Kroger Pet Food Recalled for Aflatoxin Poisoning, Health Risks

Kroger announced on Tuesday that it is voluntarily recalling many of its Kroger, Old Yeller and Pet Pride dry dog and cat food varieties because they could contain aflatoxin. Aflatoxin is a naturally occurring chemical by-product that is toxic. Aflatoxin grows from the fungus Aspergillus Flavus found in corn and other crop foods used in pet food production.

Kroger stores are located in the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. Other stores within the Kroger food network that are affected by the pet food recall include: Dillons and Gerbes stores (Kansas and Missouri): Baker's stores (Nebraska); Food 4 Less stores (Nebraska, Illinois and Indiana and the Chicago area); and Jay C, Hilander, Owen's, Pay Less and Scott's stores located in Illinois and Indiana. Kroger affiliate stores not affected by the pet food recall include: Fred Meyer, King Soopers, Fry's, Smith's, QFC, City Market, Foods Co., Ralph's and Food 4 Less stores in California and Nevada.

Pet foods have a sell by date of Oct. 23-24, 2011. Visit the FDA website for specific UPC code details. Pet foods included in the Kroger recall are:

Pet Pride Cat Food - 3.5 # package
Pet Pride Cat Food - 18 # package
Pet Pride Tasty Blend Poultry and Seafood Cat Food - 3.5 # package
Pet Pride Tasty Blend Poultry and Seafood Cat Food - 18 # package
Pet Pride Kitten Formula - 3.5 # package
Old Yeller Chunk Dog Food - 22# and 50# packages
Kroger Value Cat Food - 3 # package
Kroger Value Chunk Dog Food - 15# and 50# packages

If you have purchased any of the Kroger pet foods included in the recall, or store brand pet food from any of the stores listed, stop feeding it to your pets. Remove and discard uneaten portions. You should contact Kroger immediately, either by phone at (800) 632-6900 or on the Kroger Pet Food recall assistance website here: http://www.kroger.com/recalls. You will need your sales receipt. You can also return unused portions of pet food to Kroger stores where you purchased the product for full refund.

Parents and children are urged to keep a close eye on pets. Look for these symptoms, especially a combination of these symptoms: lethargy, sluggishness, refusing food, yellowish color in gums or eyes and severe diarrhea, especially diarrhea with blood, this can indicate poisoning from aflatoxin. Yellow eyes and gums are a sign of liver or kidney problems. Cornell University offers information and data on Aflatoxin. Aflatoxin is a potent carcinogen for humans and animals. Just as with human illnesses, the very young, very old and pregnant animals typically suffer the worst. Pets with already compromised health will be more susceptible, too. Make your pet as comfortable as possible. Contact your veterinarian immediately. Here are some helpful articles for treating a cat or dog who has been poisoned with Aflatoxin.

Marilisa Kinney Sachteleben, a 10-year veteran homeschooler, has nearly three decades of experience as a special needs and general education teacher. She has created hundreds of themed units and lesson plans on everything from ancient Greece to biodiversity to personal finance to poetry. She holds a BS in psychology and a degree as Dr. Mom from the university of life. She writes about parenting for the Yahoo! Contributor Network.

Source:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20101221/bs_ac/7449980_kroger_pet_food_recalled_for_aflatoxin_poisoning_health_risks_1

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Introducing Curly Tail Wines!

Curly Tail has teamed up with Benefit Wines to offer our supporters a chance to help our rescue pugs! With each bottle you purchase - Curly Tail receives a portion of the proceeds as a donation.

Choose from our Curly Tail Cabernet, Smiling Chardonnay, Mopshond Merlot, Pug Valley Pinot,Snorting Sauvignon, or Sophia's Sparkling Wine!! Choose one, choose them all!!

Makes great holiday gifts for any animal lover!


Great wine for a Greater Cause!


Close up of wine labels:

Visit the Curly Tail Wine Store
www.benefitwines.com/curlytail

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Pre-Order your 2011 Curly Tail Pug Rescue Calendars!!

.....featuring all of our contest winners, finalists, and forever foster pugs!



To order your 2011 Curly Tail Calendar, just click the following Paypal button:

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Historic moment in the fight against Puppy Mills! Prop B was passed!

from the ASPCA press room

Dogs Win Big on Election Day with Historic Victory in Missouri

Fed up with their state’s reputation as the Puppy Mill Capital of America, Missourians hit the polls on Election Day to declare that enough is enough! On Tuesday, November 2, voters in the Show Me State passed the Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act, which appeared on their ballots as Proposition B. (Although policy reform is most often generated through state legislatures, Prop B was a citizen-supported initiative). It is an incredible victory, and one we hope will send a strong message to the governments of other states—namely, that the public wants better conditions for puppy mill dogs, and will take on the task of changing the law themselves if elected officials fail to act.

In the last three years, 15 states, including major puppy mill states such as Iowa, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania, have passed laws to crack down on puppy mills. However, in no other state were the stakes higher for puppy mill dogs than Missouri.

Missouri’s weak laws regulating commercial kennels have made it a haven for substandard breeders. As home to one-third of all the commercial dog breeding facilities in the U.S.—as many as the next three largest dog breeding states combined—Missouri supplies more than 40 percent of all puppies sold in pet stores nationwide. No matter where you live, there’s a good chance that the puppies in the window of your local pet store came from a Missouri puppy mill. Implementation of the Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act will provide welcome relief to tens of thousands of adult breeding dogs—not to mention the approximately one million puppies born in Missouri kennels every year.

