OMG!!! Menu Pet Food Knew About Their Food Problems For *3 MONTHS* Before Recall???

[nicknameless]

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/565102.html

Starting in December, concerns began filtering back to the company through toll-free customer lines about the "cuts and gravy" style pet food.

Callers complained their animals had fallen ill after eating the food, although no direct link was established.

One large customer in the United States initiated its own recall after receiving complaints and put future orders for the products on hold.

Menu Foods supplies its products to 17 of the top 20 retailers in North America for sale under store labels such as Master Choice, Compliments and Select, and also manufactures under contract for several national brands.

More at link

This article claims very low numbers for American pet illnesses/deaths and states that Canadian pets haven't been affected.
That is quite False. In fact, there is a Canadian class action suit underway.
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2007/22/c5582.html


THREE GODDAMN, EFFING MONTHS!!!

:nuke:

[valerief]

1. Now we know they're Republicans. nt

[nicknameless]

14. And they are STILL shipping out their products.

:mad:

[EFerrari]

21. I can't believe this.

:grr:

[nicknameless]

31. I should clarify that last post.

Rats. Missed the edit period by 2 minutes.

Menu is continuing to ship pet food products from their plants.
I don't know *which* products, however.

[EFerrari]

33. You know, it's just luck that none of my guys were eating that food.

:(

I'm thinking I need to make their food myself.

[nicknameless]

34. I'm so glad your guys are okay.

Homemade is almost necessary at this point.

:(

[emilyg]

45. email

got an email from PetsMart - i bought some of this food.

[EFerrari]

47. Welcome to DU, emilyg.

Thanks for the tip.

:hi:

[Irishonly]

55. I Have Never Been So Thankful

that my dog has never had moist dog food. The brand we use isn't on the list-good ole Dick Van Patten. Our dog is a mix and what a mix she is-German Shepherd, Chow, Huskie and Border Collie. I have gone google searches and found recipes to make at home for her.

[LiberalHeart]

2. This is so beyond sickening I can't stand it.

All the pain and grief.

ABC News has a story up to guide people in making the decision to put their pets to sleep, and another about how people are bonding online by sharing their stories about their pets and illnesses from the food.

[whistle]

3. Who owns Menu Foods and who are the major investors?

[nicknameless]

12. Look who was running this despicable company

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x496517

A guy with a track record for poisoning the environment.

[durtee librul]

4. I think if Edwards drops out of the race,

he oughta take this case. IF he can't, there's a lawyer in Michigan (Geoff Fieger) who LOVES this kind of stuff....(he represented Jack Kekorian - suicide doc).

[Captain Angry]

9. Almost had it...

Kirk Kerkorian: Billionaire investor.

Jack Kevorkian: Suicide assistance.


:hi:

[Swamp Rat]

19. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[knitter4democracy]

46. Nah, we don't want Feiger. He just grandstands.

We need a whole team of lawyers to match theirs, a huge group with the resources needed.

[mike_c]

5. if that turns out to be the case, they need to be burned to the ground...

...and their executives marched barefoot through the embers. Torches and pitchforks. If any of my cats had suffered because of this I would be on an FBI watch list by now. Someone would pay.

[Jamastiene]

27. OMG.

I'd let you legally adopt my cats and be their father if you are that protective. :loveya: :thumbsup:

[Triana]

6. K & Effing R - for the innocent animals...

:mad:
:mad:
:mad:

Have I mentioned I H8 corprats?

[jobycom]

7. Not to defend them, but realize that most such companies get complaints

constantly that their product made someone sick. Most times it isn't true. Since this company sells their product under dozens of names, it might take a while for them to realize there is a trend, that it is their product, and what products were affected.

It seems to me that they reacted too slowly, too, and poorly when they did react, but there would be some lag time before they could react. Though I'm very interested in seeing the full details when they emerge.

[Kool Kitty]

17. I kind of see your point, but the problem

here is that the company did tests of their own and animals died. So this should have been taken care of much sooner, between the tests they did and the illnesses and deaths that were reported to them.

[kestrel91316]

74. IIRC the testing they did was in late Feb, with no deaths for a few days

after that.

Ask any pet food (or people food) company. I betcha they ALL get dozens of bitter, nasty, incoherent, or incomprehensible complaints every month. They no doubt had a lot of background noise to filter out to see the legitimate complaints.

