Diamond Pet Food Withdraws Products in Response to American Nutrition Inc. Pet Food Recall Contact: Diamond Pet Food Media Hotline (888) 207-6208 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- Meta, MO -- April 26, 2007 -- Because of the canned pet food recall initiated today by American Nutrition Inc., Diamond Pet Foods has announced it is withdrawing a limited number of canned products manufactured by American Nutrition. This action is limited to three specific canned products: Diamond Lamb & Rice Formula for Dogs 13 oz. cans, Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul Kitten Formula 5.5 oz. cans, and Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul Puppy Formula 13 oz. cans. ........................................................ Chenango Valley Pet Foods Issues Voluntarily Nationwide Recall of Certain Pet Foods Contact: Dennis J. Bobita (610) 821-0608 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- April 26, 2007 -- Chenango Valley Pet Foods is working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and voluntarily recalling pet foods manufactured with a certain shipment of rice protein concentrate. The company was informed by Wilbur-Ellis that the rice protein concentrate shipped to Chenango Valley Pet Foods may be contaminated with melamine, and instructed Chenango Valley Pet Foods to recall any pet foods manufactured with the rice protein concentrate. Melamine is an industrial chemical used to make plastics and fertilizers that may lead to illness or fatalities in animals if consumed. The pet foods were sold to customers in Wisconsin, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, who further sold the products to their customers through catalog mail-orders or retail outlets. Only the following dry pet foods are involved in the recall: DOCTORS FOSTER & SMITH CHICKEN & BROWN RICE FORMULA ADULT LITE DOG FOOD, NET WT. 5 LBS., 12.5 LBS, and 25 LBS; Code dates: Best Used By Jan 24, 09; Best Used By Feb 8, 09; Best Used By Feb 26, 09; Best Used By April 10, 09; Best Used By April 17, 09; DOCTORS FOSTER & SMITH CHICKEN & BROWN RICE FORMULA ADULT LITE CAT FOOD, NET WT. 3 LBS. and 7 LBS.; Code date: Best Used By March 13, 09; LICK YOUR CHOPS LAMB MEAL, RICE & EGG CAT FOOD, 4 LBS. packages, Code date: Best Used By April 29, 08; Bulk CHICKEN & BROWN RICE FORMULA ADULT LITE DOG FOOD sold to one consignee (SmartPak) in a 2000 lbs. tote, Ship date: Feb 9, 2007. .................................................... Joint News Release: FDA and USDA Determine Swine Fed Adulterated Product USDA to Compensate for Depopulation The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today notified State authorities that swine fed adulterated product will not be approved to enter the food supply. Based on information currently available, FDA and USDA believe the likelihood of illness after eating pork from swine fed the adulterated product would be very low; however, the agencies believe it is prudent to take this measure. FDA determined that a shipment of rice protein imported from China was contaminated with melamine and melamine-related compounds. The product was imported during the week of April 2, 2007 by Wilbur-Ellis, an importer and distributor of agricultural products. The rice protein was used in the production of pet food and a byproduct was used to produce animal feed. The contaminants in question include melamine and melamine-related compounds, including cyanuric acid, the combination of which is a potential source of concern in relation to human and animal health. Scientific research indicates that melamine alone, at detected levels, is not a human health concern. However, no scientific data exist to ascertain the effects of combining melamine and melamine-related compounds. Therefore, a determination has not yet been made regarding the safety of the product. Because the animal feed in question was adulterated, USDA cannot rule out the possibility that food produced from animals fed this product could also be adulterated. Therefore, USDA cannot place the mark of inspection on food produced from these animals. USDA is offering to compensate producers who euthanize swine that were fed the adulterated product. USDA is authorized to use Section 32 funds to restore farmers purchasing power. USDA is also offering the expertise and assistance of Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) personnel in carrying out depopulation activities, to ensure animals are euthanized and disposed of in accordance with Federal and State laws. FDA and FSIS are coordinating with State authorities in eight states where the adulterated feed is known to have been purchased. Eight pork producers in the states of California, Kansas, North Carolina, New York, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Utah are known to have purchased the feed. These combined operations involve approximately 6,000 hogs. All of the animals are currently being held under state quarantines in CA, NC, NY and SC. In KS, OK and UT producers agreed to hold the animals until further notice. Authorities are also in contact with a feed mill in Missouri that might have received adulterated feed. Pork and pork products derived from animals that were fed the adulterated product will also be destroyed. In CA and UT, pork from federally inspected plants is being held under FSIS direction. In SC, a state inspected plant is voluntarily holding swine that were fed the adulterated product. FSIS, FDA and state authorities are in the process of determining whether any meat from animals that were fed the adulterated product has entered commerce. If that has occurred, FSIS will work with states and industry to take the appropriate action. FDA and FSIS are continuing the effort to trace the adulterated feed. If additional producers are identified who fed the adulterated product to animals, they will also be offered compensation by USDA for depopulation and disposal. ..............................................

