Bones in Wellness Dry

[Therese]

Have any of you seen this video about Wellness dry food?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB6K2BBd518

[Bonkers]

   Seems as if Wellness may be experiencing what Orijen went thru a few months ago. Could not find any info about this on the web although I did come across a blog where they had posted similar pics of objects allegedly sticking out of their Wellness dog food. 

[GreyGhost]

I emailed Wellness and here is their response. I will call today.

Thank you for taking the time to write about Wellness® Dry Dog Food.

In order to better assist you with the concerns you have with our product, we would like to speak with you directly.  Kindly call us at (800) 225-0904, and provide the reference number listed below.

Thanks again for contacting us.

Susan Kordish
Representative
Consumer Affairs

000088031A

[Perseus]

I emailed Wellness and here is their response. I will call today.

Thank you for taking the time to write about Wellness® Dry Dog Food.

In order to better assist you with the concerns you have with our product, we would like to speak with you directly.  Kindly call us at (800) 225-0904, and provide the reference number listed below.

Thanks again for contacting us.

Susan Kordish
Representative
Consumer Affairs
000088031A

GG, Did you ever get in touch with Wellness?  I have spoke with the marketing manager there before, who put me in touch directly with the director of quality.  If you want to call her, here's the info, just ask her to set up a concall with the director of qc then:
Chanda Leary-Coutu
Wellness - Natural Food for Pets
Marketing Communications Manager
200 Ames Pond Drive
Tewksbury , MA 01876
cleary@wellnesspetfood.com
t: 978-289-5510
f: 978.863.0347

I would be most interested in hearing what they have to say, since I feed a little of their canned grainless to the kitty crew here.

[GreyGhost]

The word this all staged. They have had no problems. I'm pretty sure lawsuit will start shortly.

I will call Chanda tomorrow. I didn't get a chance to call Friday.

[Bonkers]

   If one goes back to the YouTube video, you will see in the comments posted below it, that there are many saying that this person tried to extort money from Wellness. There is also a comment from a Mr. Kean who claims he is the Vice President of Research and Development.  The other blog I had come across was claiming that there were bones in the Wellness cat food. But the kibble shown in those pictures were much too large for it to be cat food. If anyone is interested in viewing these pictures I can send the link via a PM.

[GreyGhost]

That is exactly what happened.


I talked to Wellness today. The guy called and said he had a video and it was available for Wellness to purchase. He said if they didn't buy it (extortion) the he would post it on you tube. They have had no problems at all with bones in their food.

They tried to extort money from them. People are just ridiculous. Makes you wonder what kind of crackpots are have running loose.

[Betsy]

Hi, all!

I'm new to this site and found it while seeking information --

I have been trying to find more information on bones in Wellness dry cat food -- particularly the Salmon flavored.  I have been buying Wellness, both wet & dry, for 7 years and my cats love it!  I've never had any problems until recently.  The bag I have now has kibble with sharp bones sticking right out and they are not fish bones and they do not crumble.  They are very hard and sharp and I have never experienced this before.  I also have some of the Indoor Health & Core dry, all of which is fine, and over the years have bought all the flavors with no issues.

I contacted the local pet store & they want me to bring the bag in plus I am bringing them samples which I pulled out.  I left a message for Wellness at the 800# and hopefully I'll get a response.  I am a concerned "mom" and a loyal Wellness customer and just looking to see if anyone has any recent information or experiences with this.

PS -- I had seen the dog video before and at the time thought the guy was nuts, but now I'm starting to wonder...  I know quality issues can happen from time to time in the manufacturing process.

Thx!!!

[Bonkers]

 Welcome to the forums Betsy! If you are able to post pics of the kibble with the bones sticking out of it, that would be a big help. Please post the lot# and expiration date from the bag. I would also hang on to the original bag of food untill this is investigated by Wellness.

