Your Pet's Best Friend

Pet Food Recall

KROGER RECALLS PET FOODS DUE TO POSSIBLE HEALTH RISK

CINCINNATI, Ohio, December 18, 2010 – The Kroger Co. said today it is recalling select packages of pet food sold in some of its retail stores because the products may contain aflatoxin, which poses a health risk to pets.

Kroger stores in the following states are included in this recall: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.

The recall also includes Dillons and Gerbes stores in Kansas and Missouri; Baker’s stores in Nebraska; Food 4 Less stores in Nebraska, Illinois and Indiana (Chicago area); and Jay C, Hilander, Owen’s, Pay Less and Scott’s stores in Illinois and Indiana.

Stores the company operates under the following names are not included in this recall: Ralphs, Fred Meyer, Fry’s, King Soopers, Smith’s, QFC, City Market, Foods Co., and Food 4 Less stores in California and Nevada.

Kroger is recalling the following items: Pet Pride Cat Food sold in 3.5 lb. packages with a sell by date of OCT 23 11 DP and OCT 24 11 DP under the following UPC code: 1111088128 Pet Pride Cat Food sold in 18 lb. packages with a sell by date of OCT 23 11 DP and OCT 24 11 DP under the following UPC code: 1111071357 Pet Pride Tasty Blend Poultry & Seafood Cat Food sold in 3.5 lb. packages with a sell by date of OCT 23 11 DP and OCT 24 11 DP under the following UPC code: 1111088152 Pet Pride Tasty Blend Poultry & Seafood Cat Food sold in 18 lb. packages with a sell by date of OCT 23 11 DP and OCT 24 11 DP under the following UPC code: 1111074580 Pet Pride Kitten Formula Food sold in 3.5 lb. packages with a sell by date of OCT 23 11 DP and OCT 24 11 DP under the following UPC code: 1111071903

Old Yeller Chunk Dog Food sold in 22 lb. packages with a sell by date of OCT 23 11 DP and OCT 24 11 DP under the following UPC code: 1111074566 Old Yeller Chunk Dog Food sold in 50 lb. packages with a sell by date of OCT 23 11 DP and OCT 24 11 DP under the following UPC code: 1111074563 Kroger Value Cat Food sold in 3 lb. packages with a sell by date of OCT 23 11 DP and OCT 24 11 DP under the following UPC code: 1111000018 Kroger Value Chunk Dog Food sold in 15 lb. packages with a sell by date of OCT 23 11 DP and OCT 24 11 DP under the following UPC code: 1111071559

Kroger Value Chunk Dog Food sold in 50 lb. packages with a sell by date of OCT 23 11 DP and OCT 24 11 DP under the following UPC code:1111000108

Aflatoxin is a naturally-occurring toxic chemical by-product from the growth of the fungus Aspergillus flavus on corn and other crops. If your pet shows any symptoms of illness, including sluggishness or lethargy combined with a reluctance to eat, yellowish tint to the eyes and/or gums, and severe or bloody diarrhea, please consult your veterinarian immediately.

The safety of our customers and their pets is important to Kroger. The company is using its Customer Recall Notification system to alert customers who may have purchased these recalled products through register receipt tape messages and automated phone calls. Customers who have purchased a recalled item should not use it and should return it to a store for a full refund or replacement.
Customers who have questions about this recall may contact Kroger toll-free at (800) 632-6900. For more information, please visit www.kroger.com/recalls.

Missouri's Proposition B - Vote No.

Clients and friends have been asking me what I think about Proposition B in our upcoming election.  So, here's what I think.

Who doesn't want to help puppies?  I mean, everybody wants to help puppies.  The question is, does Proposition B actually do that?  A closer reading reveals that it does not.

The apparent purpose of Proposition B is to limit the number of dogs a commercial breeder may have.  There are people who believe that commercial dog-breeding should be eliminated.  That question could be debated on its own merits, but it should not be disguised as an animal welfare issue.

The smoke-screen for this is all the "warm-fuzzy" (but poorly written) stuff about housing and care.  Strict standards are already in place in our present regulations, but the USDA doesn't have the manpower and money to inspect breeders more than twice per year.

This initiative doesn't add any funding or manpower to help enforce the standards that are already in place.  It does make violations a criminal misdemeanor, rather than a cite-and-fine type situation, as it is now.  This places the burden on local law enforcement, who have no expertise, and who are already busy with "real crimes".  Will this actually help any animals?  Not so much.