Two points. Torture is a relative term. Is it torture when a lion catches an antelope and begins eating it before the antelope is completely dead? Is it torture for the antelope to be chased by the lion? Is there really any difference between the terrified antelope and a cow being forced up a killing chute and killed quickly with a blow to the head? Humanoids have eaten plants and animals since before we were Homo sapiens. We killed animals however we could. Forcing herds over a cliff and leaving most of the animals to rot, since there were too many to eat before the rest began to decay. Most people in the US are appalled by the thought of eating dog or horse meat. Because we have enough wealth to keep those animals as pets, making them more special to us. I can't visualize eating monkey meat and I would never open a clam/oyster and eat the insides. I have tried roasted opossum(once was enough---greasy, nasty tasting) and like rattlesnake. I've butchered chickens, hogs, and cows, processed them, cooked them, and enjoyed eating them. What people eat is what they grow up eating. Point two. Everything dies. Some things die quickly, some die slowly. Ever see a cow or deer with wasting disease? Or a starved horse or a dog? Pitiful sights. Makes me mad. People have the ability to choose what they want to eat. Those same people have no right to force me to abide by their beliefs---like PETA(I like my version of P(eople)E(ating)T(asty)A(nimals). You want to eat chocolate covered spiders? Have at. Don't be surprised if I say "No Thanks".

One of the reasons that Whole Dog Journal will not put a dog food on their "approved" list without the manufacturer freely giving out the name of the manufacturing plant when asked by a legitimate inquiry is that such full disclosure helps guard against the kind of accident that occurred in 2007. Many of the small dog food companies have their foods made at plants that manufacture for many different companies. Knowing that the precise ingredients that the individual manufacturer specified for their food were used in the manufacture of it is part of the trust that small companies must have in these "batch" manufacturing plants. At least one pet food plant used ingredients not specified by the pet food manufacturers whose food they were making, according to Wikipedia's article on Protein Adulteration in China Having the name of the plant that manufactures your food easy to look up in case of a food contamination event allows consumers to decide whether to buy other foods made at that plant. Given all of that work that WDJ does to get this info for us, it is pretty obvious that the plants that are making these foods are right here in the US and Canada. The protein supplement that was imported from China was criminally poisoned with the addition of melamine plastic in 2006 and 2007 and there is evidence that there was a similar outbreak in 2005 (see the Wikipedia link below). Chinese companies who participated in this in 2006 and 2007 that poisoned our pets were not immediately sanctioned, and the milk industry went on to commit horrific poisoning of baby formula and milk products in China that was not discovered until May 2008 and not made public until August or September. Milk products from China shipped all over the world were found to have melamine in them even into 2009. From Wikipedia: "Two people were executed, one given a suspended death penalty, three people receiving life imprisonment, two receiving 15-year jail terms,[6] and seven local government officials, as well as the Director of the Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), being fired or forced to resign. Yes, all that had to do with the poisoning of babies and others who drank the milk in China. It only came to light because a New Zealand affiliate of the Chinese milk company kept insisting that something was wrong and had to be investigated. Melamine can be manufactured from urea (a concentrated part of urine), coal, and other sources. Urea and other nitrogen sources are added to the feed of ruminants (multi-stomach animals, animals who chew a cud) to increase the nitrogen level because they can get protein's nutrition from these non-food sources due to their unique digestive processes. THAT is how melamine started being put into food - the waste from making it was used in cattle feed. when it was made from urea. A crude way to measure how much protein is in a food is to measure the nitrogen level. Melamine, urea, and some other non-foods increase the nitrogen level without adding to the nutritional level (except for ruminant feed). So now, they have to use more sophisticated testing methods to test foods for animals and people. Because people cannot be trusted, in capitalist or socialist countries, not to poison each other for profit or to make their expected output! This all goes back to my sneaking feeling that this planet can only healthily sustain a very tiny fraction of the people we have living here. If we can't eat whole foods, or feed whole foods to our meat livestock and pets, then we are going to have this kind of thing happen. I have been discussing the need to change our diets to "no processed foods" with my fellow chronically ill friends online. Most of us had no children. It is turning out that this is a good thing.

