I was really hoping to find a class-action lawsuit I could join - not so much for the money but more to assuage the fury that I feel when I think of how unhappy I am with my "premium" piece of junk Kitchenaid stove. In 2018, when we renovated our kitchen, we decided to “go big” on the appliances, and went with Kitchen-Aid. Up until then, we had been using the old same stove and fridge that came with the house 14 years prior. Neither of the old appliances was a premium brand but they had served us well, and neither had even once required a call to the repairman. Other than the fact that no amount of levelling will allow the door to properly close, I have been fairly happy with the refrigerator. My greatest anticipation, however, lay with the prospect of a new stove with a self-clean feature. Oh BOY! No more sticking my head in an oven covered in corrosive goo and fumes. No more crouching painfully on my knees to scour away the greasy grime. Or so I thought. Then I discovered “Aqua-Lift”, the most useless piece of technology ever conceived of, except for perhaps the Rotato. No. I take that back. The Rotato does what it says it will. I will not even pursue the fact that the Kitchen-Aid broiler sets fire to everything I put in there before it has a chance to actually broil properly, or that the stovetop elements are so hot on the lowest setting that I can’t properly simmer most dishes. Whirlpool’s Aqua-Lift “self-cleaning” feature alone is enough to convince me to never again buy Kitchen-Aid or any other Whirlpool brand. Aqua-Lift, for the uninitiated, is a Whirlpool brainfart that depends on steam to break down the baked-on grease that accumulates inside your oven. If you’ve ever tried the youtube hack where you put a bowl of water in your oven and heat it up so that the steam makes it possible to just wipe it sparkling clean “with NO scrubbing!”, you will know that this method is about as effective as waving a magic wand over the mess. The instructions that come with the stove warn most emphatically that you should not use any kind of cleaning spray or foam to clean the stove or door glass as this can impair the cleaning process and/or damage the surface, and nullify the warranty. And there it is, your Catch-22 – because no amount of steam can reverse the chemical change that occurs when grease gets baked on to the sides of your oven. So, after several earnest tries and and equal number of abysmal failures, I got the big chemical guns out again. I’m back on my hands and knees with my head inside the oven, scrubbing and cursing, and hoping that the cleaner will eat through the grease before it eats through my gloves. I fervently pray that this piece of junk stove breaks down soon so that I can pitch it onto the street for delivery to its most appropriate destination – the dump!!!

"It is reasonable to only own one small dog in a crowded urban area." I merely suggested that those who live in crowded urban areas should choose a dog that would fit in with that lifesyle - such as a small lap dog. A larger dog that needs lots of exercise or any dog that is hyper and active would probably not be suited for city living - especially if the owner were unwilling or unable to walk the dog (on a leash of course). I believe people should look at their lifestyles when deciding whether to have a dog and deciding which dog to select. There are websites set up for this purpose - where you can put your wants and lifestyle in and they will come up with a percentage match of which dog breed might be best for your situation. A dog is a living creature and deserves consideration. It is not wise to buy a dog at the spur of the moment like you would a pack of gum or a soda pop. Such choices often create misery for the dog, owner, and community. "One owner has a limited amount of time, energy, and money to take care of pets - it is reasonable to restrict the amount of pets per household and to restrict who can own dogs and cats." I believe the above is clear and simple but apparently not. I have heard of collectors who believe that they can house and care for an unlimited number of dogs or cats - but this is a form of mental illness. Most sane people would agree that one person or one family can only care for a limited amount of dogs or cats. At some point it gets unreasonable and you are labeled mentally ill collectors. Now should the authorities allow animals and the community to suffer so they can access each situation to see if this person can own 1, 3, 5, 8, 10, 15, 25, 40, 66, 138, etc dogs or cats or should they set some sort of limit or limits based on zoning and space available? Do animal owners pay for animal control to assess each animal owning household or even assess those households with complaints? The answer in most communities is no. Animal control is usually underfunded and undermanned and animals and their owners are out of control. Animal owners whine and whine about regulations and complain about animal cruelty etc. Animal cruelty will probably never end but the one thing that could put a real dent in animal cruelty is strict regulations and strict enforcement. All of us have to conform to regulations and laws because they were deemed to be in the best interest of the community. For instance we must drive our cars under a certain speed. Many of us can drive faster and still be safe. However, many people will push their limits and drive at a speed where they are unable to control their vehicle. So a speed limit had to be established for everybody. Same with traffic lights. Many of us could function without a light telling us when to go and when to stop. However, some of us would not yield to other drivers without that red light and the possibility of a traffic ticket. The examples go on and on. Basically societies have to have rules and regulations to function properly and the larger and more dense the society the more rules and regulations you need. What you would suffer from only owning one or two dogs or owning no dogs if you couldn't handle the responsibilities and costs of dog ownership pales in comparision to those who are drivin out of their homes and made physically ill due to the constant irritation of a barking dog or dogs. Remember by endorsing the status quo you are condoning the abuse and neglect of animals and sacrificing the health and safety of humans in your community. Also you think nothing of those who have had to move out of their homes (often losing the value of their home) due to living near a nuisance barking or a vicious dog and its unstable owners. Nor are you considering people and other animals who have been attacked or attacked and killed due to irresponsible dog owners who create vicious dogs. Your unwillingness to have rules, regulations, and enforcement strikes me as suspicious and selfish. You should welcome rules and regulations to protect all of these abused and neglected dogs and cats. If you are doing the right thing then you shouldn't have much to worry about. If you own a small pack of dogs then giving up a few or moving to a rural more spacious area should not be too much to ask to protect the rights and lives of the community and dogs.

