Hi all

Here is a link to my online radio interview with Barry Eaton - programme 216 Feb 12

http://www.radiooutthere.com/blog/

Cheers


TCM

OK can someone contact the owners of the Itchmo site and ask them for access to that information? Somehow?

I remember seeing a link to their blog somewhre - was it on this site? when people were asking where has Itchmo gone?

We need that information.

Maxymia is absolutely right we need to do some serious digging here.

When the pet food association of australia has started to hint something about Canadian manufacturers then clammed up (which they did to one colleague of mine) there might be a smoking gun we need to look for the bullets.

Of course the pet food assoc of Aust could just be mischievously protecting its own manufacturer members in Australia by creating some concern about imported food from Canada but it's still worth following up.

So if Coontuffy can bring herself to respond in spite of the feelings this might churn up, in Gizmo's memory perhaps, we would greatly appreciate it. We may be able to show something that would save future cats from this terrible death/paralysis.

Also does anyone know notsoape from the UK site? We could perhaps contact her also.

I think it's important we do this, am in total agreement with you Maxymia.

Thanks everyone.

I watched the videos of Gus and Maurice.
I found myself sobbing my eyes out.

My husband came in and asked why I was crying.
Without saying one word, I showed him the videos.

His only comment was that those poor kitties look exactly like Gizmo looked, before he died last January.  Gizmo was dragging his hind quarters and flopping all over.  I cried even harder.  I'm sorry, but I still miss him horribly and despite 5 different vets and specialty vets, we were given 5 different diagnoses. 


Mu husband asked what was wrong and I told him that these were the poor Orijen AU kitties.

My husband got my Gizmo diary and we read back through our whole ordeal.
Gizmo was eating only Orijen as dry.  He was the only one getting it regularly, as we were trying to maintain his weight with both wet and dry.  The other 5 would only get 2-3 pieces of the kibble.

Makes me wonder if the bags were irridiated before the food went in and was shipped to the US.

Kaffe, how I wish I knew of the hyperbaric therapy.  Bless you for that fantastic find and I pray it will be of some benefit to the affected kitties.


I shall continue to keep all the kitties and their people parents in my prayers.
Maybe that will help a little.              

Coontuffy, where do you live please? In what country I mean?

This plus reading the link to the lady in the UK on the linked thread gives me great cause for concern.

I can tell everyone with certainty that the goods were gamma irradiated in Australia. That's all I am free to say at the moment but I can assure you that is the case.

Here's the reply I received

Permission to blog and cross- post.






T        – Champion Petfoods regrets the terrible circumstances surrounding the irradiated cat food in Australia and as pet owners ourselves we know this is a difficult and emotional issue.

 

I would like to point out a few things in your email that perhaps merit your closer attention.

 

Two shipments made to Australia that were irradiated. We stopped and returned the 3rd shipment before it reached the irradiation chamber.  This is where the ‘2 shipment” number comes from in all of our printed and spoken references.

 

The ORIJEN compassion fund is established to help the people of Australia whose cats are affected. The terms and conditions of the fund were developed through discussions with vets in Australia regarding the costs associated with treatments.  From your email letter below, it appears you have misinterpreted the terms of the fund and I suggest you contact either myself or our customer service department if you would like to gain a fuller understanding of the funds’ purpose and function.

 

If Champion Petfoods made a mistake, it is from not having complete knowledge of the irradiation process prior to entering the Australian market and, once we learned about the irradiation process, making the reasonable assumption, that the process was safe.  Champion made several enquiries and to Australian authorities regarding the safety of irradiation and were assured of its safety.

 

There is regrettably very little available research that addresses the effect of  irradiation on dry cat food. We hope that recent events in Australia will change that.

 

Champion Petfoods remains committed to aiding the people Australia affected by the irradiated cat food.  Our company and staff deeply regret the circumstances surrounding what can only be described as a heart-breaking matter.

