"Additive that tainted U.S. pet food is commonly used in China"

[Davis]

Sorry for venting folks.  I've just really reached a saturation point of disgust with all of this.  I keep looking at my sweet cat and wondering what this might have done to him. 

[Lisa C]

This is exactly what I've been saying in other forums.  Basically, China's food safety regulations are (from what I've been able to find) practically nonexistent.  It makes no sense to endanger us or our pets by eating food from a source like that.  It's not some kind of racial slur or indictment of all Chinese people, just a statement of fact about the safety of food imports from China.  True, not all food from China is probably contaminated, but the Chinese government isn't looking out for that, and neither is the FDA.  Until there are adequate controls in place to ensure that SOMEONE is taking responsibility for the safety of the food, the only thing to do is to assume that it all is potentially contaminated.

[Cindy Nevarez]

Davis...YOU didn't do it....OK? Not you.

I have to share the following with you:

My daughter was telling me this morning about when she went out last night with girlfriends. They were walking around downtown and saw some people begging for money who had 2 puppies with them. Both she and I feel that homeless people with pets perhaps do deserve something more over most others, and my daughter decided to hand over all her change to them last night.

While she was telling me this story I was reminded about an incident that happened with me back in January. I had stopped at a gas station that has a little store. There was an older homeless man there with his grocer cart and his dog. I went into the store to see if they sold any pet food. They had some Alpo cans on the shelf, and some generic kibble. I decided the Alpo was the better choice. I bought him about 12 cans, which he was grateful for, and assured me he owned a can opener.

Now we know that the Alpo has been recalled. I am having a LOT of trouble dealing with the fact that I very likely bought that homeless guy's dog poisoned food. The dog may be dead. The man even said to me at the time that he would just share his own food with the dog...that getting something as "good" as Alpo was like Thanksgiving Dinner. Well now we all know that him sharing his own food was the safer thing to be doing. And here I come along...a person with "means" and f-up his system and probably killed his dog!

I told my daughter in light of the fact you can't even safely buy a homeless person's pet food anymore, she probably did the best thing by just giving them the change. She told me to quit beating myself up over this Alpo thing. That how could I know that this was going to happen. How could I possibly? She's right. There's no way that if that Alpo did kill that man's dog that it is my fault, just like it's not your fault if you gave whatever food that was poisoned to your pets. None of us could imagine that we could be sucked into something like this...something this criminal. Not a one of us.

Davis; think about how much you love them, and how you are doing the best of your ability to keep them safe from now on. That's all any of us can do now.

[bk283]

ok the same article word for word is on the front page of the ny times now:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/30/business/worldbusiness/30food.html

updated link to the original site http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/30/business/30food.php

it's slightly modified from the original, but the basic content is the same. if you don't have a nytimes login, try the second link. I believe they are carbon copies

[Cindy Nevarez]

They're making you register to see the article.

[garypen]

Cindy - Go ahead. Register. It's the NY Times. I registered a while back. I don't get any emails from them. And, I can read the many articles that are linked to there, which is a common occurence on forums.

I must say that this is GREAT that it made the Times. I was just moaning to my wife how the media is not covering this enough. Now that the Times has it, other media should pick it up. We need broadcast netwrok news, plus CNN, MSNBC, and Faux to get on this. This is MAJOR sh**. People need to know. Maybe we can finally get food product imports from China banned until they can prove its safety. And, maybe we can get the gov't to start spending money to ACTUALLY protect the US and its citizens instead of the hundreds of billions being thrown away on the Iraq debacle.

[Davis]

Davis...YOU didn't do it....OK? Not you.

There's no way that if that Alpo did kill that man's dog that it is my fault, just like it's not your fault if you gave whatever food that was poisoned to your pets. None of us could imagine that we could be sucked into something like this...something this criminal. Not a one of us.

Davis; think about how much you love them, and how you are doing the best of your ability to keep them safe from now on. That's all any of us can do now.

Thank you for your thoughts Cindy, and for that story. I will just never understand the way this has been and is still being handled. Yes, I know I didn't do it, but I feel like something may have been taken from me that I can never get back, even though nothing has even happened to my cat yet, that I know of.  But as I said, I wonder, and am quite sure that most likely all of our pets have been ingesting this stuff in smaller doses for who knows how long.  We have been importing for a long time, have we not?  And they have been engaging in these practices for quite a while, not to mention what our pet food manufacturers are putting in the food that is also toxic. 

I hope that homeless man did not eat some of the Alpo himself. That has been known to happen when people get hungry enough.  And no, you did NOT do it.  None of us have done this.

The article is back up on the Herald Times site now, so it you don't want to register, you can see it there without doing that.

