Chicago Woman Sues Over Pet Food Recall
A worker cuts dry grass at 1200 BC ancient cemetery of Keramikos with the ancient Acropolis hill, background, in central Athens, on Tuesday, May 29, 2012. The four biggest Greek banks received 18 billion euros (US$22.6 billion) in rescue funds on May 28, 2012 to help reinforce their capital bases, a Hellenic financial stability fund source said. National Bank, the biggest Greek lender, has received 7.43 billion euros, Piraeus bank 4.7 billion euros, Eurobank 3.97 billion euro and Alpha 1.9 euros billion, the official said.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) / Petros Giannakouris
A Chicago woman sued Menu Foods on Tuesday, alleging the pet food manufacturer delayed announcing a recall of 60 million containers of dog and cat food despite knowing its products were contaminated and potentially deadly.
Dawn Majerczyk, 43, said her orange tabby, Phoenix, fell sick last week just two days after he ate a single package of Special Kitty. It is one of 95 cat and dog food brands recalled by Menu Foods of Canada. Friday's recall came two weeks after nine cats died during routine company taste tests of its products, the Food and Drug Administration said.
Majerczyk said she took the 9-year-old cat to its first-ever veterinarian visit the day of the recall. The cat had lost six pounds in four days and was lethargic, dehydrated and nearly blind. She returned over the weekend to have him put down after his organs began to fail. Her suit, filed by Chicago attorney Jay Edelson, seeks class-action status.
"I want my vet bills and I want some compensation for what they did to my kids — and for the company's neglect," Majerczyk, a medical assistant in a dermatology office.
The company said it had not seen the suit and had no comment. The FDA had no comment on the company's delay in announcing the recall.
The FDA so far has confirmed the deaths of 13 cats and one dog that had reportedly eaten the company's "cuts and gravy" style pet food. The wet food was sold throughout North America under store brands carried by Wal-Mart, Kroger, Safeway and other large retailers, as well as private labels like Iams, Nutro and Eukanuba.
FDA has sent inspectors to company plants in New Jersey and Kansas. Most complaints stem from products made at the latter factory, though both received shipments of wheat gluten, identified as a likely source of contamination, from the same supplier, said Stephen F. Sundlof, the FDA's chief veterinarian. The ingredient is a protein source used to thicken the pet food gravy. The FDA is screening pet food samples for substances known to be toxic to the kidneys, like toxins produced by molds.
A complete list of the recalled products along with product codes, descriptions and production dates was available from the Menu Foods Web site, http://www.menufoods.com/recall . The company also designated two phone numbers that pet owners could call for information — (866) 463-6738 and (866) 895-2708.
FDA inspectors had never before visited the Kansas plant. The FDA warned the company following a 2004 inspection of its New Jersey factory after it failed to flag food made for zoo cats of the risk of mad cow disease if the product were fed to cattle.
Menu Foods is majority owned by Menu Foods Income Fund of Streetsville, Ontario.
© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Dawn Majerczyk, 43, said her orange tabby, Phoenix, fell sick last week just two days after he ate a single package of Special Kitty. It is one of 95 cat and dog food brands recalled by Menu Foods of Canada. Friday's recall came two weeks after nine cats died during routine company taste tests of its products, the Food and Drug Administration said.
Majerczyk said she took the 9-year-old cat to its first-ever veterinarian visit the day of the recall. The cat had lost six pounds in four days and was lethargic, dehydrated and nearly blind. She returned over the weekend to have him put down after his organs began to fail. Her suit, filed by Chicago attorney Jay Edelson, seeks class-action status.
"I want my vet bills and I want some compensation for what they did to my kids — and for the company's neglect," Majerczyk, a medical assistant in a dermatology office.
The company said it had not seen the suit and had no comment. The FDA had no comment on the company's delay in announcing the recall.
The FDA so far has confirmed the deaths of 13 cats and one dog that had reportedly eaten the company's "cuts and gravy" style pet food. The wet food was sold throughout North America under store brands carried by Wal-Mart, Kroger, Safeway and other large retailers, as well as private labels like Iams, Nutro and Eukanuba.
FDA has sent inspectors to company plants in New Jersey and Kansas. Most complaints stem from products made at the latter factory, though both received shipments of wheat gluten, identified as a likely source of contamination, from the same supplier, said Stephen F. Sundlof, the FDA's chief veterinarian. The ingredient is a protein source used to thicken the pet food gravy. The FDA is screening pet food samples for substances known to be toxic to the kidneys, like toxins produced by molds.
A complete list of the recalled products along with product codes, descriptions and production dates was available from the Menu Foods Web site, http://www.menufoods.com/recall . The company also designated two phone numbers that pet owners could call for information — (866) 463-6738 and (866) 895-2708.
FDA inspectors had never before visited the Kansas plant. The FDA warned the company following a 2004 inspection of its New Jersey factory after it failed to flag food made for zoo cats of the risk of mad cow disease if the product were fed to cattle.
Menu Foods is majority owned by Menu Foods Income Fund of Streetsville, Ontario.
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I want to also get involved with pushing the US gov't to be stricter and take a more active role in monitoring the foods/treats companies produce for our babies.
If anyone has any information please email me.
silverangelsr@msn.com
thx
Charlette
I was actually force feeding her with a syringe
the Dr told me don't give anymore food
for 3days I layed on thre floor with her and gave antibiotics and forced water with syringe
She died Oct 31 2006 and the loss is unbearable
I feal for anyone going through this. My girl will never be back and
MY HEART IS BROKEN
I feel terrible because she had a thyriod condition and i was feeding her iams savory cuts twice a day with dry food inbetween. She loved the gravy, so i made sure she had plenty of that. Little did i know i was slowly killing her. I hope i can get over that guilt. I have another kitty, simon, who i am taking to the vet to be checked out, so far he shows no symptoms, but have to be assured that he is going to be okay. We miss you Baby!
Sherrie and Simon
One gentleman that was there just broke down balling because he lost his pet. And he mentioned how his 6 year old daughter cries for her "KITTY". Knowing that he knows he has died, it was hard for him to explain it to his little girl. Who is to young to understand. It just broke my heart, my sister walked out of the store because she could not take it.
Then I came home to post my own situation with my own pet. I read this one from marybethinct, talking about dollar signs. Where in the HELL IS YOUR HEAD!!!! Obisiously your not a pet owner to sat something like that!! Get your head out of your *** and think before you speak, because your words HURT!!!YOU SOUND LIKE A VERY COLD HEARTED PERSON.
And to the rest of you pet owners who have lost your pets my heart goes out to you, May God Bless and protect your broken hearts.