Dogged Blog

Pet food recall: Three years out and where are we now?

It has been three years since the world changed for pet owners. That was when we first heard about the Menu pet food recall, which ended up being the largest consumer recall in U.S. history, as well as the tip of the iceberg on a food safety crisis that continues to this day.



Could it happen again? Absolutely. There have been no systemic changes that would prevent contaminated food ingredients from entering this country undetected once again.



Would the response be different? I think so. Pet owners have become more aware. The blogger network that kept news of recalled pet foods flowing without the controlling hand and influence of industry or government has not only survived but grown, and technology is even more adapted to the rapid and wide dissemination of information than it was then. (And we didn't do a bad job of it then, although I can't say the same for industry or government.)



Somewhat ironically, I spent the last week in Austin at the South by Southwest internet conference. I hung out with Therese Kopiwoda of PetSitUSA.com and Ben Huh of Itchmo, two bloggers who, along with Gina and me here at Pet Connection, lived and breathed the pet food recall three years ago.



We reminisced about those days, talked about whether things have changed -- hardly at all, was the consensus -- and found it hard to believe it has really been three years.



One thing is certain: The pets who died are still dead. The pets whose kidneys were damaged are still at risk of serious disease and a potentially shortened lifespan. And their owners' hearts are still broken.



Will Congress finally pass serious food safety legislation? Will the rumblings of change at the FDA turn into full-fledged reform?



Let's hope that when we check in a year from now the answer to both of those questions is "yes."

Austin Pets Alive: Better than SXSW

Just as my plane landed in Austin Thursday night, I learned that the Austin City Council had voted to make Austin a no-kill city.

The force behind that landmark decision was the animal-loving Austin community, and leading them were Ryan Clinton and Dr. Ellen Jefferson of Austin Pets Alive.

I had lunch with Ryan and Ellen today, at Austin's South Congress Cafe, after which we walked down to Austin Pets Alive South Congress adoption site.

There's still work to be done to get Austin to its no-kill goal, but I have no doubt they'll get there. Austin Pets Alive played one of the most effective political ground games I've ever seen to change the terrain for Austin's animals -- it was Obama-esque. 

This city may be filled with the digital, film and music elite right now, but I know who the real rock stars are. Thanks for showing me around!

Ninety workouts in 90 days: Days 10, 11 and 12

I'm in Austin at the South by Southwest Festival, but that doesn't mean I've missed my workouts!

On the 10th, the day before I left, I went to the gym. The 11th was a problem as I was traveling and then I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open long enough to eat dinner.

So this morning I hit the gym at  my hotel, then this evening I swam, soaked in the whirlpool and then used the treadmill. So I'm all caught up!

I normally hate treadmills. They have to be the most boring things in the world. But for some reason, tonight was kind of nice. It faces a wall of glass overlooking the pool, and I was the only one in the fitness center. It had a sort of zen-like quality to it.

Clint and Jeff went out to hear some music and me, I'm going to bed.

Good news in the pit bull wars

Aren't we all tired of dogs seized in fighting busts being treated as dangerous ravening beasts instead of victims of cruelty who deserve, at the very least, to be evaluated as individuals? Bad Rap is reporting that the Kent County Humane Society in Michigan got tired of it, too -- and decided to go to court about it:

A federal prosecutor in Michigan tried to convince a federal judge to order the euthanasia all dogs swept up in a cruelty case this past summer. The problem is, Kent County Humane Society has been housing several of the dogs for months and believes that they're adoptable.



The solution? Kent County hired a lawyer and filed an affidavit to argue in favor of letting the adoptable dogs live.



Guess what? They won the case today for 11 dogs in their facility, and they also won the right to evaluate four dogs that have been housed in a different facility.

Bad Rap's verdict?

We were keeping our eye on this case since we first learned of the dogs' plight and, and are just jumping up and down around here with the good news. We salute Kent County Humane for their MAJOR CAJONES tonight and are celebrating this victory for the dogs.

Read the story here.



Photo: Froggy, one of the dogs involved in the case, who will now get a chance to be adopted.

Ninety workouts in 90 days: Days Eight and Nine

My silence didn't mean I missed my workouts -- apparently my extra workout time is eating into my blogging time.

Kyrie and I have had two very long walks in the last two days. Of course I walk her at least twice every day, but we have three kinds of walks: A quick trip across the street so she can potty, a walk of a few blocks, and a long walk, which is usually somewhere around a mile and sometimes as much as 2.5 miles.

I'm sure that doesn't seem long to KT, but it's long to us.

I wanted to go to  qui quong again this morning, but I had some kind of weird insect bite yesterday, and the doctor gave me an antihistamine for it, and it made me groggy and stupid all day. So I got behind on work, and had to catch up this morning so I can leave for Austin tomorrow for South by Southwest.

I'll definitely be going to the gym later today, though.

Some social media advice for pet writers and veterinarians: Dump the screename

I'm losing count of the number of my fellow dog and cat writers, and almost all my veterinarian friends and colleagues, who have recently started using social media and signed up on Twitter and even Facebook with screennames instead of their professional names.

I have one single heartfelt piece of advice for you all: Don't.

