Chicago Woman Sues Over Pet Food Recall

Cat Owner Seeks Class Action Lawsuit Claiming Company Delayed Recall

(AP)  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 — [phone] and [phone].

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.

[ncar4812]

We lost our cat Spanky on Feb 27, 2007.She was a 5yr old Tabby,She mainly ate dry food but once in awhile we would buy special kitty pouch tuna.It had been a few months since we bought her treats and I did buy her some in Feb 07,on friday I come home from work and fed her some,not all of it. Monday I notice she was not eating.By Tuesday the 27th she didn't look well when I came home from work. I took her to the ER vet clinic. She had a yellow tint in her mouth and had lost a lot of weight. She did weight 15lbs but when they weight her she was down to 11lbs. The vet said it could be some kind of toxic that her liver and kidneys my be failing. Before they could do any test on her I had to come up with $838.00. My heart hit the floor, I didn't have this kind of money. We are just your poor middle class family that live from pay check to pay check. After sitting in the vet office for about an hour I had to make a decision that would break my heart I had to put her down. It killed me inside so much and to this day. After about 1 week of this is when the recall came out. I never dream it was or could be her food. I called the vet office and they stated that since I didn't get any blood work done the wont know for sure. we lost our pet that was like a child to me.When I got home from the vets office the next day a throw out all the cat food and now I wish I would have kept it. I would like to add my name to any law suit.

[ncar4812]

We lost our cat Spanky on Feb 27, 2007.She was a 5yr old Tabby,She mainly ate dry food but once in awhile we would buy special kitty pouch tuna.It had been a few months since we bought her treats and I did buy her some in Feb 07,on friday I come home from work and fed her some,not all of it. Monday I notice she was not eating.By Tuesday the 27th she didn't look well when I came home from work. I took her to the ER vet clinic. She had a yellow tint in her mouth and had lost a lot of weight. She did weight 15lbs but when they weight her she was down to 11lbs. The vet said it could be some kind of toxic that her liver and kidneys my be failing. Before they could do any test on her I had to come up with $838.00. My heart hit the floor, I didn't have this kind of money. We are just your poor middle class family that live from pay check to pay check. After sitting in the vet office for about an hour I had to make a decision that would break my heart I had to put her down. It killed me inside so much and to this day. After about 1 week of this is when the recall came out. I never dream it was or could be her food. I called the vet office and they stated that since I didn't get any blood work done the wont know for sure. we lost our pet that was like a child to me.When I got home from the vets office the next day a throw out all the cat food and now I wish I would have kept it. I would like to add my name to any law suit.

[angelzwarmth]

ok well, I posted about my baby girl somewhere on these comments a day or so ago. I am just posting to find out where I can put my name down for the lawsuit against menufoods. Yes, I put my baby girl down yesterday morning when the vet said that after 4 months of trying to save her kidneys, they were completely failing and anything further would have killed her anyway. Her blood cell count was even too low to do any further IV fluids. All I could do was just hold her for about 20minutes while she purred in my arms and watch them inject her. Within seconds, my baby girl was taken from me. I've spent $1300 and countless tears and prayers being confused for 4 months why she suddenly became ill. I still have the Special Kitty cat food and am holding onto it till I figure out what I'm supposed to do now. I've never done a lawsuit or anything.
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.
[e-mail]
thx
Charlette

[ibyte]

I have a sick feeling that this has gone on longer than what they are saying. My 11 yo never sick a day in her life cat died very suddenly and the Vet could not find anything wrong with her. She became ill on a Sunday throwing up and diarhea, the next day I noticed her staggering and lethargic, i thought she caught cold. I had her at the Vet and she had a low temp. bloodwork and tests revealed nothing.
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

[sherrie667]

I need to know if i should contact a lawyer in my area to file a class action lawyersuit or how do i go about it. I had to have my cat,Baby, euthanized mar 3, because of kidney failure. I had her at the vet three weeks before that and was in good health. She only weighed 4.2 lbs at that time. March 2 i took her in and she was down to 3 lbs not eating just drinking water.
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

[tahndie]

