Here's a link to a summary of the problem. It's from an alternative-health site, but the summary and two links at the end of it are from US papers.

Haven't heard of this being a problem here in Australia, but I must admit I'm concerned about Chinese products myself--manufactured goods are invariably shoddy (and I speak from experience here, not prejudice); and edible goods are not subject to the health and safety regulations of locally grown food.

Here is a link that might be useful: Melamine

Thanks Cestrum but I've already been following it on the US forums on GW. There's been a recall in South Africa and according to the Choice website one Hill's Pet Nutrition product has been recalled here as a precaution because for a couple of months their wheat gluten was coming from the same source as the wheat gluten that caused the problems elsewhere. I just feel uneasy that we are not hearing more. I don't think it's because our regulations are so much tighter than the US that we can afford to be complacent. Experience, not prejudice, I know what you mean.

For those pets that were poisoned but survived, do you know what symptoms they experienced?

Kidney disease - loss of appetite, lethargy, depression, vomiting, diarrhea, sudden changes in water consumption, or changes in the frequency or amount of urination (which may occur with other illnesses too). I got the link below from the lengthy article about this on Wikipedia.

"American Veterinary Medical Association"

link

Thanks for the link; imagine how many Chinese people themselves have been poisoned by China's rush to industrialise. An unhappy story from any angle .

There have been no reports of this problem in Australia to my knowledge, and in the US it only is a problem with certain types of pet food.
Here in Australia we have enough Australian made pet food to keep everyone happy. My daughter is in R & D at one of the major pet food companies in Aus, and quality tests pet food for a living, so I guess I have an interest in saying Buy Australian made.

Yes Cestrum, I don't think OH&S is a big priority over there.

I believe the petfood was made in the US.

The made in Australia from local and imported ingredients labelling worries me even more now.

Yes, that type of labelling is ludicrous--it tells the buyer absolutely nothing. Might as well be unlabelled, for all the info it contains. What surprised me was that some of the brands I recognised were the expensive ones available only from the vet; I'm sure that people paying two or even three times what a supermarket brand costs would not expect the companies to be importing dirt-cheap ingredients from China.

Incidentally, mac, the link you provided for the AVMA had a page on feeding pets homemade food--its advice was to NOT do it! And that's the extent of their objective advice to worried pet owners. It's acknowledged that we couldn't survive exclusively on a diet of manufactured foods, but our cats and dogs apparently can--and, according to the AVMA, should!

My understanding is that some of the contaminated products were fed to pigs and poultry, and so might indeed end up in products sold for human consumption.

I've seen a few anxious queries by people wanting recipes for homemade petfood. When I was a kid we just went to the butcher. When did it get so complicated?

There is really no problem buying meat, and feeding your dog a mixed diet of meat, grains (cooked rice, wholemeal bread soaked in milk, cooked barley, etc) and vegetables. You DO need to make sure that young dogs get sufficient calcium in their diet for their rapidly growing bones, and that older dogs do not get too much fat in their diet. An egg or 2 per week is good too. Avoid cooked bones.
Keep an eye on your dog to make sure that it is not getting constipated, or putting on weight. Most dogs prefer human food to therubbish they get from cans anyway. Much of the canned food is made up from cheap meat (poor quality stock sold cheaply in sales) fish waste, and reconstituted mild products, and clearly a lot of grain. The specialty foods - you know the little expensive packages of gourmet doggy food - will be better quality, and that's why they cost you so much more.
It is simply laziness of vets to tell people to stick to commercial pet food. It just might cost you a little more if you decide to go the fresh food way. Dogs have co-habitted with humans for thousands of years, and coped quite nicely without dog food. I would be a bit worried about the thousands of people who eat canned dog food - how are they being affected and who is taking any notice?