I used Iams for over 17 years - then the dogs didn't seem to do so well on it any more. So 1.5 years ago I switched to Nutro dry kibble. In the month or so before the wet food recall, I noticed my dog's coats weren't as nice, they vomited on/off yellow frothy stuff, and they avoided eating it until the last moment before we went to bed. Sometimes I had to encourage them with people food on it. These are dogs that are 12, have always willingly ate dry kibble, live indoors with us, and never over eat. The vet and I attributed it to hunting dogs doing what they like to do on our long daily walks (we live in the middle of nowhere, where there are many tasty temptations on the trails). Then around the first part of March, one of mine had violent seizures for the first time in her life at age 12. There is a family history; her brother has mild seizures 2-3 times year. so mild we don't medicate for them; and I know they can spring up at any age, so truly that is the most likely answer. However, that day I stopped feeding the Nutro, and began home cooking cold turkey. That strange vomiting with both dogs ended that day (despite the fact I thought switching to such a rich home cooked diet would cause some upset). Coats sleeked back up in short order. Please knock on wood for us, but no seizures yet (I still am reluctant to connect that to the food, because of the dog family history, but need to put it out there because I do think there is something less than fatal in this food that was at the least causing the vomiting/tummy upsets. My girl had a cluster of 6 in less than 24 hours, and it took days before she was "normal", ie pacing for hours, some vision issues, couldn't sleep, wobbly legs, etc.) It was a nightmare. Then I heard about the wet food recall. I thought I was a food snob. I did ask questions, but 1) how can I know if I am not told truthful answers re QC and ingredient issues, and 2) frankly, accidents like a bad batch of X can happen - to both pet and human grade food. I don't know what to think now, except that if commercial wet food has issues with rat poison, plastics poison, god-knows-what-else is still in it that is causing problems less than death in it, too much Vitamin D (the Royal Canin lawsuit, which btw, I had tried the cat food years ago and it was simply awesome at the time, but still, they screwed up)... well, I can guarantee that as a home cooker, I can be more careful than that. I am just lucky that I can make the time to home cook - what a burden that would be in other circumstances for a lot of people. The cat would be harder to do a good home job with; so I am trying Felidae dry kibble. P.S. The store and Nutro were very stand up about taking our returned sacks of dry kibble for full credit.

Most important thing on any pet food label are not the ingredients but the actual nutritional analysis. These lawsuits are a dime a dozen. Animals get cancers, seizures and all types of illnesses for any number of reasons just like people do. I see a lot of people posting on these lawsuit sites that have dogs that are 12 - 15 u years old. Well sheesh those are senior dogs. Younger pets get sick too. Could be genetics, could be environmental,could be viral. People in their grief want something to blame. Pet food is a convenient scapegoat. I wonder how many of these owners gave their dogs people food. I wonder if they know that there are some foods that could be toxic to their pets that are perfectly safe for humans. What toys did their animals play with? Where were they walked? I've lost dogs to cancers. My last dog had a seizure a few months back. I didn't blame his food. he was old. It was his time to be helped across the bridge. I miss him but I sure can't blame his food. Beneful has a large market share due to its availability and price. So it gets more of the blame than a food less widely used. Just like China gets blamed for everything because a lot of things come from there. So people ignore all the US recalls on our organic produce and such and focus on Chinese products due to the sheer volume.