Tweeting about your new book deal or column as ZiggysMom or DogGuru or whatever is not clever and it doesn't create "buzz" and it's not thinking outside the box. It's going to hurt you.

Let's just start with the most obvious way it hurts you: Unless your books or columns are authored by ZiggysMom, or your business card reads "DogGuru DVM," the connection between your cute username and your professional work is going to be lost for the vast majority of people. 

If someone is looking for you in social media, they aren't going to magically know your screen name. They'll know your real name. That's how they'll look for you, and how they'll know they've found you.

Blogging or using social media (which is a form of blogging) under a screename is also seen as extremely unprofessional.

Now, there was a time when using a screen name was the norm. In fact, some writers and pundits became as well or even better-known by their screen names as their real names.

But this is not AOL in 1993.  Social networks like LinkedIn and Facebook exist to facilitate real life and professional networking, and they're based on the premise that people are who they say they are and do what they say they do. Which, if you're a professional writer, is pretty critical.

Furthermore, some networks require you to participate in your real name. Facebook will actually delete a profile if it's not created by, and in the real name of, a real person. (Yes, I'm sorry -- your dog, like your animal shelter, rescue group or radio program, can have a fan page, but not a profile, on Facebook.)

You also look unprofessional because you're not doing it right -- in other words, you're not participating in the way that's the norm in your field. It makes you stand out, and not in a good way. It makes you look out of touch and slightly hokey.

So if you only recently created a social media account in a screen name, consider dumping it and starting over with your professional name, the one that's on your byline or the spine of your books, or your veterinary license. The one people will Google when they want to check out your references and your credibility and your connections.

Ninety workouts in 90 days: Day Seven

So, Travis texted me this morning at around 7:30, and I phoned him back instead of texting. Apparently he can text in his sleep, since I woke him up.

He called me from his hike after he was conscious, and I told him I planned to hit the gym today. This is the first time since we began this that I have no desire at all to be active. But... 90 workouts in 90 days it is. So, I'm off to the gym. I'll update this post when I'm back, because I'm all about the transparency, accountability and sore aching muscles.

Update: Worked out at the gym. I guess Kyrie and I will have a long walk tonight, too -- not quite a hike, but a nice long walk. Just need to wait until she wakes up from her nap.

Ninety workouts in 90 days: Day Six

Tonight I opted for a long hike as my day six workout, and I wish I hadn't. A nasty little ankle-biter of a toy dog with a death wish was running loose and totally ruined it for me and Kyrie.

Under normal circumstances I'd say this dog had gotten out accidentally, but I happen to know where he lives and his owner, mind-bogglingly given we live in the city, lets him run loose. The dog's confrontational and noisy and snappy, and he stands in the middle of the street and charges at you when you walk by. Which people might think is funny, to see a toy dog charging a giant breed dog like my Kyrie, but it's not funny at all.

Really pisses me off, in fact.

I think next week I'm going to try some water aerobics. Tomorrow, though, I'm going to do my weight training and then just have a little recreational swim. 

So, how are you all doing?

Ninety workouts in 90 days: Day Five

Qui quong class was surprisingly hard. I thought my years of yoga would prepare me for it, but it was actually quite different from yoga, and I kept finding myself holding my breath (kind of defeating everything qui quong is about -- and yoga, for that matter), and then getting dizzy. Also my balance apparently sucks.

Then I did my resistance workout while my sister in law used the cardio equipment. She joined the Y today, too, so I'll have a class and workout buddy!

Now I'm so tired I can hardly keep my eyes open, though. Good thing it's Friday!

Making antifreeze bitter: There ought to be a law

Finally, some pet-related legislation we can all get behind: a law to force antifreeze makers to add a bitter flavoring to their products is under consideration by the United States Congress. From the VIN News Service:

If enacted, H.R. 615, sponsored by Rep. Gary Ackerman, would amend the Federal Hazardous Substances Act to nationally require what already is mandatory in ten states and has been considered in a handful of others: Engine coolant must contain denatonium benzoate, the most bitter compound known, to render the sweet but toxic liquid unpalatable.



The goal of H.R. 615, or the Antifreeze Bittering Act of 2009, is to deter children and animals from drinking antifreeze. Ingesting just a tablespoon of ethylene glycol, the poisonous component in automotive antifreeze, can be lethal to a 10-pound cat. The Humane Society of the United States estimates that about 10,000 dogs and cats die from complications related to ethylene glycol toxicity each year, but other agencies guess that number to be much higher. Thousands of people are accidentally poisoned annually, states the American Association of Poison Control Centers. There also are reports of ethylene glycol-based antifreeze being used as a murder weapon.

It's time, and past time, that lawmakers got off their butts and did this. If industry was going to do it on its own, they would have already. If the 40 states that haven't passed it themselves were going to, ditto.



There are already some antifreezes out there made with propylene glycol, a substance that's not as toxic as ethylene glycol. And just because something's incredibly bitter or otherwise inedible doesn't mean a dog won't eat it -- dogs have, as we all know, eaten some very unlikely things.



But it's a start, and a big one.



Federal lawmakers have twice before failed to pass this law, so let's all hope the third time is the charm.