refusing to name the supplier of the bad wheat gluten is the height of corporate hubris and irresponsibility. Related articles:
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| People, please continue to keep a close eye on the MenuFoods recall site. More products are being added daily, the latest being the popular Science Diet brand.
Although MenuFoods will only confirm nine deaths, pet owner websites and message boards have been flooded with reports of deaths and sicknesses. Hundreds, if not thousands, of companion animals have been effected in the past few weeks.
The FDA has confirmed 13 deaths and sent inspectors to wheat gluten plants in New Jersey and Kansas. They've also begun screening samples of pet food for toxins that induce kidney failure. But what floored me was learning that the Kansas plant had already been cited by the FDA back in 2004!
As a pet owner, I find this situation reprehensible and unacceptable. As responsible pet owners, we all try to do everything we can to ensure the safety, health, and happiness of our companion animals. They give us unconditional love and we give it in return. Imagine how awful Ms. Majerczyk feels, knowing that had MenuFoods done the right thing, her kitty would still be alive today. The guilt a pet owner feels when he or she does something unintentionally harmful to their pet must be unbearable. My sympathies are with everyone who's lost their beloved friends due to MenuFoods's gross neglect. And frankly, I hope that this turns into a class action lawsuit. MenuFoods deserves to be driven out of business over this.
IMPORTANT UPDATE: PetConnections.com has setup an online database and they are asking people to report pet illnesses and deaths. Shortly after I posted this on the Big Orange, several users piped up who'd lost pets. Not suprising, considering that Pet Connections is reporting over 200 pet deaths reported to their database.
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