The FDA has issued a list of observations made during an April 20, 2012 inspection of the Diamond Pet Foods plant in Gaston, SC. The sloppiness of how the plant is maintained provides for numerous ways for the food they manufacture to become contaminated.

The conditions she quotes the FDA report as outlining are pretty terrible, and include food residues stuck to cardboard and duct tape used to repair the equipment, and impossible to clean at all, let along sanitize.

Read the rest of her coverage here, and the complete FDA report here.

And if you can’t confirm that your pet’s food is not made by this company, feed them something else.

Dogs Against Romney will be coordinating with Simon & Schuster next month to help with the launch of the new book, DOG ON THE ROOF! On the Road with Mitt and the Mutt by political satirists Bruce Kluger and David Slavin, with illustrations by Colleen Clapp.

Touchstone/Simon & Schuster began notifying media today of the book’s impending release, saying, “they were the typical American family on a typical American road trip – Dad behind the wheel, Mom in the passenger seat, their five adorable kids piled in the back seat. And, of course, their beloved dog strapped to the roof. Wait…what?”

You can “like” the Dogs Against Romney Facebook page if you want a chance to win a free copy of the book when it’s released in June. You can also buy cool stuff with sayings like “Mitt Is Mean” and “I Ride Inside” on their website, and pre-order the book on Amazon.

Hmmm, maybe it’s time for us to bring back the Bark Obama blog?

Tonight it’s Purina, recalling one lot of its Purina Veterinary Diets OM Overweight Management canned cat food, available through veterinarians in North America.

From their press release:

This precautionary measure is being taken in response to one consumer complaint received by FDA. Analytical testing of the product sample by FDA indicated a low level of thiamine (Vitamin B1). Purina has received no other complaints of thiamine-related or any other health issues related to this product.

The only lot of food they have identifed as being recalled is the 5.5 ounce cans with a “best by” date of June 2013 and production code 11721159 38100 – 13810.

Read more information, including what to do if you’re feeding the recalled food and signs of feline thiamine deficiency, here.

This recall is not related to the ongoing Diamond Pet Foods salmonella recall.

The company announced the recall last night on their Facebook page, saying:

Just a few hours ago, Solid Gold received information that two batches of our foods were made at the Diamond Gaston plant around the same time period as some of the previously recalled foods of other brands. Though we have had zero complaints about these particular batches, we have decided to recall them as a precautionary measure. Due to the time difference between us and the appropriate FDA office, there was not enough time in the day to further discuss this voluntary recall with the FDA. We are announcing this now because we know our customers are concerned and didn’t want an entire night to go by without this information being available to the public. Tomorrow morning (May 8th), after speaking with the FDA, Solid Gold will officially institute a voluntary recall of two batches of food made at the Diamond Gaston facility.

The same notice, including lot/batch numbers of recalled products, is currently on their website’s “News” page, but not on the main page.

This just underscores our earlier advice: Regardless of whether your pet’s food has been recalled or not, at this time, if you cannot establish with certainty that your pet’s food is not manufactured by Diamond, feed something else for the time being.

• Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul
• Kirkland (C0stco brand)
• Country Value
• Diamond
• Diamond Naturals
• Premium Edge
• Professional
• 4Health
• Taste of the Wild
• Natural Balance
• Wellness
• Canidae
• Apex

We’ve heard an uncomfirmed but credible report that some production codes listed on the Diamond recall page are incomplete or incorrect, and that more cat food is involved in this recall than is currently being reported. We’ll update if and when that information is verified.

In the meantime, our advice remains the same: If your pet has been eating recalled foods, contact your veterinarian, and if you cannot obtain absolute confirmation that Diamond doesn’t manufacture your pet’s food, switch to something else for the time being.

Please ping us in the comments if you find additional information.

Starting on Friday, the day traditionally used by corporate and government PR to dump news they’re hoping won’t get much media attention, we’ve been hearing about an ever-expanding list of dog and cat foods being recalled for salmonella contamination. The foods were manufactured under a variety of brand names by Diamond Pet Food. The list of confirmed recalled brands is now up to 12 from the 8 we knew about 24 hours ago.

As Honest Dog BFF Therese Kopiwoda said last night in her open letter to the pet food industry:

Rather than posting recalls and making sure you have a staff to answer calls from concerned, even frantic, pet owners you choose to post your pet food recalls then hit the doors. That’s pretty darn cowardly and downright disrespectful. You’re essentially telling the people who support you that there’s a good chance they may be feeding their pets food that will make them sick, or even kill them. And that it might do the same to them. Then you turn around and say, “but I don’t have time to talk to you about it right now.” What a slap in the face to everyone who has patronized your company!

The real killer here is that Diamond has always known what products were manufactured at the plant implicated in its original recall, first announced in early April. So has the FDA. So have the companies. If someone had given me a list of those products, I’d have told everyone I know to stop feeding them for the time being.