[GreyGhost]

So now I wonder if the story about the guy blackmailing Wellness was just a story to cover their butts. I will be waiting for pictures and more info about this .

[Bonkers]

   I guess we will have to wait and see if Betsy posts more info.

[Betsy]

Hi, all --

Thanks for the responses back & I have been working on this today and checking the internet, but can't find much out there on this issue

I did receive a call back from Wellness but wasn't home to receive it because I was at the pet store trying to address the issue.  They closed at 5pm EST but they left a message saying that they are calling me again tomorrow, and the person who left the message also did say that some small pieces of bone can be expected but they shouldn't be sticking out of the kibble. 

In the meantime, I had gone to my pet store (where they know me, since I'm a long time customer), and brought samples as well as the whole bag. The employees were shocked & said they had never seen anything like it, and had not received any other reports.  They were also easily able to pick out several pieces as a sample (you can visually see them & this paticular bag was loaded with them -- in some cases there were a few bones sticking out of one piece.  The employees even thought that some of the "bones" looked like 'nails' and were not fish bones.  They called Wellness directly and Wellness is sending them envelopes so that they can send back some samples to their QC.  They also told them that "bones" should not be sharp & sticking out of the kibble.

They also called the Sales Rep who covers this area (Southeast Pa) and he is going to go to the store & may also be calling me.  I left them the bag (they gave me a refund) and we opened some other bags in different flavors to check.  The Indoor Health had a few and the Core too, but only a few here & there -- the Salmon was by far the worst.  They told me that the Salmon is manufactured in a different location, and that Wellness was bought out a short time ago, but this bag had an expiration of Jan. 12th 2009 (I bought it Jan 6th, and yes, the store sold me an almost expired bag & I didn't catch it until I opened it now), so not sure when it was made.

I did keep samples for myself, plus I wrote down the UPC #76344-08830 -- Salmon 5lb bag.  I am trying to find out the lot#, but we couldn't find one on the bag.  I hope to hear from the girls at the store & Wellness tomorrow.  I will take pics of the pieces & post them as soon as I'm done sending this message.  I will be anxious to see what you all think.  Stay tuned...

[Betsy]

My picture of the Wellness Dry Cat Food Salmon/turkey kibble is too big to attach here (over 500KB) -- so I posted it to our Facebook page (copy/ paste the below to browser & it should take you direct to the photo but only if you are a member of facebook).  If someone has a better way, please let me know, or else I am happy to e-mail it.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=16469&id=1356825737&saved#/photo.php?pid=270855&id=1356825737

This is the clearest & closest shot I could get with my digital camera.  The loose bones were some that I had picked out of the pieces in my cats' dish and then the full pieces were pulled from the bag. 

I will keep posting as I get new info & will call the store tomorrow to see how to get the lot#.

Thanks!
Betsy

[Perseus]

This is disturbing if this is indeed some type of quality control issue.  If they are fish bones, the extrusion process could make them very hard and sharp.  From the pictures you posted, they do look like fish bones.

I have spoken to Wellness' Director of Quality Control before.  I will place another call to her and discuss this with her.  In the past, she has been very open and honest with the precise procedures they use in the manufacture of their foods.  As soon as I learn any more information, I'll post back.

Betsy, thank you for researching and finding this forum and bringing this to our attention.  As a Wellness feeder myself, even though I don't feed the kibble, I'm always watching them closely for any problems with their food.

[Betsy]

Just got a follow up call from OMH/Wellness (spoke to Teresa from "Well Pet").  She said that they haven't gotten any other reports of this & that the fish flavors sometimes get bone fragments but shouldn't be large.  Once she receives the samples she will forward to QA, and then she will call both the store and me back with the outcome.  Whole process should take about 2 weeks.

In the meantime my store recommended 'California Natural' as a similar product and high-quality.  Has anyone tried this brand???  I will continue to feed the Wellness canned and Indoor dry, but I may try to mix in some of the CN brand as an alternative for now.