People are insane. I had a total stranger come in a few years ago that wanted her cat put to sleep immediately. She was practically hysterical. Her cat was suffering from advanced untreatable cancer and had a gigantic hard tumor on its body and was having great difficulty breathing. I agreed that euthanasia was needed STAT. I did so, giving the cat some drugs to sedate it and help with pain, so it could relax a little. The poor thing was clearly in agony and we had to work FAST.

I discussed with the owner in detail the "game plan" - sedate, then give the euthanasia drugs intraperitoneally because it was struggling too much to attempt an IV catheter, and the placement of one would have caused it even more distress IMHO. Intraperitoneal euthanasia solution is perfectly acceptable and not painful at all. The woman agreed to everything.

After I had given the second injection and the drugs started kicking in, the cat went through another period of agitation for 30 seconds or so because of its severe respiratory compromise (pulmonary metastasis of tumor, no doubt)but there was nothing additional to be done, just wait for the drugs to work. Soon the cat relaxed, and it passed quietly, to my profound relief. I had never before seen such suffering permitted to go on like this owner had allowed for so long, and I was glad to end it.

A month later I got a letter from the veterinary board. I was being accused of essentially torturing the cat to death, malpractice, and every other crime under the sun.

These things happen. This was the second time I had been falsely accused, but this person was more unhinged than the first. I fired off my response to the board, sent a copy of records, explained that the cat was suffering horribly on presentation and all I did was END IT.

Normally it takes 6 months to get a response from the board, but I was rather pleased to see one in record time - about three weeks. They of course found that there was no basis whatsoever for the woman's claims. I had an eyewitness sworn statement from my assistant, you see, that nothing the woman claimed had even occurred.

So I know from personal experience just how truly insane and delusional and viscious some people out there are. The pet food companies have to deal with this sort of nonsense continually - lies, fabrications, hatefulness - and I have to feel just a little sympathy for them.

Why do people do things - making false claims, embarking on sometimes years-long vendettas against those who have done them absolutely no wrong? I have no idea. But I know it happens.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

8. All the misery and pain they have caused...

it is beyond contemptible. More than lawsuits, the persons responsible for this deserve jail time. :grr: :grr: :grr:

[AZBlue]

10. K&R

[likesmountains 52]

11. kick...let's not drop this..

[NAO]

13. Menu Foods (In)ActionTimeline, AP News Story.

Menu Foods Knowledge/Action (INACTION) Time-line

t = 0 days (Feb 20): When the first cases were reported.
t = 7 days (Feb 27): When Menu Foods started testing.
t = 7-18 days: When their test cases were dying (one in six we now know).
t = 25 days (Friday, March 16): When they finally issued the recall.

The Associated Press just moved a story with more than a hint of what could have happened if things had been handled differently:

As many as one in six animals died in tests of suspect dog and cat food by the manufacturer after complaints the products were poisoning pets around the country, the government said Monday.

OK, pets have been reported dead, so Menu Foods decides to feed the foods to their own in-house animals:

Menu Foods told the FDA it received the first complaints of kidney failure and deaths among cats and dogs from pet owners on Feb. 20. It began new tests on Feb. 27.

During those tests, the company fed its product to 40 to 50 dogs and cats and some seven animals — the mix of species was not immediately known — died, Sundlof said. The contamination appeared more deadly to cats than to dogs, he said.

Time-line … almost a MONTH AGO the company was getting reports of pet deaths. THREE WEEKS AGO, they tested the product and found one in six pets died in their own laboratories.

And the product was recalled … when? Oh yes, March 16. According to the AP, that’s almost a month after pets started dying.

Here’s the rest of the story. And this piece (thanks, vetcetera) reveals that the widely reported “10 confirmed dead” were the animals who died the testing. Yes, I know that’s because those animals had their variables controlled, but still …

[nicknameless]

23. *3 MONTHS* -- Not 1 month.

See the OP article excerpt

[NAO]

25. Well, to be Devil's Advocate, they had REPORTS 3 mo ago; they KNEW 1 month ago

I do not wish to be fair to these bastards, but to avoid having their defenders (what kind of a**hole would defend these monsters? Possibly Ann Coulter and such types) of Menu say we are making misleading statements I think we need to err on the side of caution, and (uggh) give them the benefit of the doubt.

