Group Asks If Dry Food Also Suspected in Poisonings; Demands Menu Foods and Iams Immediately Recall All Dry Food Products Until Chemically Tested for Safety
WASHINGTON, March 23 LawFuel – US Law — With news reports indicating that Iams and other pet food companies may have known as early as February 20 that their products might have been tainted, PETA sent an urgent letter today to Daniel G. McChesney, director of the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine Office of Surveillance and Compliance, urging him to investigate Iams and other companies that sell food supplied by Menu Foods and take appropriate actions if the companies knew — yet withheld — information about pet-food contamination.
“Iams and other companies should be held responsible for the companion animal deaths if they had knowledge of the food contamination issue and refused or neglected to alert the public immediately,” says PETA Vice President Bruce Friedrich. “PETA has called for investigations and, if appropriate, cruelty charges against Menu Foods in Canada and Iams in Ohio.”
Consumers are now worried that their animals may have become ill after consuming dry pet food manufactured by Menu Foods, prompting PETA to demand the company immediately recall all dry pet food products until they have been chemically tested for safety. The Seattle-based law firm that is handling a class-action lawsuit against Menu Foods has said it is receiving numerous reports from people attributing their animals’ illness to dry food.
At least 15 cats and one dog are reported to have died of kidney failure after eating food manufactured by Menu Foods and sold under several brand names, including Iams, and veterinarians across the country are reporting daily cases of cats and dogs experiencing renal failure after eating the contaminated food.
“While millions of containers of wet food have been recalled, we also need to ask whether dry food is safe,” says PETA Vice President Bruce Friedrich. “With dogs’ and cats’ lives on the line, we are asking Menu to pull all dry pet food until a full chemical safety analysis has been completed, and we are urging consumers not to buy dry foods manufactured by Menu Foods until the company issues an all-clear.”
PETA’s blog at PETA.org has more information, including a list of products involved in the recall, steps consumers can take, and PETA’s letters to prosecutors. To view video footage of PETA’s undercover investigation into an Iams-contracted laboratory, please visit IamsCruelty.com.