 

 

Peter A. Muhlenfeld

Champion Petfoods Ltd.

www.championpetfoods.com

[WITHOUT PREJUDICE]

Quite frankly I'm bloody sick of this.

I've emailed this to Peter Muhlenfeld of Champion Petfoods today after seeing all the Youtube videos.

And I'm working through all the people at the Australian Quarantine, Biosecurity Australia and CSIRO sending them the link as well.

You can cross post and blog this letter wherever you like.

WITHOUT PREJUDICE

Attn: Peter Muhlenfeld, Champion Pet Foods, Morinville, Alberta, Canada
 
Peter,
 
This is what your Orijen pet food has done to our cats in Australia
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEaXvEbLTVg&feature=channel
 
 
Many other video clips linked on that page as well.
 
 
Three cats have died of seizures, one of a spinal tumour. Fifteen have been euthanised.
 
My cat is totally paralysed, incontinent and cannot drink or feed herself nor defaecate without enemas.
 
Your lack of due diligence before entering this market, admitted by you during our telephone conversation of 19 December 2008, and your failure to stay fully informed of what your importer was doing at all times in signing authorities to gamma irradiate not on one shipment, as you claimed in our telephone conversaton, not on two shipments as Michelle Grainger claimed but on THREE SHIPMENTS has caused this devastation among Australian cats.
 
Both your importer and you knew something was wrong in September/October of 2008 when vets first spotted a link between the syndrome and Orijen cat food. It took you until almost the end of November before a recall was announced and even then many of the retailers were not given a full explanation so they could not tell their customers who were still feeding their cats from recently purchased bags.
 
 
A highly restrictive Compassionless Underfund of $100 for supplements and $100 for ancillaries  doesn't even come close. And given that standard veterinary consultations, treatments and prescriptions do not apply, once diagnosis has been made and paid for that saves you the bulk of the $1800 doesn't it? Australians have a phrase for that kind of thing - "Mean and tricky".
 
 
It is NOT your place to tell us how much our cats' lives are worth, WE'LL tell YOU what we feel is appropriate since we are the ones left dealing with it.
 
 
Your company is liable and we demand full compensation, a flat compensation payout per cat with no restrictions on how we spend the money to keep our cats clean, fed and comfortable, our furniture and carpets protected from urine and faeces, and try to alleviate their symptoms by whatever treatments we deem might help.
 
Let's start negotiating at $10,000 per affected cat (given that I am only two months into this and have already spent $1500 and cats are taking 6-8 months at least to make some recovery - and we have no idea what awaits them down the track)
 
Either directly or via 3rd party mediation appointed by us, your choice.
 
One way or another there is a very angry and determined group of people in this country and in North America that will see that you pay.
 
 
T C

Good.

Permission to cross post this to the Australian forum Kaffe pls?

Careful what you say on the blogs - I know I have said this before and make no apology for repeating myself.

Some people are working on something I believe.

You could start by getting this man's permission to cross post HIS blog perhaps?

[Kaffe:]

Kaffe: The Cats Mother gives permission to cross post all factual content of her posts and opinions also unless the site to which you are cross posting is very sensitive about legal issues or naming names. We had a site in Australia that was very sensitive in this way and kept deleting, warning, locking threads etc and eventually we all left and formed our own forum.

Please do not give offence to any nice people that will host our main message for us. Be discreet with what you post because I don't mince my words and sail close to the line, deliberately because provocation is the only thing that will bring them out of their hidey holes, but I don't want this getting you banned from sites or the subject banned. That does us no good at all.

Thank you for taking all this time and effort.

Bonkers: It's in hand don't worry. We have a claims expert among us who is dealing with the issue for us, kind soul that she is.

Thanks all have a good day rooting for us I am going to bed now.

(BTW "rooting" has an entirely different connotation down-under, into which I shall not go, got me into strife a few times when I first moved here  )

Post, cross-post, blog, cross-blog, call your local radio news station, call your local paper. ---- National and big news companies ? - probably not this will get lost in Obama-drama and Gaza-disaster.