***

They had reports of deaths, and reason to be concerned 3 - 4 months ago;

they had definitive information on 2/20; they deliberately poisoned 60 animals on 2/20-2/21;

they KNEW that 1 in 6 were dead from their food on 2/27;

AND THEY WAITED UNTIL 3/16, A FRIDAY (just like Bushco) to announce the recall to the press.

they tried to bury the story for a week (3/17-3/22);

they waited unitl 3/23 (ANOTHER FRIDAY) to announce the cause of the deaths (rat poisin in their products)

***

Now that still makes them culpable for thousands of needless deaths, but it makes OUR case ROCK SOLID.

[riverdeep]

38. Just to clarify

"they waited unitl 3/23 (ANOTHER FRIDAY) to announce the cause of the deaths (rat poisin in their products)"


This makes it sound like Menu Foods announced the cause. My understanding is that scientists working for New York State found the cause, and officials anounced it. Menu had nothing to do with it. I also believe that they announced it on Friday because that's when they found out, not because they wanted to bury anything-they really wouldn't have any motivation.

[NAO]

39. I suspect Menu Foods asked to "review data", "have meetings" ,etc to stall til Friday

Of course Menu Foods did not help discover the cause. Nor did they announce the findings. But I strongly suspect that they used standard corporate tactics of dealing with regulatory agencies to manipulate the announcement to being done on a Friday.

[Hepburn]

41. How freaking long does it take to figure this out???

Even ONE MONTH as far as I am concerned is too long. This should NOT have happened in the first place. If they had any kind of legit quality control and testing, IMO, NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED.

I am soooooooooo angry over this. My own dog is fine ~~ but my heart just bleeds for the suffering of the pets and their owners for something that should have NEVER happened at all!

And, yeah, it seems like the Friday news dump on this. They had to have known way back when...but worries about a financial disaster sure seems to have been on their minds.

And the offer to reimburse anyone whose pet(s) died or were ill? How does one prove this up? Who saved the empty cans of food or the receipts for the purchase, etc? As far as I am concerned, it is a totally nothing offer and just PR.

[hedgehog]

51. If one in six of the test animals died, and they didn't even know for

sure that anything was wrong at that point (so they couldn't have been feeding a concentrated dose), then there must be a hell of a lot more than 12 or 13 or 16 animals affected nation-wide!

[NAO]

15. If ONE kid "dared" a friend to "eat dog food" between 2/27 and 3/16, this will go CRIMINAL

When I was a kid, it was common to "dare" other kids to eat dog food. Or to find a kid who would eat dog food for a quarter, or a dollar, or FIVE DOLLARS!!

If ONE kid ate contaminated dog/cat food AFTER Menu Foods knew it was LETHAL (after 2/27) but BEFORE they got around to issuing the recall (3/16), the zillions of class-action lawsuits (which are going to decimate Menu Foods as a company) are going to be eclipsed by CRIMINAL prosecutions.

Menu Foods's corporate lawyers, who have been focusing on "limiting loss and damages" will have to be sacked in favor of criminal defense attorneys, as those after Menu Foods go from owners seeking damages to federal prosecutors seeking criminal convictions for GROSS NEGLIGENCE and INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER.

Suddenly, it could go from being "too bad, so sad, the COMPANY is gone, everyone lost some $$" to "OMFG, we are facing PRISON time!". While class-action lawsuits will go after the company, criminal prosecutions will go after the INDIVIDUALS responsible for the decisions.

It is tragic that so many pets have been poisoned by a company looking out for the bottom line. I HOPE no children, or seniors, under the Bush budget cuts, have eaten any of this rat poisin. But if anything like that happened, those execs at Menu Foods better buy airline tickets to non-extradition countries FAST.

[MedleyMisty]

22. It should be criminal now

I don't see why it shouldn't be just because a human hasn't died. Humans aren't that fucking special. Cats and dogs have suffered and died, and that's bad enough for jail. If any of my cats had died - let's say that I would not rest until someone paid. I'm not a believer in the death penalty so I'd settle for prison for life.

And yes, I love my cats. More than any stupid evil human.

[NAO]

24. How about a sentence of execution by eating Menu Foods Products ...

Yes, I agree that it SHOULD be criminal right now, but unfortunately under current laws pets are considered to be "property" just like collectible guns or garden tools.

However, I suspect that the fallout from this tragedy may be the catalyst for changing those laws.

[magellan]

32. Yes, it should be criminal

We lost a dog to renal failure several years ago, through vet incompetence. As if our baby's illness and subsequent death weren't bad enough.

If I had to watch another pet suffer because someone couldn't be bothered to do their fucking job properly, I would not be responsible for my actions. The very least I'd want is criminal sentencing.

