CBS News in Pittsburgh recently reported on a heartbreaking story about a dog that died from a suspect pet food, a newly opened bag. Within 24 hours, the dog was “violently ill”. Even with veterinary treatment, the dog died 2 days later.
The pet food was manufactured by Kinetic, no information was provided to specific food or lot numbers.
The pet food was 2 months expired, however it is doubtful being past expiration was the cause of the illness. The pet owner has multiple dogs but only one dog ate the suspect Kinetic food; “the other dogs had smelled it and walked away.”
The Pittsburgh CBS television station that reported on this issue stated they contacted the pet food manufacturer (Kinetic). “Kinetic expressed its condolences to the Winter family but blamed both the distributor and the supplier for not monitoring their stock and for not destroying expired food so it would not be sold to customers.”
Again, a dry pet food is not likely to be adulterated/toxic solely due to being past expiration.
Kinetic Pet Food stated they ended their relationship with the distributor and supplier…but what they did next is concerning.
“Kinetic says it’s telling both the distributor and supplier to destroy the food and send it photographic proof.”
Yes…expired pet food should be destroyed. However, because the food is linked to a pet’s death – the pet food should NOT be destroyed until an investigation is complete.
If this pet food is contaminated, regulatory authorities will want to/need to test unopened bags. If those bags of pet food are destroyed – as requested by the pet food manufacturer – proper testing might not be possible.
Existing pet food regulations require “a responsible party” to report to FDA a potential contamination within 24 hours. However, FDA only classifies the manufacturer as the ‘responsible party’ (retailers or distributors are not required to report a suspect pet food). And, there are currently no regulations that require a distributor to hold suspect pet foods until proper testing can be completed.
The pet owners have sent the suspect Kinetic Pet Food for testing. We hope the pet owners submitted an adverse event report to FDA and to PA Department of Agriculture to get the incident documented. If more is learned, it will be shared.
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
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