But we were cheated out of that information by the companies, the FDA, and Diamond. Even as individual distributors and retailers were being informed, consumers were left to find out purely by chance over the weekend, when they were the least likely to read about it online.

Important exception: Costco, which did direct phone notification of all customers who purchased their Kirkland brand pet foods. That’s how you come out of a crap storm smelling like a rose.

The FDA has long contended that it can’t release information when all the facts haven’t been nailed down. I think that means they’re putting corporations above public health, but okay. Fine. No such consideration stopped Diamond, but they still let the affected or potentially affected brands leak out to consumers slowly and indirectly.

This morning, we got the last of the unconfirmed recalls verified: Canidae. But they did let their distributors know 24 hours ago, as reported by Therese Kopiwoda at PetSitUSA. That’s how you come out of a crap storm smelling like crap.

My advice? If your pet’s food is being produced by a “Friday night dumper-and-runner,” even when this recall is over (and it’s bound to end someday, right?), give your pet food dollars, and entrust your pet’s health and life, to someone else.

And for now: If your pets have eaten any of the recalled foods, call your vet, and unless you have absolutely verified that your pet’s food was not manufactured by Diamond, feed something else until you know for sure.

Oh, and watch out for Friday nights.

It’s Friday night, a time when your corporate overlords like to issue their bad news, in the hopes that you’ll all be distracted by the upcoming weekend and not notice it.

We’re here to help make sure that doesn’t happen.

The bad news this Friday night is starting to feel eerily familiar in two ways.

One, it’s yet another expansion of Diamond Pet Food’s rolling recall, due to salmonella contamination. They have now identified at least 9 10 11 12 13 14 confirmed brands of both dog and cat food that have been affected:

• Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul
• Kirkland (C0stco brand)
• Country Value
• Diamond
• Diamond Naturals
• Premium Edge
• Professional
• 4Health
• Taste of the Wild
• NEW: Natural Balance
• NEW: Wellness
• NEW: Canidae
• NEW: Apex
• NEW: Solid Gold

Two, did you know one company manufactured all those brands of pet food under all those different labels? Did you know you were trusting your pet’s health to Diamond Pet Foods when you bought Taste of the Wild, or Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul, or Costco’s Kirkland brand of foods?

And does that remind you of anything? Like the 2007 pet food recall, when pet owners across at least four continents were stunned learn that hundreds of different brands of pet food were being manufactured by one company that no one had ever heard of, Menu?

You can read Diamond’s latest press release here. It will tell you what lot numbers, brands, and production dates are involved — or rather, they’ll tell you what they know as of tonight. It will also tell you that if your pet has eaten recalled foods, you should call your veterinarian.

Here’s what I’ll tell you: Unless you have absolute evidence that your pet’s food is not manufactured by Diamond, stop feeding it.

And although this is not really an issue for the readers of this blog, you might want to make sure your friends and family get not just that message, but this one, too: The Centers for Disease Control is reporting that 14 people have been confirmed sick with salmonella infections contracted from handling contaminated pet food involved in this recall — and 5 of them are hospitalized.

This isn’t Diamond’s first time at the rodeo when it comes to recalls, and I’m not letting them off the hook in any way. But the bottom line is this: The way we produce food in this country is not safe, and we will continue to see outbreaks like this until we pass food safety legislation with teeth and consequences.

Some of the reforms we wanted to see after the 2007 recall have been made law, such as granting the FDA mandatory recall authority. But country of origin and contact information for the actual manufacturer of the product are still not required on labels.

People are still shocked to find out that one company is manufacturing many brands of food.

And the FDA is still protecting corporations above people by holding back on mandating recalls if a specific pathogen/toxin has not been identified, as is happening with the months-long investigation into pet deaths from jerky treats. Pets are dead, and all the FDA does is warn us.

Our pets can’t get disgusted at how crappy our food safety system is and start sourcing safer foods. Only we can do that for them. And until we do, corporations will continue to take food safety lightly, knowing that we aren’t likely to withdraw our support from them just because of a few poisoned sacks, pouches, or cans of pet food.

Prove them wrong.

Sincerely,

The Team at Honest Dog

ETA: Canidae, Wellness, and Natural Balance may also be affected, as reported by Therese Kopiwoda at PetSitUSA. We will update if/when that’s confirmed.

ETA 2: Natural Balance recall has been confirmed.

ETA 3: Wellness recall has been confirmed; h/t to Blue from the comments.

ETA 4: Canidae recall is now confirmed.

ETA 5: Apex brand foods now added to recall; h/t to Therese at PetSitUSA.

ETA 6: On Monday, May 7, Solid Gold announced on its Facebook page it was recalling some of its products, made by Diamond, as well.