Our two are not affected by this, thank god, but I still don't feel secure. No one should. This is only the latest harbinger of worse things to come under the god damn "free market". Everyone is vulnerable when the cost of producing goods trumps every other concern.

[saracat]

48. Me too! And my cat died! I have had it with people who say at least

it wasn't a child! Sara was just as important to me as any child and more so.I was told I wads "sick" for thinking that way.At least my babies are innocent and will never grow up to inflict malciouys harm on people like some of these human babies!

[CrazyOrangeCat]

49. I'm sorry.

that's awful. x(

[vanboggie]

67. This is what happened to Sara?

OMG, that makes the pain even worse. I'm sorry Saracat!

[ebayfool]

50. Or senior citizens trying to stretch a limited budget?

I've actually known a few over the years that have done this ... sad as it is to see. Those are the ones I make a point of sending over bags of groceries w/a "I can't use all of this don't want to waste it can you help me out & take it?" excuse. Saves some pride & dignity - while it gets some goods in their pantry.

There are a few seniors that just KNOW I'm a totally stupid shopper, buying too much to use so often!

[nicknameless]

16. The director of Menu Foods' scandalous history:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x496517

"The director of Menu Foods Inc., (the company that makes the pet food that is killing your pets) Robert W. Luba, was the director of Safety-Kleen Corp."

In short:
He has a history of environmental poisoning, as well as bilking investors and the public.

[NAO]

20. Menu Foods CEO is also CEO of Hazardous Waste Company w/violations

[NAO]

18. Latest Petconnection Database: 1,541 dead (885 cats, 646 dogs). LINKS FOR NEWS

From Petconnection.com National Database (self-reported data, but consider how few people know to self-report here)
The latest numbers from our database (8 p.m. PT): 1541 dead (885 cats/646 dogs)


****MORE DETAILED INFORMATION ON THE PET RECALL SITUATION****

** For updates on the Pet Food Recall, or to enter an incident into the National Database, go to Pet Connection **

Pet Connection
http://www.petconnection.com/index.php

** Detailed inside information from veterinary practitioners **
Vetcetera
http://catmanager.wordpress.com

** Medical info, historical research (including Iams 13 year exclusive contract w/Menu Foods, Menu Foods annual reports, fact that Menu Foods CEO also CEO of toxic waste disposal company with multiple violations, etc) from Itchmo **
Itchmo
http://www.itchmo.com

**Updated News Links on Pet Food Recall News Stories**
Howl 911
http://www.howl911.com

**DU'ers Blog with SUMMARY Informaton, LINKS**
2 Black Cats
http://2blackcats.wordpress.com


From the PetConnection.com database. Thursday March 22, 2007 11:20 a.m. PT:

Total reports of sick or dead pets: 1715
Deceased pets: 845

Of those:

Cats, deceased: 500
Dogs, deceased: 345


Menu Foods Knowledge/Action (INACTION) Time-line

t = 0 days (Feb 20): When the first cases were reported.
t = 7 days (Feb 27): When Menu Foods started testing.
t = 7-18 days: When their test cases were dying (one in six we now know).
t = 25 days (Friday, March 16): When they finally issued the recall.

The Associated Press just moved a story with more than a hint of what could have happened if things had been handled differently:

As many as one in six animals died in tests of suspect dog and cat food by the manufacturer after complaints the products were poisoning pets around the country, the government said Monday.

OK, pets have been reported dead, so Menu Foods decides to feed the foods to their own in-house animals:

Menu Foods told the FDA it received the first complaints of kidney failure and deaths among cats and dogs from pet owners on Feb. 20. It began new tests on Feb. 27.

During those tests, the company fed its product to 40 to 50 dogs and cats and some seven animals — the mix of species was not immediately known — died, Sundlof said. The contamination appeared more deadly to cats than to dogs, he said.

Time-line … almost a MONTH AGO the company was getting reports of pet deaths. THREE WEEKS AGO, they tested the product and found one in six pets died in their own laboratories.

And the product was recalled … when? Oh yes, March 16. According to the AP, that’s almost a month after pets started dying.

Here’s the rest of the story. And this piece (thanks, vetcetera) reveals that the widely reported “10 confirmed dead” were the animals who died the testing. Yes, I know that’s because those animals had their variables controlled, but still …

[nicknameless]

26. Your timeline is incorrect, according to the information in the OP excerpt.

3 MONTHS -- not 1 month.

As usual, the AP is not serving as a reliable source.