I read that website...I'm not surprised. The last 2 dogs that I had died at the 5-8 year stage and I suspected it was the commercial dog food because they had rare diseases that the Vet said shouldn't have occurred with these indoor dogs. Ever since then I've raised my pets on home made (you can find these on the internet) and the dogs I have now are very healty (just had a check up 2 months ago). The looked at the sheen condition of their coat and she asked me what I fed them and I told her. She wanted to know why I fed them home made and I told her about my previous pets and that I suspected the commercial petfood was contaminated (I had read in articles that they recycle dogs, cats, and cows that have mad cow disease). She said that she had noticed an increase in dog / cat cancers and rare diseases and that I might be on to something. This was 2 months ago before all of this *** happened. I FEEL SO SORRY for everyone that has suffered. I SUGGEST THAT YOU ALL GO HOLISTIC OR MAKE YOUR OWN FOOD AND DO NOT USE COMMERCIAL DOGFOOD. The industry is a SHAM and this is proof. If you have not read this site (menufoodssuck.com) it is true. Someone that I work with was going to be a pet nutritionist in college and she said that it was.

[pianoman7742]

I just got through reading http://www.menufoodssuck.com. What they put in commercial pet food turns my stomach and I can't believe that most of us have fell for the commercial pet food industry lies that have been fed to us. I hope there are lawsuits flying over this. I'm going Holistic from now on. I have 2 dogs and a cat. P&G, Mars, Nestle'....this is money that you will no longer get. ARE YOU LISTENING?

[MarilynZach]

This is not about how much of a sob story we can write, it's supposed to be how are they going to help our pets. I have a huge sob story of my own, but it's not going to help my sonnyboy, to tell all yous about it, so I'll keep my sobs to myself, and believe me I have a sob story. I just want to save my baby, we've been together for 10 years and he has made me feel safe all those years, it's hard to just say good bye my baby I Love you very much and I will miss you if they take you away from me.

[tim horton]

I've been at the pet store recently. Hearing all the stories about their pets, and how this company (menufoods) & the FDA knew about this 1 month before the actual recall.
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.

[MarilynZach]

Can anybody out there tell me if there is a Canadian law Firm involved in this matter of the Menu Foods Recall

[MarilynZach]

This comment is directed only to "MARYBETHINCT"
Obviously you have never loved ANYTHING in your life time, because if you had you would never say what you did. I'm sure there are some gold diggers out there, but I'm also sure that menu foods is not going to just hand out money to everyone that says their pet just died, without an investagation. You are an ignorant pommise assshole, or are you one of these gold diggers yourself and your just pissed because you didn't have a pet. From your attitude if you did have a pet, it probaly ran like hell to get away from you the first chance it got. In the future I hope you can find it in that cold heart of yours to keep your trap shut, when it's about someone elses heart

[tim horton]

I have a 7 month old kitten. I got him in Dec. for a x-mas gift. In which he's eating special kitty. He's been to the vet's 3 times, and I was just told he now has a heart mermer. For I was scared for my lil guy, I called the lady who we got him from, but no problems with the litter. You see Levi comes from a champion Blue Point Siamese. He's NOT just my pet, but my son. For I can't have children. Then as I'm reading some of these posting, some people seem to think it's$$$. WELL DICKHEADS THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK! Because you are wrong!
Then 4 days ago, my family calls me & tells me about the petfood recall. That they actually had the tainted food right in their cupboards. Their poor lil Sonny is now ill. See not being able to have children, their pets are their kids. Not to mention their 3 cats, and they also take care of the strays that end up in their back yard. Feding them special kitty, now with the thought in their heads they were killing them with this tainted food.
Menufoods you are going to be paying for what you have done to our children (Pets) the lose of their lives and the lose in our hearts because they are gone. And for the other ruid people who think it's $$ think before you speak or write. What if it was human food, would you think the same way???
lil_hawk9 & Levi

[danno502]

"[...] Sometimes in life bad things happen for no other reason than a simple mishap, why does it always have to end up being a law suit.[...]"
Posted by marybethinct at 09:43 AM : Mar 22, 2007

Thanks, Marybeth for the corporate spin on this tragedy. Now go back to campaigning for the neocons.

[danno502]

"[...] Sometimes in life bad things happen for no other reason than a simple mishap, why does it always have to end up being a law suit.[...]"
Posted by marybethinct at 09:43 AM : Mar 22, 2007

Thanks, Marybeth for the corporate spin on this tragedy. Now go back to campaigning for the neocons.

[MarilynZach]

I hope these comments are not going unheard, I really hope it's not just a way for us to vent our anger. I want satisfaction for the pain and suffering my dog has gone through, because of MENUFOODS NEGLECT. These people (Menufoods) tried to cut costs by buying cheeper quality wheat glutin, and never checked to see if it was OK. Would it not make you wonder whats wrong with this if you got it for a cheeper price, you only get what you pay for, and you cheeped out and the result is you are killing our loved ones. How do you (Menufoods) sleep at night, knowing what you have done to all those poor innoscent animals.

