PETA Wants Dry Pet Food Recalled

Animal rights advocates are calling on federal food safety regulators and pet food companies to expand a nationwide recall of dog and cat food to include dry varieties, claiming it makes pets sick.

The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday it had no plans to suggest a wider recall to pet food companies, and veterinarians said they have not seen a trend of animals becoming ill after eating dry pet food.

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals plans to make the appeal Friday in Washington after it said it received complaints from pet owners who claim their animals suffered kidney failure after eating dry pet food.

Norfolk, Va.-based PETA wants the FDA and the companies to extend the recall to foods that have received complaints, chemically test it and perform necropsies on the animals involved. It also wants companies prosecuted if the FDA's probe turns up wrongdoing.

FDA spokeswoman Julie Zawisza said she did not know how many of the more than 7,000 complaints the agency has received have concerned dry pet food. The FDA plans to release preliminary results from its investigation into the recall Friday.

Officials at Ontario, Canada-based Menu Foods, which made the recalled pet food, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Nearly 100 brands of pet food were recalled after animals suffered kidney failure. The recall involved "cuts and gravy" style dog and cat food. The recall covered products carrying names of major brands including Iams, Nutro and Eukanuba.

New York state's food laboratory last week identified aminopterin as the likely culprit in the recall. Aminopterin is a derivative of folic acid that was once used to induce abortions and is now banned as a rodent poison in the United States. It can cause kidney damage in dogs and cats.

Veterinarians aren't seeing a trend of pets getting sick off dry food, said Paul Pion, founder of the Veterinarian Information Network. He said since so many people use dry food, you would expect to see many more ill pets if the food was tainted.

"I wouldn't put much credence in it, but it's not out of the realm of possibility," Pion said.

The Veterinary Information Network reported Tuesday that at least 471 cases of pet kidney failure have been reported since the recall, and more than 100 pets have died. Menu Foods has confirmed 16 pet deaths.

Pion, a California veterinarian, said only 10 percent to 20 percent of the people who belong to his Web site had responded to a request for information.

"If we're only getting 10 percent of the veterinarians, you can do the math," he said.

CBS News Early Show resident veterinarian Dr. Debbye Turner said Wednesday, "Pretty much every vet you talk with has one or two cases."

She adds that another Web site, PetConnection.com declares nearly 2,000 pets have died from eating the recalled food.

So who is right? In short, Turner says, nobody really knows, and, "We don't know that some of the pets reported on PetConnection aren't some of the same pets reported on VIN or reported in other series."