[NAO]

28. s**T!! How could I fall for AP crap? Well the defense lawyers will repeat and use it

even if it's not true.

But thanks for the correction.

The disinformation ("10 dead cats") repeated over and over, when the press is even bothering to cover the story; combined with the deliberate deceit and cover-up make me concerned that most people will never know the extent of what happened.

[nicknameless]

29. I know.

"Just 10".
And "Valerie Plame wasn't a NOC."
:eyes:

The director had an extensive history of environmental poisoning.
No surprise that he's continuing his long-standing pattern. Except now he's poisoning our fur-kids.

[NAO]

30. Don't forget, Bush "really won" in 2000 and 2004

That election fraud stuff is just for tin-foil hatters.

[Kurovski]

35. I just knew this was coming.

Every one of the bastards involved, every company, should be driven out of business.

Their incorporation status should be taken away, and there is not one reason why it shouldn't be.

That's what's supposed to happen when a company breaches the public trust.
K&R.

[Trillo]

36. I hope this doesn't sound callous,

but perhaps it was a just a test run to judge the limits of "consumer resentment".

In all seriousness, perhaps in the future, pet food containing "rat poison" will need to be labeled as containing "RAT POISON", clearly and in LARGE print on the sack.

Now that I think of it, I wonder if it should have been labeled thusly under current laws.

[Dawgs]

37. Wait, yesterday the news (I think CNN) told me to blame China.

Why would the media lie to me? :sarcasm:

[sleepyhead]

40. They also were very negligent in notifying veterinarians.

If I hadn't just *happened* to go online the morning of March 17, I never would have known about the recall. As it turned out, I was able to research the situation for myself before the phone calls started coming in from my clients. I took it upon myself to go to work early Monday and call/email every pet food company I could think of, especially my suppliers, for more information. The individual companies, at least, were generous (when prodded) with as much information as they had at the time, and I was able to put together a little homemade pamphlet for myself and my staff to use as a quick reference. Later that week, the faxes started coming in relaying information that I (thankfully) already had. But I am still annoyed that I had to take it upon myself to gather information, when I have been the one on the receiving end of all the panicked phone calls from my clients. If I hadn't at least minimally prepared myself, I would have been totally blindsided and unable to offer my clients any advice at all.

[kestrel91316]

75. To this date I still have not gotten a fax or any communication

about the recall from Hill's. It's a good thing I never stocked the Savory Cuts varieties in the first place (due to the fish in them).

[sproutster]

42. My sisters pet was poisoned in early January

She had an icky boyfriend who didn't like the dog, and symptoms looked like anti-freeze poisoning.

In hindsight - she fed him IAMS wet food.

How many did not go reported due to neighbors hating the barking, etc. where you think someone was trying to kill your pet?

Tommy is a big boy, and he survived - but he did begin renal failure, and was 24 hrs from being put down.

[Hepburn]

43. OMG....

...that is just awful. I hope he is OK now.

[Gregorian]

44. This may be what killed my Bart.

He was sick in early December. I don't know until I travel to where the remaining containers are stored. His symptoms were similar to those posted, for what that may be worth. The only time I decided to start feeding wet food.





I'm still reeling from the loss.

[bobbolink]

52. OMG!!!!! USIANS have known for YEARS that thousands of people are dying in this country

from lack of health care.

WHERE'S THE OUTRAGE????

[hashibabba]

59. It's pretty damned sad commentary on this country.

There's nothing wrong with loving our pets. My dogs are my babies. But I wish when things like this came up where our *castaway* humans are involved, that we'd find more people with the same outrage.

[Cleita]

60. Yep, in my county homeless field cats are taken care of by

caring people but the homeless humans die in fields of cancer because no one cares. I'm not dissing anyone for looking after the cats. Bless them, but it makes me wonder about our priorities.

[TZ]

61. Wait- so just because I ;am upset that I might have poisoned

my cats (my children) because of a stupid, unethical lying company out to make a buck, I don't care about other people getting treated badly (which yes we pet owners do understand that, despite what it seems)?! Have you not seem my rants on other topics? This however is different for so many of us because its so PERSONAL. If you had a relative die in Iraq thats going to be your passion obviously. We all have topics that we care deeply about but don't accuse us of not CARING about other things as well just because its maybe not your passion!! Cleita- I am not addressing you personally but I am tired of people trying to make me feel quilty about caring deeply about this issue. Most pet owners I know are the most caring and compassionate people you will ever meet.