The new Missouri law, which becomes effective in one year, requires that dogs at these large-scale facilities be provided with sufficient food and clean water, regular veterinary care, adequate housing and space, and access to regular exercise. And with passage of Proposition B, Missouri becomes the fifth state—joining Louisiana, Oregon, Virginia and Washington—to create a limit on the number of intact, adult breeder dogs a commercial dog breeder may keep.

“Tuesday’s passage of Proposition B reflects a landmark achievement in the ongoing fight against animal cruelty,” says ASPCA President & CEO Ed Sayres. “We are proud to have worked diligently on this campaign, and we celebrate this victory alongside the caring citizens of Missouri. The ASPCA is committed to working with local animal welfare groups to help breeders transition to the new humane standards and find loving homes for any displaced Missouri breeding dogs.”

The ASPCA wishes to thank our supporters all over the country for helping us advocate for Proposition B to your friends and family in Missouri. This victory is the culmination of 18 months of work for the ASPCA and our partners in Missourians for the Protection of Dogs, and it is proof that when we join together to use our voices for animals, we will be heard!

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Blue Buffalo Pet Food Recall

ASPCA Alerts Consumers About Blue Buffalo Pet Food Recall

Advises Pet Owners to Discontinue Affected Product Use Immediately

October 8, 2010

NEW YORK—The ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) was notified today about a voluntary pet food recall issued by The Blue Buffalo Company. The affected products include Wilderness Chicken Dog food, Basics Salmon Dog food and Large Breed Adult Dog products. Recent reports have indicated that these recipes may contain higher levels of Vitamin D, which can cause hypercalcemia, a serious, if not fatal illness in dogs.

Blue Buffalo products are widely distributed at pet specialty stores as well as other retail and wholesale outlets. Additional information regarding the Blue Buffalo pet food recall can be found at http://bluebuffalo.com/news/vitamin-d-voluntary-recall.shtml.

“The ASPCA advises concerned pet owners who use Blue Buffalo products to contact the company with any questions related to their products and monitor their pets for signs of illness,” says Dr. Camille DeClementi, Veterinarian and Senior Toxicologist at the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center. “Should pet owners notice symptoms such as increased thirst, urination, stomach upset or loss of appetite, they should consult their veterinarian or contact the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center for help.”

Hypercalcemia is a serious illness that affects the electrolytes in the body and can disrupt normal organ function. Serious cases can result in acute renal failure and cause damage to the heart or central nervous system. Coma and death have occurred in untreated cases.

“The ASPCA strongly advises pet owners to discuss any potential symptoms with their veterinarian and not to diagnose or treat their pet at home,” adds Dr. DeClementi.

Veterinary professionals can find additional information about hypercalcemia in dogs at www.aspca.org/pet-care/dog-care/hypercalcemia.html or www.avma.org or call the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at 888-426-4435. A $65 consultation fee may apply.

Related cases may be reported to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) through their web portal at https://www.safetyreporting.hhs.gov/fpsr/WorkflowLoginIO.aspx?metinstance=0BE019FB3B40EF9AF2E847B6A5720CD71A56C11D

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1st Annual Curly Tail Calendar Contest!!

Let the Voting Begin!!

You may now click on the 3 VOTE links in the left sidebar (and below) to cast your votes:

VOTE - Group 1
VOTE - Group 2
VOTE - Group 3

Be sure to send the links to all of your family, friends, and coworkers! The pug photos with the most votes will appear in our 2011 Curly Tail Calendar!!

How it will work:

1. Starting today, October 4th, qualified photos are now posted at the Curly Calendar Contest pages - Just click on the links in the sidebar for Groups 1-3 to see all the entries and cast your votes
2. The voting begins by locating your favorite pics and vote away!
3. Each vote will cost $1.
4. You can vote as many times, for as many photos, as you would like to see in the calendar.
* ie/ if you wanted to vote for "Puggy" – you would send in $10 that will be 10 votes for Puggy.
5. Voting will take place over a 3 week period.
6. Week 2, we will take the top voted for pugs and break them down into groups of 5 pugs per Calendar Month & voting continues.
7. Week 3, we will narrow down each month's top 5 down to the top 3 pugs
* At the end of week 3, the pug pics (within each Calender Month with the highest vote wins)
8. We are still deciding about the cover of the Calendar: Logo vs. Pug Picture Winner

Best of luck, you are all winners in our book!

Visit our homepage: curlytailpugrescue.org for more details!

~ The Curly Crew

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Carly and Mugsy

Late on Friday night Curly Tail received a frantic email from a woman who had just purchased two Pugs off of Craigslist. As she put it, she and her family had been "taken on a very expensive ride."

They replied to an ad stating that the owner of two Pugs had no place to live and needed to find a place for her two pugs immediately or else she was going to leave them behind. The well intentioned purchaser received very misleading photos of Mugsy and Carly. The Craigslist seller met her family with Carly and Mugsy in a parking lot. It was explained to us that "once she (the seller) got our money, she jumped in her car and took off."

The distraught email we received said this pair had to be moved immediately because the new owner could clearly see they were in desperate need for major medical care and this was not what she was expecting. She was hoping to purchase 2 healthy pugs and was in for the shock of her life.






This is a classic example of the dangers of purchasing pets from Craigslist! Ads are misleading and you simply never know whom you are really dealing with!


Carly: 3 year old Carly is sadly in far worse shape than Mugsy. We are pleased that she does not have mange however, what was described as "sensitive skin" is actually a very serious skin issue. This is the result of long time neglect & horrific living conditions. Carly's skin is literally peeling off with infection. She is covered in open sores & oozing wounds from infection. She has elephant skin covering her ears, stomach and limbs. Her whole body is swelled from inflammation and her ears & eyes are oozing with infection as well.

For the full story on Carly and Mugsy and to find out how you can help, visit the Curly Tail Website now.

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