Hi Stellabee! I am going to point out a couple of logical flaws in your post. Please don't take it personally. I have absolutely nothing against feeding raw. I just want to give you feedback on your reasoning as posted in your reply to this thread. Foxes (wild animals related to dogs, in the Family Canidae and Sub-Family Caninae, but in a different Genus and Species) do better on raw meat. Cooked meat gives them illness. Therefore, dogs (descended from wolves long ago, so in the same Genus and Species as wolves) should not eat cooked meat. That is: Fox + Cooked = Illness Dogs = Wolves Therefore Dogs + Cooked = Illness See the problem with the logic? There is nothing to connect Foxes with Dogs. This is not a logical argument. Next you say that modern meat is deficient in nutrients because of the way it is farmed. Lack of nutrients causes arthritis. Therefore feed your dog raw meat. So: Modern Meat = Lack of Nutrients Lack of Nutrients = Arthritis Therefore feed your dog Raw Modern Meat You don't specifically say to feed Modern Meat, but I don't see any directions on what else the Raw Meat is to be made of, so I must assume it is Modern Meat. Again, the logic does not follow. You tell us to feed the dogs the deficient meat, simply Raw. How does this help with arthritis? You do not say anything to explain why feeding Raw contributes to the nutritional value of the Modern Meat. You state that the Modern Meat never had the nutrients. Next, you tell us that carbs are not needed in a carnivore's diet. I wondered about this, given that many carnivores eat fruits and berries when available. So I went to Wikipedia: "A hypercarnivore is an animal which has a diet that is more than 70% meat, with the balance consisting of non-animal foods such as fungi, fruits or other plant material.[1][2] Some examples include the big cats, dolphins, wolves, eagles, snakes, marlin, most sharks. Virtually all members of the Canidae and Felidae are hypercarnivores in their natural state, including the domesticated dog and cat." There is also a subdivision of hyper carnivores that must eat only animal-based food. They are called "obligate carnivores." Cats are considered obligate carnivores, but dogs are not. As you point out, dogs are descended from Grey Wolves. Again from Wikipedia: "Wolves supplement their diet with fruit and vegetable matter: they willingly eat the berries of mountain ash, lily of the valley, bilberries, blueberries and cowberry. Other fruits include nightshade, apples and pears. They readily visit melon fields during the summer months." So carbs are a natural part of the wolf diet. This is research that disagrees with your contention that wolves do not eat carbs. Peas are carbs. If you don't want to give your dog carbs, why the peas? Another logical issue with your reasoning. That does not mean you should feed your dog something that it has developed an allergy to, though. I would never advocate for that. You simply need to figure out what the dog is allergic to. It may not be so much a reasoning problem as it is a writing problem. Take more time with writing to make sure you are saying what you intended to say. Using the logical breakdowns like I did above will help you ensure that you are getting your message across in your writing.