Bonners Ferry Local Guide including all of Boundary County Idaho

Deaths from pet food recall may be worse than being reported

Tuesday, March 20, 2007; KXLY

Since a nationwide pet food recall began, the FDA knows of only 10 animals that have died from contaminated food. Preliminary numbers however, compiled by one of the nations top veterinarians, suggest many more may have died. At the North Idaho Animal Hospital in Sandpoint, Dr. Marty Becker says the phones are ringing constantly with pet owners calling, worried they fed their dog or cat one of 95 brands of "Cuts and Gravy" style food recalled last week. I would say the overall mood across the country is still panic, Dr. Becker said. Because it's not like a threat you can see. You can protect your dog or cat from an oncoming car or angry dog but this is an invisible threat. Dr. Becker says that when news of the pet food recall began to spread he knew he needed to start tracking just how widespread the problem is. On Sunday Dr. Becker began compiling reports in a database on his website petconnection.com. On the website pet owners who believe their animal has been affected by the tainted food fill out a short form. I think we are going to be surprised by two things. Number one the problem is much larger than being reported right now, and number two it may be confined to more metropolitan areas, Dr. Becker said, explaining that in metropolitan areas pet owners are more likely to use this kind of food. - Full Story