[Cleita]

62. Do you live in my county?

I don't believe I accused you of anything. I also don't sneer at those cat people who look after the field cats. I'm glad someone does. What I was trying to say is that people in my county don't seem to care about the homeless as much as they do the feral cats who do get veterinary care when they are injured or sick but a homeless man in my county had to die of cancer in a field after the hospital discharged him because they couldn't do any more for him. They couldn't even give him a bed in the hospital to die in.

[TZ]

64. yeah sorry I wasn't being snippy with you

specifically. Just at the general implication others have made. And that truly is awful. Health care is screwed up big time in this country. My stepfather who now needs back surgery is fighting with his insurance company who wants him to pay 6,000 of a 15,000 procedure (angiogram) to find a blocked artery which was potentially life threatening. I do understand thats a huge issue too. Sorry I should have been more careful where I posted my reply.:hide:

[kestrel91316]

76. Most of the cat rescue crowd in my area readily admit they don't

give a damn about humans or public health issues. All they care about is feral cats.

Odd, to say the least.

[bobbolink]

73. At the time that we were hearing of Katrina people killing themselves,

there was a BIG effort in the local vets office to retrieve and place pets that people had traveled to NOLA to rescue.

NOthing said about the people. Those who survived the Convention Center, survived the SuperDome---dead, by their own hands, because they had NO PLACE TO LIVE.

What, indeed, have we become....?

[Sapphire Blue]

71. Pets being poisoned elicits massive concern & response. Saving wild horses elicits massive concern..

... & response.

People dying from lack of healthcare? People dying from poverty?


~ crickets ~


~ crickets ~


~ crickets ~


~ crickets ~

The Perils of Indifference
Elie Wiesel

(excerpt)

In a way, to be indifferent to that suffering is what makes the human being inhuman. Indifference, after all, is more dangerous than anger and hatred. Anger can at times be creative. One writes a great poem, a great symphony, one does something special for the sake of humanity because one is angry at the injustice that one witnesses. But indifference is never creative. Even hatred at times may elicit a response. You fight it. You denounce it. You disarm it. Indifference elicits no response. Indifference is not a response.

Indifference is not a beginning, it is an end. And, therefore, indifference is always the friend of the enemy, for it benefits the aggressor -- never his victim, whose pain is magnified when he or she feels forgotten. The political prisoner in his cell, the hungry children, the homeless refugees -- not to respond to their plight, not to relieve their solitude by offering them a spark of hope is to exile them from human memory. And in denying their humanity we betray our own.

Indifference, then, is not only a sin, it is a punishment. And this is one of the most important lessons of this outgoing century's wide-ranging experiments in good and evil.

In the place that I come from, society was composed of three simple categories: the killers, the victims, and the bystanders. During the darkest of times, inside the ghettoes and death camps -- and I'm glad that Mrs. Clinton mentioned that we are now commemorating that event, that period, that we are now in the Days of Remembrance -- but then, we felt abandoned, forgotten. All of us did.

And our only miserable consolation was that we believed that Auschwitz and Treblinka were closely guarded secrets; that the leaders of the free world did not know what was going on behind those black gates and barbed wire; that they had no knowledge of the war against the Jews that Hitler's armies and their accomplices waged as part of the war against the Allies.

If they knew, we thought, surely those leaders would have moved heaven and earth to intervene. They would have spoken out with great outrage and conviction. They would have bombed the railways leading to Birkenau, just the railways, just once.

The full speech (text & audio) is available @ http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/wiesel.htm

Today... a different time, a different place.

We know.

How will we each answer the question, "What did you do for 'The political prisoner in his cell, the hungry children, the homeless refugees', the hungry, the poor, the destitute?"

[bobbolink]

72. That indifference HURTS!! How many deaths, how many suicides will it take?

INDIFFERENCE.

Thank you, Sapphire Blue! This is so very timely!

We see this over and over and over......