Edit - Ugh, typos.  Why do I never notice them until later?

[Davis]

And, maybe we can get the gov't to start spending money to ACTUALLY protect the US and its citizens instead of the hundreds of billions being thrown away on the Iraq debacle.

Yeah, and the billions that are wasted on numerous other things as well.  That said....oh Gary, you're such an optimist.   I don't trust them to do that anymore than I trust pet food companies to start turning out perfect food.  But I guess miracles can still happen.

[garypen]

I don't either. I was being sarcastic. (Or, was it facetious?)

[Cindy Nevarez]

Yes, I also realize this 'slow poisoning' has been going on for a long time...and that it is purely driven by greed. I just didn't think it was happening in so many brands of foods!

I thought about people eating the pet food too. Even 'non-homeless' people eat it, which I brought up on the old blog way back when. If any of them were poisoned...we certainly wouldn't hear about it either.

I've saved the article now, and also emailed it to myself.

[willyagogo]

Hello Everyone!!!.....

It's been a few days since I've posted.....I have been doing quick check-ins though!

I've been REALLY busy canvassing for signatures for the "pet" ition I have and will be presenting at a Community Forum here in T.O. on the 18th....trying to get as many as I can!....As, it will be forwarded to The House of Commons....

I'm so amazed (well maybe not actually!) by some of the reactions I get...ie: "No, I don't want to sign it, there are MORE IMORTANT issues!"

So, on that note...I'd like to thank bk283.......for the #1 post on this thread, as I printed out a "ka-zillion" copies of that post....just for THOSE people!!!!...

Also, I'm pleased to see more TV coverage.....CTV (late-night) had a good report on the content that was in the NYT article.....AND Anderson Cooper, was "keepin' them honest last night"....he had some decent info on there as well!!

Lastly,...I'm so happy to report that my "Willy and GoGo" (my Shelties) got a great bill of health from the Vet on Saturday...I showed him my "Food and Poop" diary and he said it was great....and helped me with a couple of things (as him and his wife also home-cook) for their 120lb. Lab.....

Keep up the great work everyone!.....You guys are great....believe me, there's been a couple of times the last few days, reading about this "new" stuff (reports) coming out of China that have driven me to tears!!

I knew that it was coming to this...and that China's food regulations are awful....but, sometimes , when you're tired and coming accross people that don't think that this issue isn't important......I get really down! Thanks to reading the forums and blogs for a bit......it puts things back in perspective for me, and gives me the strength to "keep on keepin' on!"

Have a great day to all!!!!...

[Cindy Nevarez]

Way to go!

You are so enthusiastic.

And good luck on the 18th! That's also my daughter's birthday...if that helps 

[Mary K]

I'm always happy to read Willyagogo's posts! You are living proof that action is the answer to anger/depression about this mess. Keep up the good work, and may it (your good deeds)all come back to you 100-fold!

[willyagogo]

Thanks for the kind and encouraging words Cindy and Mary!!!!....

I just feel so lucky that I still have my fur-baby's eyes to look into.....man, they really make me laugh sometimes!.....Shelties have that quizzical, "tilted head" look and it's even funnier with the 2 of them...because they're "sychronized!

I can't believe how long the Chinese have been using this additive! And, although they are banning it's use in their own country now....how long do you all think before they come up with some other toxic "wallet liner?" Thy're probably allready in the labs, cooking it up as I type!........Scumbags!....

The answer, or a good start anyways would be to ban any imports from China that has any possibility of being toxic or physically harmful....period!!!

Anyone thinking of attending the 2008 Olympics....should allready be doing research on where they can eat that's safe (if there is such a place)...and don't forget those kerchiefs to wrap around the face that we see so many people in Beijing having to wear due to pollution!......How on earth did this country ever win a bid for the Olympics with so many other beautiful places....places that actually have respect and regard for all things living?.......I better stop right now!!!...

[Cindy Nevarez]

I wondered the same thing about the China-choice. Esp. when my husband would come home form one of his Chinese business trips and tell me about it all. THEN he would break out the pictures...YIKES! All you could see in those pics was variations of greyish, whitish, blackish background. And very little formations of people or objects in them.

He also told me that he made sure the company would put him up in 5-star hotels only...that way he said, there was more of an effort to serve good food. Not so much for the style of the food....but how it was stored and prepared, because he said there were certain expectations that world-wide travelers had of the food, so they would comply in order to not lose business, but also to gain business. Also those kinds of hotels have western-style bathrooms.

Plus when he would go to any of the markets, he would get peel-type citrus fruits, so that most of the pesticides get taken off with the peelings.