Bestro Chicken Jerky Strips Removed From Wal-Mart Shelves After Dog Death
Itchmo Pet Safety Alert: Bestro Chicken Jerky Strips Removed From Wal-Mart Shelves After Dog Death
For the full story, go to: http://www.itchmo.com/wal-mart-removes-bestro-chicken-jerky-strips-after-dog-death-2321
Itchmo.com is reporting that a Philadelphia woman says her dog died after eating tainted dog food treats bought from Wal-Mart.
Wal-Mart has quietly pulled the made in China dog treat from its stores. There has been no announcement to the public as of yet. It is also uncertain of how many tainted bags of treats there may still be out among consumers.
Kate Collins said it is hard to talk about. Bella, her two-year-old Chihuahua, died suddenly in July after eating Bestro Chicken Jerky Strips.
Collins said that Bella died within a week after eating the treats. The other dogs did not receive the same treats and are unaffected.
Bella’s owner had the animal hospital do an autopsy and they found that Bella died of an infection caused by toxic bacteria.
We'll keep you posted as more information becomes available. Right now you may want to remove Bestro Chicken Jerky Strips from your cabinets if you have them, just to be safe.
September 5th, 2007 at 10:40 am
This a comment from one of our readers. We moved the comment from a different section to this one that is more appropriate. Admin.
Our pet Rosie, a 3 year old Chihuahua was poisoned from Chinese made Bestro's Jerky Chicken Strips #77849 00006 1 We have this contaminated bag. We have three Chihuahuas and one of them died one month ago. She started with vomiting and dehydration (she was drinking lots of water) and then we were told she may either have an obstruction or have been poisioned. Since our dogs are inside dogs and we are with them at all times outside we thought it was an obstruction. Finally the doctor at Elwood Animal Clinic in Glendora, California said he was almost positive it was some kind of poisoning. They were going to scope her but before that could happen she died July 21, at VCA in Fountain Valley, California.
We gave our dogs Waggin train and Bestro's Jerky Chicken Strips. Our Sweet Rosie (our chihuahua that passed) loved them and and she would eat all the treats we put down for the other dogs too. Up until today we never had any idea what happened but now with Wal Mart pulling this quietly from their selves. (I brought my treats at Wal Mart, Glendora, California) I truly believe that is why she died. Rosie wants all dog owners to be aware of this and a Total Recall of this chinese junk pet food treats so other puppies don't slowly suffer is she did. We are totally heartbroken and will never forget Our Sweet Gypsy Rose!
Since Wal Mart had this problem before, why didn't they pull all that Chinese junk off the first time? Our Rosie will still be alive! Is Wal Mart concerned about people and their Pets or Money? You figured it out.
Gene and Gerri Richards San Dimas, California
Rosie's website:
http://www.dogster.com/dogs/614878
Gene and Gerri Richards
Aug 31, 4:56 AM
December 27th, 2007 at 9:17 pm
Hi,
My american eskimo has developed flakey skin splotches that tended to pile up to maybe aneight of an inch high, like a pimple. I used a therapeutic shampoo and sprays given by the vet. I also stopped feeding her cashew treats, but I don't think that's it at all, I also stopped feeding Kingdom Pets Original Chicken Jerky made in China (sold in Costco) and have observed (so far) no return of the scaling. Is this jerky the one you mention regarding walmart?? It's odd, costco used to sell duck jerky and my dogs loved it…no ill effect that I noticed, but maybe it takes a while.
Any comments would be appreciated,
Bob Richard
December 27th, 2007 at 9:22 pm
Sorry…I meant an 8th of an inch high.
December 28th, 2007 at 6:57 am
Dear Gene and Gerri,
I am so very sorry for your loss and for what Rosie went through. I don't know how Walmart can get away with a "quiet" recall like this, except that dog food and dog products are not very well regulated. We saw with the giant pet food recall earlier this year how slow to act Menu foods was, even after their own trials showed that the food was tainted, and they were receiving calls from customers. The FDA has fewer inspectors now than it did seven years ago and can only inspect a small fraction of the products that come into the country from other places. The pet food industry itself is not doing a whole lot to increase inspection standards, although some companies do have stricter standards than others.
The FDA Reauthorization Act passed and signed into law earlier this year contains language from an amendment from Senator Durbin (D-IL) about pet food recalls. "The bill also includes provisions for strengthening oversight of pet food safety. Senators said cases of contaminated pet food found in the first half of this year revealed deficiencies throughout the U.S. food safety system (4"The Tan Sheet" Sept. 10, 2007, p. 5)." http://www.fdalegislativewatch.com/2007/09/fda-reauthoriza.html I don't think Senator Durbin got as much as he proposed with his original amendment about pet food oversight, but it's a start.
The FDA act also has a new system for announcing and spreading information about recalls. I don't know when that will get started or how it will work.
I think what the FDA needs is about ten times as many inspectors as they currently have and improved abilities to test products coming into the country.
I'm so sorry about Rosie. I know this is all too late to help her. Maybe some of these small changes will help other dogs in the future.
Hugs,
Carlotta
December 28th, 2007 at 7:25 am
Hi Bob,
I don't know if the jerky strips you were feeding were the same as the Walmart jerky strips. Probably not, since Costco and Walmart are different companies. Costco (Kirkland) brand dog food is a Diamond product. Walmart dog food is produced by Doane's, a Mars company — the same company that makes Pedigree dog food. It's fairly easy to find out information about dry and canned foods at this web site: http://thepetfoodlist.com/manufacturers.htm. It's harder to find out about products like jerky strips since they can be outsourced to various smaller companies in China.
I don't know if it's the same thing, but I used to have a dog who had a skin problem similar to what you are describing. His problem was genetic — his father had skin problems, too. In his case he did well with frequent brushing and some omega 3 fatty acid in his food. I gave him fish oil capsules which improved his skin. Some people like to give salmon in some form, but that can get pricey. That's up to you. Some foods come with omega 3 already in them. There are lots of supplements with omega 3 in them if you look on the shelves at the pet store. I still give my dogs fish oil capsules from time to time — I just buy the human version at Walmart. The dogs think they're a treat.
Here's a good article from Drs. Foster & Smith about the benefits of supplementing with omega 3: http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1662&articleid=666
I'm not a vet. My advice is just based on my own experience.
Take care.
Carlotta