[nicknameless]

53. Full list of MenuFoods Directors and Admin here...

X-Post. Thanks to DUer SidDithers for this info

http://www.menufoods.com/ir/trustees%5Ctrustees_etc.html

Trustees, Directors and Management

* Robert W. Luba: Chairman and Trustee of the Fund, Chairman of Menu Foods GenPar Limited
* Alexander R. Aird: Trustee of the Fund, Director of Menu Foods GenPar Limited
* Serge K. Darkazanli: Trustee of the Fund, Director of Menu Foods GenPar Limited
* Eric A. Demirian: Trustee of the Fund, Director of Menu Foods GenPar Limited
* Thomas A Di Giacomo: Trustee of the Fund, Director of Menu Foods GenPar Limited
* Stephen A. Bearg: Director of Menu Foods GenPar Limited
* Margaret A. Bras: Director of Menu Foods GenPar Limited
* Robert W. Bras: Director of Menu Foods GenPar Limited
* Douglas F. Haslam: Director of Menu Foods GenPar Limited
* Fraser D. Latta: Director of Menu Foods GenPar Limited
* Douglas N. Lunau: Director of Menu Foods GenPar Limited
* Donald G. Watt: Director of Menu Foods GenPar Limited
* Paul K. Henderson: President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Menu Foods GenPar Limited
* Mark A. Wiens: Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Menu Foods GenPar Limited
* Dr. Richard G. Shields Jr.: Executive Vice President – Technical Services of Menu Foods GenPar Limited
* Randall C. Copeland: Executive Vice President – Sales and Marketing of Menu Foods GenPar Limited
* William F. Grant: Executive Vice President – Corporate Purchasing and Logistics of Menu Foods GenPar Limited

Links to the rest of the MenuFoods site are there as well. They've hidden the rest of the site from their current home page. Corporate directors don't usually make the day-to-day business decisions, thought. Look to the President and the VP's for the ones who are probably more involved in why this happened.

* Christopher J. Mifflin: Executive Vice President – Operations of Menu Foods GenPar Limited

[gravity]

54. A few complaints does not mean they knew about the problem

It means that there could have been a possible problem, that's it. After noticing a trend in the complaints, the company did some test to confirm the dangers of the food, then it was recalled.

What other course of action do you expect them to take?

From the article:

"Callers complained their animals had fallen ill after eating the food, although no direct link was established."

[kestrel91316]

77. This probably happens hourly at most pet food companies:

"....Callers complained their animals had fallen ill after eating the food, although no direct link was established...."

[nicknameless]

56. Products for human consumption, which have resulted in illness or death,

have usually been recalled within days or weeks.

Not MONTHS.

[diva77]

57. and what about elderly people who are too poor to buy human food and end

up eating pet food -- any human deaths attributed to this debacle?

[hashibabba]

58. And will anybody really care?

:shrug:

[nicknameless]

63. And how many other US craporations are buying Chinese wheat, in order to save a few bucks?

What other products are being made with this rat-poisoned grain?

[nicknameless]

65. *** CRITICAL UPDATE *** ALL wet food manufactured by Menu recalled!

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/agriculture/story.html?id=4fe22b79-1685-440d-8174-bb65ed04443e&k=4093

Menu Foods expands pet food recall to include all wet dog and cat food

Canadian Press
Published: Sunday, March 25, 2007

TORONTO (CP) - A pet food recall has been expanded to include all varieties of its wet dog and cat food, amid concerns that tainted products are still being sold.

The Mississauga, Ont. based Menu Foods is asking retailers to remove all wet food items as a safety precaution, regardless of the date code.

In a weekend release, Menu Foods said that even brands not on the official recall list should be taken off the shelves.

There is no known risk from items not listed on the recall list, but there is concern that consumers may still be able to buy recalled products.

My baby died in January, from renal failure.
She was eating Wellness, manufactured by Menu, but not on the recall list ... until now.

:cry:

[diva77]

68. I'm so so sorry - by "baby" did you mean your child or your

pet. Either way I am deeply sorry for your loss...:hug:

[diva77]

69. oh- I guess you meant your pet cuz it's all pet food that's being recalled

right?:dunce: :blush:

[kestrel91316]

78. Wet food = cuts and gravy. It does not include conventional

pate-style canned.

http://avma.org/aa/menufoodsrecall/menufoods/PRESS_RELEASE03262007.asp

Media is incorrectly reporting recall info, confusing food types, creating mass confusion. Wouldn't be the first time, either.

[nicknameless]

79. She also ate Nutro dry. Reports are surfacing about pets getting sick after eating Nutro dry.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x512700

[yurbud]

66. they figured the pets that died just meant more to go in the food.

[Skittles]

70. then they pulled stuff off the shelves but still did not sound the alarm

leaving anyone who bought in bulk - that's a lot of people - still feeded their pets poison :(