Bravo Recalls Raw-Food Diet Chicken Blend Tubes

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture detects salmonella in a batch of the product.

Bravo is recalling two-pound tubes of Bravo's Raw-Food Diet Chicken Blend for Dogs and Cats because of the presence of salmonella. 

The recall affects only those tubes made on June 14, 2012, and no other sizes or Bravo products are involved. Look for the ID code 6 14 12 on the white hang-tag attached to the bottom of the plastic film tube. The tubes went out nationwide to distributors, retail stores, and Internet retailers.

While Bravo's own third-party testing did not detect salmonella, routine testing by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture done on samples collected from a single retail location tested positive for presence of salmonella, according to the FDA. 

There have been no reports of illness. 

According to the FDA, "pets with salmonella infections may be lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever, and vomiting. Some pets will have only decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain. Infected but otherwise healthy pets can be carriers and infect other animals or humans. If your pet has consumed the recalled product and has these symptoms, please contact your veterinarian."

Obviously, a raw food product containing chicken is something to handle carefully, but Bravo appears to have a good system in place, despite this episode. According to its Quality Assurance page, every Bravo raw diet product is sent to an independent laboratory, Northeast Labs, and tested for the presence of bacteria -- and the results of those tests can be sent to customers. 

"No product leaves our plants until we receive confirmation the the product has tested to be free of bacteria," it reads. "We do not subcontract production of any of our products to outside third-party sources. We carefully select the sources from which we buy the raw ingredients, we control how it is handled after delivery to our plant, we control every step of the manufacturing process, and we use human grade ingredients and no animal by-products in any of our formulas."

To contact the company, call 866-922-9222.

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Bravo, Mark Buehrle: Pitcher Refuses to Risk His Dog In the Face of Ontario's Pit Bull Ban

The baseball player leaves his dogs with his wife and kids, and heads to the Toronto Blue Jays alone.

Mark Buehrle is one of the very best baseball players, a starting pitcher with 13 years in the majors. He's also one heck of a dog lover, with four dogs at home with his family, one of them a Bulldog/American Staffordshire Terrier mix.

It's a Pit Bull, in short. And that Pit Bull can't come with Buehrle to his new job as starting pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays, since Ontario bans Pit Bulls. 

A conundrum, indeed. Buehrle didn't ask to be traded to Ontario from Miami -- in fact, he's pretty upset about it. And how he can't take his dog with him. 

"He's an awesome dog," Buehrle said, according to the Washington Post. "That's what's a shame; just the way he looks is why we have to get separated."

No, Buehrle is not getting rid of the dog. He's a dog lover, remember? Instead, he's going to play baseball alone, leaving his beloved Slater home with his family, wife Jamie and kids Braden (5) and Brooklyn (3). 

“I reached out to several groups when I first learned about the trade to see if there was any kind of loopholes," Jamie told ABC News. "Pretty much there wasn’t, although in some areas they are less strict. We just couldn’t take that chance of him possibly being taken away from us.”

The Buehrles aren't looking for a fight when it comes to an unjust dangerous dog law. Why? Because a fight could mean the dog would be confiscated until the court date, and Buehrle can't bear the thought of it. 

“We’ve had people say, ‘Oh, you can bring them up here. Knowing you have money, no one’s going to take your dog because they know you’re going to fight against it,’” Buehrle said. “But the thing is, Slater will have to sit in a cage until that court date gets there, and that could be two weeks, it could be three months."

"If people don’t own dogs, they’re not going to understand you’re leaving your family and your kids behind over a dog.”

The family won't be separated too long, however. One a month, his wife and kids will travel to Canada and stay a week with him. Slater and the other dogs, however, will stay at home. 

“It’s something we’re going to deal with,” Buehrle said. “It’s going to be tough at the beginning, not seeing your kids, but people deal with it and we’ll make it work.”

The controversy is doing nothing for the good name of Toronto. Jamie says their five-year-old has been asking her, “How come Toronto doesn’t like dogs like Slater?”

Want to field that one, Toronto?

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Bravo! recalls pig ears due to salmonella

May 31, 2011

Salmonella recall #2 of the day. This one’s from Bravo!

Vernon, CT– Bravo! is voluntarily recalling select boxes of Bravo! Pig Ears Chews because it has the
potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.

[...]

The company has received no reports of illness in either people or animals associated with the product.
Bravo! is issuing this action out of an abundance of caution and sincerely regrets any inconvenience to
pet owners as a result of this announcement.

Bravo! Pig Ears were distributed to retailers on the East and West Coasts. They were shipped to
distributors and retailers distributed between January 1 and February 28,2011 where they were available
for purchase.

The products affected by this recall include: Bravo! Pig Ears Product Code: 75-121 Lot # 12-06-10.

The recall is the result of routine sampling program by the Washington State Department of Agriculture, which revealed that the finished products contained the bacteria. The company has no product left in inventory from this batch of pig ears.

Consumers who have purchased any of these pig ears are urged to return the product to the place of purchase for a full refund. Consumers with questions about the recall, should visit www.bravorawdiet.com or call toll free 1.866.922.9222.
You’ll find the full release  on their website, and more information in an online newsletter, here.

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