[mistybooboo]

Hi,
one of my seven cats eats wet food (the rest dry) and we had her blood tested at the vet's today. I pray that she is OK. Our daughter adopted her for my husband for Fathers day last year because we have had a very bad time for several years.(My husband is handicaped both his parents died, I was hurt in an accident and lost my job, you name it, it has happened.) So this cat/kitten is very special to him and us and it would break his heart if she were sick.
As far as a comment from someone about endless lawsuits I agree in a way but unfortunitly in this day the only way to get a big or any company to listen to you is to affect their bottom line. I'm sure most pet owners would agree that their pet's health is the most important thing, or at least it should be.

[mistybooboo]

Hi,
one of my seven cats eats wet food (the rest dry) and we had her blood tested at the vet's today. I pray that she is OK. Our daughter adopted her for my husband for Fathers day last year because we have had a very bad time for several years.(My husband is handicaped both his parents died, I was hurt in an accident and lost my job, you name it, it has happened.) So this cat/kitten is very special to him and us and it would break his heart if she were sick.
As far as a comment from someone about endless lawsuits I agree in a way but unfortunitly in this day the only way to get a big or any company to listen to you is to affect their bottom line. I'm sure most pet owners would agree that their pet's health is the most important thing, or at least it should be.

[kriskringle4]

I also agree with everyone if there is a civil class action lawsuit case I do want to be part of it! We lost our dog "Dublin" 9yr old short haired fox terrier, full of life and love and in good health. We had him in the hospital for a week with vet bills at $4,000. He pasted on March 15th from kidney failure and on March 16th we first heard of the recall. I then checked the codes on the pouches of Iams and found we have the recalled codes & plant #.
It has been very hard for us to realize we gave him this natural food not knowing it was poisoned. Also, we still think of the day before he died, laying in a cage, couldn't move his body, sadly looking up at us knowing he was so sick. Today, all we have is his ashes.
It is like losing a member of your family, not a piece of property.

[MarilynZach]

I WANT SATTISFACTION NOW!!!! MY PETS ARE MY CHILDREN, AND MENUFOODS ARE KILLING THEM. WHY IS IT IF SOMEONE KILLS ANOTHER PERSON, THEY GO TO PRISON. NOW MENUFOODS IS KILLING OUR CHILDREN AND THE KICKER IS THEY NEW ABOUT IT, AND SO FAR THEY ARE GETTING AWAY WITH IT. LISTEN UP PEOPLE, MOST PET OWNERS LOOK AT THEIR PETS AS THEIR KIDS. LETS GET TOGETHER AND PROTECT OUR KIDS. THE FDA AND MENUFOODS NEW ABOUT THIS 1 MONTH AGO WHY WERE WE NOT TOLD ABOUT THIS ONE MONTH AGO, WHY DID THEY WAIT. I WANT TO BE COMPENSATED I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH BUT I DO KNOW IT WILL BE BIG, HOW CAN I PUT A PRICE ON MY CHILD THAT I LOVE SO MUCH. SOMETHING HAS TO BE DONE ABOUT THIS, AND I DON'T WANT MY DOG (MY CHILD) TO BE LEFT OUT OR FORGOTTEN. THERE WILL BE EXTREME HELL TO PAY IF MY DOG IS NOT LOOKED AFTER. THIS IS THE PRICE MENUFOODS IS GOING TO PAY FOR TRYING TO CHEEP OUT ON OUR PETS FOOD. PEOPLE WHO WE TRUSTED TO FEED OUR PETS.

MENUFOODS CLEAR YOUR CONSCIENCE AND DO WHAT'S RIGHT, LOOK AFTER OUR PETS.

[MarilynZach]

I am so OUTRAGGED about menufoods, I've been trying and waiting for their call back. I called them the first night they reported the recall, I gave them the numbers off my cans of dog food and they told me to stop using it that it was infected, they took my name and phone number and said they will get back to me. NO CALLS FROM THEM, I want to know who is going to pay for all the vet bills, if there is a class action lawsuit I want to be apart of it, can someone please help me to get involved with this, my pets are suffering. I also have 3 cats that liked to eat the dogs food. I had a stray cat I was feeding special kitty, he been with me for 1.5 years has now passed away for some unknown reason.