Pet food recall

As news of the massive pet food recall keeps surfacing and the recall itself continues to expand, I've started thinking more about the sheer number of people who will ultimately either lose pets or who will have to take care of an ailing pet because of the contaminated food.

I listened to part of a radio broadcast a few days ago on 107.9 (The Link's Cooper Lawrence show) where a vet was saying to take pets to the vet immediately if they had eaten any of the contaminated food. He was suggesting taking animals to emergency veterinary hospitals right away. Here's a link to the show.

It seems to me that a lot of the brands affected are either the super low-end foods or the high-end foods, but that's just my impression of the thing.

I also heard on the news tonight that cans of Alpo have been recalled.

That's where I get a little touchy. I give Gracie and Lulu one can each every Friday night for dinner. I figure it's the canine equivalent of my night out at Doc's or Joe's in uptown Shelby. While it may not be particularly healthy, it tastes great (at least that's how the dogs act).

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to check my cans because the girls and I are out of town this weekend, but it's first on my list of things to do.

I don't want to risk either of my dogs' health, so I'm going to call the vet immediately if I have fed some of the contaminated food to my dogs.

If you're like me, you've probably heard a lot of rumors, but don't know where to look for good information. Here's a site that seems to have its act together.

I'd also recommend going to your pet food manufacturer's Web site, the FDA's site and Menu Foods' site.

If you get overwhelmed or stumped, let me know and I'll try to get you some good information about it.

I'm still left with a lot of questions, though.

I wonder how people first figured out that the foods were making animals sick. Could this thing also extend to farm animals like pigs, chickens, cows and horses? If so, the contamination theoretically could ultimately make it into the human food supply. I don't even want to imagine the consequences of that. I'm also a little curious to see what will happen to the originating companies. Will any of them go out of business? How would that affect our economy, considering the pet industry is growing rapidly? I'm also a little curious about how Menu Foods' public relations and customer service departments are handling it all. Lastly, I wonder how long it will be before litigation begins. I have a strong feeling that it will be soon.

I guess only time (and maybe a few good vets, doctors and economists) will tell.