Pet food company says it will help out with vet bills

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Omaha World Herald

Published Saturday | April 7, 2007
Pet food company says it will help out with vet bills
BY JOHN KEENAN
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

Some Omaha-area pet owners whose animals ate food that later was recalled are getting a little help with the vet bills.

Hill's Pet Nutrition Inc. has contacted some local animal clinics, offering to pay $100 per customer. The payment is in addition to refunds for the pet food purchased through the veterinarians.

Nearly 100 store and major brand pet foods were recalled March 16 by manufacturer Menu Foods Inc.

Hill's Pet Nutrition so far appears to be the only brand that has contacted veterinary offices about reimbursing people for medical bills.

Read more: http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1208&u_sid=2361027

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I posted this local story in LBN because I'm sure Omaha isn't the only city this is happening in.

[youngdem]

1. There needs to be legislation that calls for

1. penalties for pet food makers for including non-listed, inappropriate, unapproved, or spoiled ingredients. Testing/enforcement can easily be paid for with a $.10 per bag fee, since batch testing is really all that would need to be done.

2. Adding loss of a pet to what people can sue for emotional distress for. I think 99% of people would agree that an emotional loss and suffering is incurred when a pet dies, especially an untimely death. However, pets are considered property only under the law, so you cannot currently recover emotional 'pain and suffering' type damages if your pet is killed due to someone's negligence. This must be changed, both out of a sense of fairness and because the additional potential damages will act as a deterrent.

3. Require by law that illnesses/contamination, etc. be reported to the public within so many days of the company becoming aware, and creating a public notice system through vets and pet stores, and create HUGE penalties for failing to inform the public inside the reporting deadline. Right now, it is a patchwork of laws, as evidenced by the slow reporting and wildly varying numbers reported of dead and ill animals.

4. Require that food and treat manufacturers pay for ANY and ALL medical bills arising from current and future contamination.


Really, all we have to do to make our pets safe is to make it too expensive not to be responsible.

[Rene]

2. NONE of these recalled brands should be allowed back on the market. There's way to many brands

anyway when we find they're all made the same way/by the same manufacturer. They should focus on making quality foods without all the animal organ and odd parts, like chicken beaks/claws......just simply make a good product for our pets. I'm appalled when I open some cans....it's ghastly stuff that smells awful. I don't think any animal should eat another animals organs.


and WHY isn't Fancy feast/Friskies on the recall list when they contains Wheat Gluten also?

[FlaGranny]

3. Animal diets

Rene, I know that animal organs might seem gross to us humans, but animals in the wild always eat the contents of the abdominal cavity first. That includes the stomach, the intestines, the liver, and the kidneys. The difference is that those internal organs are fresh. When the manufacturers put all those ground up organs in pet food, I'm sure they are all not from the freshest, healthiest animals, and a probably less safe than an animal's natural diet.

I used to have a cat that was a good ratter. That cat always ate the entire front half of the rat, including all the internal organs and intestines, and never bothered at all with the back legs and tail.

[melnjones]

4. you beat me to it. nt.

[kestrel91316]

7. THANK YOU. I no longer have the patience to explain Biology 101

to people who know nothing about the real world........

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Doremus]

9. Your rudeness is uncalled for.

Your smartass remarks like "what cave did you crawl out of" precipitate many of the snarky replies you receive.

You could cut the holider-than-thou attitude while you're at it too.

[catgirl]

12. Kestrel is obviously into big business

A lobbyist perhaps? His/her rudeness shows that these people
are scared. They will be held accountable for pet deaths. I fear
that this is much bigger and includes human food as well. Hopefully
the whole story will come out ASAP.

[kestrel91316]

5. Funny thing, though. I don't think this is going to cost them very much

compared to Menu Foods or Iams. They are REALLY being hit hard.

A majority of my patients are on Hill's, either Science Diet or Prescription Diet, and NOT ONE SINGLE CASE OF ARF has turned up here. They pulled the Savory Cuts PDQ (and they got their gluten for it from another supplier, sources inside Hill's tell me). The M/D dry is only for a limited type of patient - I only have one cat on that particular food, and the owner bought the bag before they made the bad batch.

Compared to Iams and the others, Hill's will have very little reimbursing to do. Lucky for them, and they have done a good job of stepping up to the plate. IMHO Iams has, too.

[Critters2]

8. Their "cuts and gravy" is made by the same people and with the same crap

as the Wal-Mart stuff. This does not speak well for Hill's, and my cats will never eat Hill's again. Premium food my ass!

[Doremus]

10. "Premium" as in "profits" -- for them and whoever prescribes it. n/t

[Critters2]

11. Yep. I'm guessing Kestrel sells Hill's and not Sunshine because the commission is larger. nt