Go on you lot.

Support us by getting off here and getting really active out there.

No use preaching to the converted on here.

It takes effort, drive and real anger to be a real activist.

Go for your lives, because ours are ruined and as for those of our cats...well we really just don't know.

Please help us. The only way to get through to mean and tricky people like this is through their hip pockets.

They are acting like they are compassionate and their hearts are in the right place. Well their brains are someplace else - right in their hip pockets - probably because they have their heads stuck up that place where the sun doesn't shine.


.

Thanks I'll get over there later today!

[Thank you Kaffe]

Thank you Kaffe I'll google up those newspapers and find their email addresses.

What about some LA news radio stations as well please? Maybe three.


I have already hit the Edmonton newspapers and radio stations 

Thank you Perseus wasn't he one of the Greek Gods? 
That is a very kind offer. And I think that list is a good start for me to google up some sites and hit the email addresses. I wouldn't go spending $30 to download the whole lot because many of them just wouldn't be interested - 15 dead Australian cats just isn't headline news material. Corporate negligence is but it has to be a high profile American company to be headline material I think.

I'm looking at say one or two major national newspapers/radio stations and for the major part fairly local papers/stations that are looking for something topical for the local public interest news bulletins. Unfortunately this doesn't rate much alongside Obama's rescue package, the millions out of work, the Israelis/Palestinians in Gaza need I go on.

This huge commitment of effort and time from me and a small band of others needs to be really well focussed on what will produce the quickest results because whilst we we have determination and drive we don't have much spare time and time is running out.

I like the idea about pet bloggers can someone send me some links please? Blogging is something I'm not really into so I need some help here please.

Thank you all for caring so much.

TCM

I'm not going to comment publicly on what I am doing with regard to the legal situation. Those who need to know because they are assisting me or are joining me, know. Sorry no offence meant I appreciate your support and interest.

With regard to the radio interview it is an online radio station called Radio Out There by Barry Eaton. When the interview is up online I can let you know.

If the editor of Nexus Magazine, Duncan Roads, chooses to feature my campaign Barry might do another interview for Radio Nexus which he also hosts.

Meanwhile if you want to check out Barry's station and have a listen to the current programme and some archives here is a link to his site:

http://www.radiooutthere.com/blog/

Worth checking out Nexus magazine as well - it is published in hard copy in several countries

www.nexusmagazine.com

And the online radio:

http://radionexus.com.au/blog/



Cheers

TCM

You don't need to be "good at research"

Just start with where you are.

Just tell me your city.

Tell me your top 3 most widely read newspapers

and your top 3 news/talkback stations

No trashy ones please

Thank you

[What I would like please is for some of you to PM me with the names of Canadian and North American media outlets, radio, newspapers for me to contact.]

  A big welcome and a hug to both you and your kittie. This whole thing with Champion just makes me sick. IMO this is just as bad as the recalls of last year as this company was just plain negligent in their rush to sell their product overseas. I do not understand how they find that the amount of $2000 is even close to the amount of money that will be required to care for these poor kitties. And you are right, the use of the title "compassion fund" is only used to make Champion appear sympathetic to the Australians and others. I could think of some other terms that might of been used...............

Thanks for the welcome.

And yes they started out discussions prior to the official announcement with the term Empathy Fund - which of course sounds too much like Apathy Fund so they changed it. Of course the title is a huge PR exercise/publicity stunt.

Worse still, it expires at the end of May. I think they are hoping that given the time it takes to get legal action off the ground people will rush to claim what they can at the last minute thinking that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. The dreadful thing is that there are STILL cats coming through just starting to show symptoms. Given that some cats have now been affected for 6-8 months - 8 months being the total time it took for one pair of cats to regain mobility - these people will be only 3 months into it before the fund expires.

They have grandly said they will reconsider at the end of February and make an announcement on March 10 (I believe - open to correction here)
holding us all in limbo like a bunch of kids being told to wait and see what Santa brings them, only adding further insult to injury.