Although I was fine with Riker’s choice, unfortunately this meant Sisko had no respect for the old man. None at all. He would growl at Riker if the old dog moved into what Sisko decided was his space. He wouldn’t let Riker pick up a toy anywhere near Sisko. In other words, Sisko was a snot to the old dog.

Most of the time I let the dogs work things out but I won’t stand for a punk (canine or human) kid picking on an old man (human or canine). So I often stepped in.

So when Riker passed away I figured that if nothing else, because Sisko wouldn’t have the old man to pick on, things would be calmer. Huh! Dream on, Liz. And to be truthful I think I knew there would be some jockeying around – a change in the seating arrangement of my household – but I was hoping for a little more calm. Not that things are bad; they’re not by any means. I just enjoy a peaceable kingdom.

In the last few weeks, Sisko, who is smack dab in the middle of adolescence, has been pushing Bashir. Not bad – just pushing. Like a teenager pushing a parent, “Can I? Huh? Can I? Why not? But my friends can? Why?”

But Sisko isn’t dumb. When Bashir is starting to get a little ticked off, Sisko throws himself to his back right in front of Bashir. And I mean he throws himself! All four legs in the air, head to the side with throat bared. When Bashir stands over him and growls, Sisko freezes. When Bashir turns away, Sisko dashes to his feet and play bows, “I’m a cute puppy and surely you love me!”

Thankfully Bashir is a good leader, a good teacher. He and Sisko play together well and Bashir has the patience of a saint although he does enforce correct canine social rules.

But Sisko made a mistake this evening.

After dinner, Xena, the Warrior Cat, came into the living room with the dogs and I. She wandered in, stretched, and settled on the carpet, lying on her side. Sisko came up to her pawed her once in the middle of her belly and stuck his nose where it shouldn’t be. Xena immediately – with lightning reflexes – showed him why she’s called the Warrior Cat. Yiping and rubbing his nose on the carpet, he moved away and gave her lots of space. When I finished laughing (I know, I’m a bad dog Mom!) I checked him over and she actually just barely touched his nose with a claw.

As I’m writing this, the big bold teenager is behind my legs and feet acting quite contrite. Bashir is over next to Xena and I would put money on the fact that they are probably plotting new ways to torture the teenager.

Riker is on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge laughing. Good boy, Riker!

 Top photo: Riker

Bottom photo: Xena, Warrior Cat

Both photos by Liz Palika

(D)ogs and cats suffered during her two-year stint as ACC’s medical director because she was repeatedly undermined by a pencil-pushing administrator who ignored her medical advice.

She alleges that ACC Executive Director Charlene Pedrolie, who left the agency in 2009, “would often dismiss or override medical decisions, which I made, without sufficient knowledge and with no sound justification.”

Pedrolie ignored complaints about a Manhattan shelter staffer who repeatedly made mistakes about “euthanasia decisions,” the suit claims.

When the staffer sent a pooch that should have been reunited with its worried owner to the death chamber, Cruse complained, but Pedrolie allegedly told her to mind her own business.

Neither Dr. Cruse nor any representatives from NYACC commented to the New York Post about the lawsuit.

I’ll update with other coverage of the lawsuit; please post links in the comments if you come across them.

Kindred Spirits Dog Training is busy; we’re teaching anywhere from ten to twelve classes a week plus any behavior consultations that are scheduled. Those classes range from puppy classes through basic obedience, trick training, CGC, therapy dog and more. Thankfully I have some very good friends who are also instructors and assistant instructors. We have a great crew but there’s always work to do to prepare for classes. And clean up afterwards.

Writing is busy, too, with two books to write this spring plus several articles and other projects. Plus market last year’s books.

Then I want to turn the room that was my old office into a guest room. So far the carpet has been torn up and I’ve decided on the wall color and what floor I’m putting down. And that’s it. Hopefully no one shows up to spend the night.

My to do list also has some house maintenance, garden chores, the vegetable garden, the Red Dragon needs an oil change, and well, a bunch of other stuff.

I often find myself so focused on accomplishing what ‘needs’ to be done that forget that life shouldn’t spin around my to do list. So, I’ve been making time to have fun with the dogs and with friends.

It’s amazing how simple it is to have some fun when you allow yourself to do it. The big ball that Bashir has in the top photo is great fun. Without any help from me other than some encouragement he’s learning how to direct it, steer it, and move it through obstacles. The ball is so big Bashir can’t even see over the top of it and that alone has caused some major giggles.

Our landlord at Kindred Spirits brought in several big piles of dirt to level some of the property and to fill in some dips and holes. So for two days there were six big piles of dirt. They might as well have had signs on them, “Dogs dig here.” Bashir acted as if a million gophers were hidden in the dirt. He didn’t find a single one but had great fun trying. Sisko just sat on top like king of the hill. Me? I laughed so hard at my dignified Bashir digging away I almost had an accident. Almost.

Yep, it’s important to make time to have fun.

Photos by Liz Palika