So according to Menu Foods their various brands of dog (and cat) food are now "safe for consumption." That's great but I'm pretty sure that those poor owners that lost their best friends to this disaster are inconsolable. This brings back memories of the effect hurricane Katrina had on the surviving dogs. The images like this one below of dogs stranded in the flood and separated from their owners had to have touched the even hardest of hearts.
Please don't think for one moment that I'm trying to suggest a dogs life is anywhere close to the importance of any human being, dogs themselves would argue against the mere thought of it. But this article is about dogs and that is what I will focus on. What this recent mass pet food recall reminds us of is the responsibility we have taken upon ourselves to dogs having domesticated them while treating them more and more like family. They rely on us for their day-to-day livelihood and well being and just as humans are becoming more exposed to the adverse effects of technological advancement (i.e. radiation), similarly domesticated dogs' immune systems and natural survival instincts are being compromised.
My dog Caesar is a German Shepherd, Labrador and Beagle mix (better known as a mutt), and I just started feeding him dry holistic food about a month before all of this started. I would be enraged if something were to happen to him due to someone else's oversight. Speaking of which what in the world was Melamine doing in pet food anyway? Having said that we all have to learn from this sad episode and not take for granted that the food we eat today and give to our pets goes through countless cycles of processing, packaging, detoxification, additives etc. before it reaches the store counter. With the Internet especially it is easier than ever to obtain up to date information on product recalls and I know it's a habit I will start from this point on. Here is the list of recalled Menu Foods dog foods:
Americas Choice, Preferred Pets
Authority
Award
Best Choice
Big Bet
Big Red
Bloom
Cadillac
Companion
Demoulas Market Basket
Eukanuba
Food Lion
Giant Companion
Great Choice
Hannaford
Hill Country Fare
Hy-Vee
Iams
Laura Lynn
Loving Meals
Meijers Main Choice
Mighty Dog Pouch
Mixables
Nutriplan
Nutro Max
Nutro Natural Choice
Nutro Ultra
Nutro
Ol'Roy Canada
Ol'Roy US
Paws
Pet Essentials
Pet Pride - Good n Meaty
Presidents Choice
Price Chopper
Priority Canada
Priority US
Publix
Roche Brothers
Save-A-Lot Choice Morsels
Schnucks
Shep Dog
Springsfield Prize
Sprout
Stater Brothers
Stop & Shop Companion
Tops Companion
Wegmans Bruiser
Weis Total Pet
Western Family US
White Rose
Winn Dixie
Your Pet
For full details as well as recalled cat foods check out their website.