Poisonous Pet Food

A series of misfortune, combined with outright criminal negligence, has led to the recall of 95 brands of pet food found to be laced with aminopterin, a chemical used in rat poison. So far, according to Menu Foods, the company responsible, there have been 16 confirmed animal deaths, although vets estimate the actual number to be in the thousands. Sad and angry pet owners have filed a series of class action lawsuits against the Canadian contract manufacturer, but are likely to find that the law is against them.

The chemical in question was found in wet pet food called "cuts and gravy". Apparently, the wheat gluten used to thicken the gravy was responsible, being tainted with the rat poison. When fed to pets, the aminopterin caused kidney failure and often death. The contamination affected 95 brands of pet food, all of which were manufactured by Menu Foods.

Needless to say, this turn of events has generated quite a bit of anger. And rightly so. Menu Foods received reports of pets dying after eating the tainted food as early as a month before they announced the recall. Rather than doing anything about it, or even stopping producing food with the tainted wheat gluten, Menu Foods began a "taste testing" program, in which several animals were fed the tainted food, to see if it was, in fact, poison. It was, and the animals died. At that point, the company announced a recall, but not before the damage was done.

Obituaries were published and funeral services were held for the dead pets, and then the lawyers came. So far, several different class action suits have been filed against the Canadian company on the part of grieving pet owners. Unfortunately, the pet owners will likely soon discover that the law does not treat animals as humans, and does not see their accidental killing as anything to worry about.

In fact, the rage that pet owners are feeling is a result of what the pet industry terms "humanization." The 40.8 billion dollar pet industry is full of fancy and expensive products sold to pet owners who think of their pets as children, in addition to the regular pet food bought for ordinary people who love their cats. Regardless, the pet food industry is not nearly as tightly regulated as is the industry of human food, and although the rat poison used is not allowed in the US, it is legal in China, and there are no laws against using the questionable Chinese wheat.

Pet owners everywhere are quite right in being so angry.
Sources:
http://www.economist.com
http://www.nytimes.com