So, the upshot is that the proponents of Proposition B are trying to severely curtail (if not eliminate)  commercial dog-breeding, and do not care that they are going to throw monkey wrenches far and wide in the process.

Here's another informative link.

And, no, I don't have any clientele who are commercial breeders.
Thanks for asking.

Dog-Fighting

Regular readers may remember that some time back I expounded on the pit bull dog.  Generally speaking, most of the ones I see (who admittedly don't belong to drug-dealers and dog-fighters) are family pets with good dispositions.

The big story on NFL star Michael Vick's dog-fighting operation has brought these concerns to the forefront for a lot of folks.  My friend, Dr. Sheila Hellman, is a great animal lover and activist.  Her career as a physician sometimes seems almost secondary to the amount of time and energy she devotes to rescuing and caring for a large number of animals.    Her letter to me asking me to blog on the dog-fighting subject is eloquent enough for me to just quote it here.

     "...I would like to ask you to consider a blog entry about the recently popularized "sport" of dog-fighting. I have been amazed at the number of well-educated people in my circle (doctors, lawyers, teachers) who had no idea what this was all about, how the dogs are trained and selected, and had no idea that family pets can wind up as bait dogs. I am especially distressed for this reason when I see dogs given away for free by owners who naively believe that only well-meaning folks would come adopt them. They have no idea about bunchers, no idea about dog auctions, no idea that dog fighters will collect them for bait and lie about their intentions.

You may remember my delightful little long-haired dachshund, PoohBear. After he died, I was called by somebody who had been to a puppy mill auction, to come get Oscar, another long-haired dachshund who looked and acted virtually identical to PoohBear. As a senior, he had been for sale for only $5 at the auction when a great dane rescuer realized who was buying him. He was about to be bought by a bait buncher, a guy out to buy as many dirt-cheap dogs as he could to use as bait for training fighting pits. Fortunately, this lady had the presence of mind to run his bid up to $20, and bought him. She then did this for a whole van full of little dogs, shutting down the bait buncher for the day. But you and I know they always have a supply of dogs given away for free.

I am writing to ask you to please use the latest publicity about dog fighting to educate the readers of your blog about this grisly form of torture that awaits many dogs that are given away without careful screening of the new owner. Some very basic screening and a modest adoption fee (one that is more than bunchers want to pay) can help a lot. It turns my stomach that my precious Oscar would have met this fate, and that many other animals meet this fate daily.

Although Michael Vick's carefully prepared statement read by his attorney claims he would like to apologize to everyone who may have been affected by this affair, what I can't figure out is: How do you apologize to dead, tortured dogs?? "

Does Michael Vick think it's okay because what he does for a living is so similar?  It's the only sport where you have to wear body armor.  I well remember a high-school football coach speaking to Kiwanis and saying, "This game is about hitting.  I tell those boys that it's not about strategy or running or throwing. It's about hitting. If you don't have bruises after practice, you're not hitting hard enough." He's not coaching here anymore... recruiting problems.

The fact that you can goad a dog into an aggressive frenzy does not make fighting to the death a "natural activity" for him, as proponents of blood-sport would have you believe. 

I must confess that I am mystified by people who receive vicarious pleasure from the sufferings of others.  As a society, we have an obligation to appeal to the finest in human nature, rather than pandering to its baser appetites. 

The men in Ultimate Fighting competitions may appear to act like the dogs in these fights, but they weren't plucked from the womb and deprived of a normal life in order to make them contestants.

It's time to make "being human" a virtue instead of a failing.

T-Shirt Colors

You may have noticed the logo on the masthead of our KVC website.  This week we'll be adding that to a lighted sign out front.   Brooks Signs in Kennett is doing that for us, and he's also getting into the T-shirt business.  He's got a giant ink-jet printer that prints textile ink directly on the cloth (rather than making transfers and ironing them on).  If you can send him a jpeg file, he can put it on a T-shirt.  I thought the logo might look good on a T-shirt and he made up some for me.  I may wind up getting some of each color as we're not getting a consensus from staff and family on which one everybody likes best.

If you have a strong opinion (on the shirt, I mean), or just think you might be interested in a shirt, leave me a comment. 

I don't think we'll wear these on "casual Friday", but they'll be fine for the gym.  They might be a good recognition item for pets who are exceptionally good at the doctor's office (have to get some really tiny ones for that, though).

Of course, if nobody wants one but me, then I've got the complete set for fashionable gym-wear.