Recall Alert! Nearly 50 Types of Kasel Dog Treats May Be Tainted with Salmonella

Check the labels below to make sure you aren't serving your dog treats with a side of salmonella.

Kasel Associated Industries of Denver, CO, announced a huge voluntary recall this week, incorporating ALL products manufactured at its Denver plant from April 20 through September 19 of last year. 

The reason? Possible Salmonella contamination. However, Kasel says it has not received any reports of illness in connection with the products.  

The Kasel brands being recalled include Boots & Barkley, BIXBI, Nature’s Deli, Colorado Naturals, Petco, and Best Bully Sticks. The specific products number nearly 50, including all manner of dog treats, including bully sticks, chicken jerky, pigs ears, beef ribs, beef knuckles, lamb jerky, pork femur, buffalo hearts, pig snouts, lobster tails, knee caps, beef liver, hearts of lamb, pork jerky, chicken-stuffed femur bone, smoked-beef femur bone, and more -- the list is long. 

If you have have products from any of these brands on your shelves, check the FDA page to identify UPC codes, lot numbers, and best-buy dates for the infected products here.  

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 any of these signs, please contact your veterinarian."

If you have questions, call Kasel Associated Industries at 1-800-218-4417.

In other recall news, Nature’s Variety has announced a voluntary recall of one batch of Instinct Raw Organic Chicken Formula due to plastic pieces found in bags. The company says the clear plastic pieces present a choking risk to dogs, though it fails to mention the source of the plastic. 

The recall includes the following products with "Best if Used By" date of 10/04/13:

UPC# 7 69949 60137 1 – Instinct Raw Organic Chicken Formula medallions, 3 lbs. bag UPC# 7 69949 70137 8 – Instinct Raw Organic Chicken Formula medallions, 27 lbs. case UPC# 7 69949 60127 2 – Instinct Raw Organic Chicken Formula patties, 6 lbs. bag UPC# 7 69949 70127 9 – Instinct Raw Organic Chicken Formula patties, 36 lbs. caseThe affected products were distributed through retail stores and the Internet in the United States and Canada. The company says no other products were impacted.

If you have questions, call Nature’s Variety Consumer Relations team at 1-888-519-7387.

View the original article here

Stowaway Dog Nearly Died, Now Needs Good Home

Homeless Carolina stowed away in a truck for two days and almost died from dehydration, but is now looking for a forever home

A dog who somehow stowed away in a truck in South Carolina and was stuck in the uncooled trailer for 48 hours should have – by all accounts – died as a result of the journey. The temperatures outside were roasting, and were worse in the trailer.

When the truck finally opened its trailer doors in a warehouse in Lawrenceville, GA, the dog stumbled out, nearly dead from dehydration. She hid in a tiny niche of the warehouse as workers tried to help her. Animal control arrived hours later, and said they thought she’d have to be put down because she was so close to death. Warehouse staffers were pretty upset, because they had grown attached to her during the ordeal.

But the dog didn’t die. Vets have nursed the 4-year-old Shepherd mix back to health, and say she is a super sweet dog who is quickly learning housetraining and basic commands. They’ve named her Carolina, per her state of origin. In about a week, she’ll be able to be adopted to a great forever home.

Interested in adopting Carolina? Call the Gwinnett County Animal Shelter at 770-339-3200. (Press 0 for faster service; I phoned this morning, and alas, they are not open Monday. If you are interested in her or any other doggies, please make a note to try again Tuesday.) They’ve got some other great critters there, too, in case a warehouse worker or some other lucky human gets her first. This is their page of dogs who really need homes now.

(This one particular fella really caught my eye. He’s an overweight chocolate lab mix, looks to be an older fellow, with the sweetest face. His description says he was found stray, which is astounding judging by his size. If he were in the San Francisco area, I’d be filling out the adoption papers right now, and he’d have a home right alongside Jake. He’d drop the pounds – Jake has done it, and can share his experiences – and have a life full of love and walks. I can’t do it, but maybe someone in that part of Georgia can? Let the dog blog know if you do, OK? His face haunted me since writing about him last night.)

Back to our stowaway: I wonder what Carolina’s backstory is? What was her life like before she ended up in the truck? (By the looks of her photo and the video below, she had had puppies not too long ago.) Did she ever have a home? How did she end up in the truck? Maybe she hoped it would take her away from “all of this,” or maybe she sniffed out a few crumbs. It’s times like this that you wish dogs could talk – at least for a while.

Sources: 11Alive, Atlanta Journal Constitution

View the original article here

Nearly 600 Dogs Rescued in China on Way to Slaughter for Food

A man spotted a truckload of 580 whimpering dogs crammed together on a Beijing highway, speeding toward their slaughter for their meat. He put a call out on a Twitter-like microblogging site, asking animal lovers to block the truck and force the driver to release the dogs.

Keep in mind that this is China, where activism in general can bring brutal consequences, and where there are few if any animal protection laws except for wild animals. In addition, dogs are still routinely on the menu at many homes and restaurants. So to even make such a request to save these dogs seemed almost hopeless.

But the man put out the call nonetheless, and 200 people responded immediately. They didn’t simply show up with picket signs or come to a shelter to adopt the animals. They drove their cars and physically blocked the truck after it passed through a tollbooth. The blockade lasted 15 hours, and in the end, they negotiated the dogs’ release for $17,000 — mostly contributed by a pet company and an animal protection foundation. Amazingly, no one was arrested.

Rescuers open the back of the truck and prepare to save the hundreds of dogs. (AP Photo/Capital Animals Welfare Association)

According to an AP article, many of the dogs were dehydrated, injured, and suffering from the potentially deadly parvovirus. At least 68 have been hospitalized. The dogs’ rescuers suspect that many of them were stolen.

Dozens of volunteers are working around the clock at the animal hospital that took in the sick dogs. Many others are tending to the healthier dogs at a property run by the Capital Animal Welfare Association on the northern outskirts of Beijing.

“When I saw the poor dogs on Twitter, I cried and cried, but I thought there was no way they could stop the truck. So I was very surprised when they did it and I wanted to help,” Chen Yang, 30, who was helping a dog who had given birth to four puppies just after the rescue, said in the AP article.

The blockade and the outpouring of volunteers is a hopeful indication that animal rights are starting to take hold in China, where age-old traditions are coming under fire as the country becomes more affluent and people see dogs more as pets than as meat.

Some of the healthier dogs after the rescue. It's not an ideal setting, but it's a far sight better than what they had. Volunteers are tending to the dogs and hoping to get them adopted to loving homes. (AP Photo/Capital Animals Welfare Association)

View the original article here