You've probably heard about the tainted pet food that is now making many cats and dogs sick and even killing a tragic number of them. I hope you've been hearing about it because it hasn't gotten as much attention as it might have. One of the many downsides of focusing on tabloid-style stories like the autopsy on Anna Nicole Smith is that it gives shorter shrift to news stories that might actually save lives and prevent disasters and misery. Here's a link to one of many stories you might have missed because the headlines were the latest on Sanjaya Malakar.
Friday afternoon, a friend called in absolute hysterics, thinking she'd killed her beloved dogs by feeding them the unsafe food. At last report, the dogs were still alive but very sick, and the friend had emptied her bank account to pay vet bills. I directed her to this website where the company responsible seems to be willing to reimburse people for such expenses…but even if she does get compensated for that, how can you compensate her for the emotional assault? Very sad.
Then this morning, I awoke to a flurry of voice mail messages from my friend Carolyn. At 3 AM, she'd heard on the radio or read on the Internet — I forget which — that the Purina company has joined the recall ranks. As you may remember, I feed two or more stray cats, a couple of possums and God knows how many raccoons in my backyard and I feed them two different varieties of dry Purina chow. Carolyn hopped on the Internet to determine if Purina has recalled either of those two products. If they had, she was prepared to hop on a bus at that hour and come over here to empty the overnight dish.
It turned out not to be necessary. All Purina has recalled is Alpo® Prime Cuts in Gravy, which is a wet dog food and not something I offer the nightly menagerie. Still, it's a scary thought. Glad we have the Internet to make instant checks on such matters. It conveys a lot of lies and trivia but boy, it sure comes in handy for the facts.