They were worried about Mad Cow in their food a few years back.

It's this "mad cow" they need to be worried about now.

Years ago I remember someone telling me, don't get mad, get even.

Well we are starting to hit the Australian media here now with our stories.

What I would like please is for some of you to PM me with the names of Canadian and North American media outlets, radio, newspapers for me to contact.

I am very active in Australia having already lodged a formal "Government on Notice" document with the relevant ministers and government departments, Australian Quarantine and Biosecurity Australia, copied to several media outlets and around 60 relevant advocacy and activist groups and did a radio interview on Friday afternoon.

With my team of supporters from the affected cat owners group I am taking on the government and I have run out of patience with the manufacturer and it's their turn now.

I have abundant energy and determination in spite of nursing duties for my fully paralysed incontinent cat so please PM me folks and help me get this underway.

Thank you

[In a nutshell, the Orijen "Compassion" fund doesn't work.]

Someone on one of the Australian forums asked how the Orijen fund works.

In a nutshell, the Orijen "Compassion" fund doesn't work.

The $2000 (Canadian $1623) originally was for vet-related expenses. Consults, prescribed meds etc. As many of us know, there's not a huge amount a standard conventional vet can do, nor standard conventional medication. So after one of our affected-cat owners approached them with a list of things we cat-carers are having to buy to properly take care of our cats that their lack of oversight and control of their importer and their product caused, they took time out from their busy self-promotion in their major markets (i.e.North America) to have a meeting about this so called "compassion" fund for the market that only ever represented a quarter of a percent of their revenue and which they have now exited.

Even the name of this fund I find insulting. I and my cat are not a charity case, nor I believe are any of us, we are injured parties and the correct title should be "COMPENSATION" fund.

Anyway at this meeting they reached the condescending conclusion to allow $100 for ancillaries (incontinence pads, confining pen/cage etc for which they gave an example of $40 - joke, cheapest pen is around $60 and a decent sized cage is $125 approx) and $100 for over the counter supplements like fish oil, antioxidants etc. This allowance of $200 is included in the maximum payout of $2000, effectively reducing the allowance for vet-related expenses to $1800.

My expenses so far with supplements, incontinence sheets, a cage for when I am out or asleep, vet visits, together with weekly acupuncture, a recent homoeopathic telephone consult with a renowned WA animal homoeopath/herbalist and the remedies she has prescribed will bring me to about $1500 already and I am only 7 weeks into this nightmare.

(All values quoted are Australian Dollars)

About time these people came down from their lofty perches onto this planet and started talking proper compensation as a lump sum to be spent as the owner deems fit for their own individual cat's circumstances.

And certainly in terms of purchasing power of the Sydney Australian dollar these people are way out of touch with reality, coming as they do from some hokey little town in the middle of the Canadian prairies where the purchasing power of their own dollar is so much higher. A quick google search showed me the cost of equivalent housing in the Edmonton area - town house C$343000 - equivalent in Sydney depending on area A$500-700,000 and the last report on the worlds most expensive cities to live in put Sydney about 15th just 3 or 4 places behind New York and the Canadian cities were way down in the 80th places.


How DARE these people, who are guilty of commercial negligence in the extreme, not only in their failure to carry out due diligence prior to launching their product in a new market, but also negligence both of their product once it hit our shores and of their importer who it would seem was left to his own devices and decisions and with whom they should have had a much closer correspondence and relationship, take the approach that it is THEIR decision as to how compensatory funds should be spent?

The time for them to be taking control and decisions was a year ago when they first began exporting to this country.

As usual they are late.

In the same way that they were late doing the analysis of their food after irradiation and late to research and report on the study that shows irradiated food can cause paralysis in cats yet post it triumphantly in their announcements on their website (presumably after some Australian vets had drawn their attention to it) as though they were the first to discover it.

Disgusted doesn't come close.

Angry doesn't come close.

Determined to get the message out there and force them either morally or legally to pay proper recompense - that hits the nail right on the head.



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