My Pet Counts! Postcard Blitz

We are calling on all pet owners, parents, guardians who have lost a pet due to contaminated pet food or had a pet become ill
 to join us in a post card blitz to demonstrate the full scope of this pet food recall disaster.

The FDA continues to publicize only "16 confirmed deaths."
 This number has often been repeated by the media.
Reliable sources report that the number of pet deaths are and will be much higher
 - most likely in the thousands.

If you want your pet's death or illness to count for something good, please join the My Pet Counts!
Post Card Blitz.

Who:  Anyone who has lost a pet due to contaminated pet food or had a pet
become ill are encouraged to be included, we want all the pets to count!
What:  Post cards may have a picture of your pet, or can be blank.
Purchase cards or design your own.  Each set of postcards represents one pet.
 If you have multiple pets who have become sick or died, send multiple cards to each address.
Only one set of postcards per affected pet , please.
Postcards ONLY, this is to ensure the mail is delivered with no security delay.
Where:  No need to leave home.  You can mail your postcards from your own mailbox.

When:  All postcards should be mailed on Saturday, April 28th.
 This coincides with the national march organized by KOPS (Keep Our Pets Safe).
 If all postcards are mailed on the same day, the impact will be all the greater when
received at the other end.

Why:  By sticking to the "only 16 confirmed deaths" wording this disaster is being grossly minimized.
  The word must get out!

How:  Mail a postcard to each of the addresses provided.
 
 The message should be very short, easy to read, no anger, profanity, or rudeness of any kind.
  Let them see your grief.  Tug at their heartstrings. Use your pet’s name.
 Use the words "My Pet Counts!"

Post card Mailing List:
Marcia K. Larkins, D.V.M
FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine
Ombudsman
7519 Standish Place HFV-7
Rockville, MD 20855

Senator Richard Durbin
309 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Your own senators: addresses at http://tinyurl.com/b1lm
send a card to both or pick one , your choice

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Anderson Cooper
c/o CNN
One CNN Center
Atlanta, Georgia 30303-2762

HERE IT IS





My Pet Counts! Postcard Blitz

We are calling on all pet owners, parents, guardians who have lost a pet due to contaminated pet food or had a pet become ill
 to join us in a post card blitz to demonstrate the full scope of this pet food recall disaster.

The FDA continues to publicize only "16 confirmed deaths."
 This number has often been repeated by the media.
Reliable sources report that the number of pet deaths are and will be much higher
 - most likely in the thousands.

If you want your pet's death or illness to count for something good, please join the My Pet Counts!
Post Card Blitz.

Who:  Anyone who has lost a pet due to contaminated pet food or had a pet
become ill are encouraged to be included, we want all the pets to count!
What:  Post cards may have a picture of your pet, or can be blank.
Purchase cards or design your own.  Each set of postcards represents one pet.
 If you have multiple pets who have become sick or died, send multiple cards to each address.
Only one set of postcards per affected pet , please.
Postcards ONLY, this is to ensure the mail is delivered with no security delay.
Where:  No need to leave home.  You can mail your postcards from your own mailbox.

When:  All postcards should be mailed on Saturday, April 28th.
 This coincides with the national march organized by KOPS (Keep Our Pets Safe).
 If all postcards are mailed on the same day, the impact will be all the greater when
received at the other end.

Why:  By sticking to the "only 16 confirmed deaths" wording this disaster is being grossly minimized.
  The word must get out!

How:  Mail a postcard to each of the addresses provided.
 
 The message should be very short, easy to read, no anger, profanity, or rudeness of any kind.
  Let them see your grief.  Tug at their heartstrings. Use your pet’s name.
 Use the words "My Pet Counts!"

Post card Mailing List:
Marcia K. Larkins, D.V.M
FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine
Ombudsman
7519 Standish Place HFV-7
Rockville, MD 20855

Senator Richard Durbin
309 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Your own senators: addresses at http://tinyurl.com/b1lm
send a card to both or pick one , your choice

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Anderson Cooper
c/o CNN
One CNN Center
Atlanta, Georgia 30303-2762

New here, came over following that suggestion at petconnection. I love this idea and will do all I can to make the real numbers be heard. Jumping in with my ideas, that I posted at petconnection under the same name. Heart of the story on the post cards, pets name, life span, breed, vet that cared for the pet, brand and type of food, including UPC codes and best if used by dates. A memorial page at petconnection or here, with a running tally count. Could such be forwarded to media outlets, all of them? Cooper Anderson? Vet activists? Celebrity angle, loved the Jack Hanna idea. I thought the "Dog Whisperer" maybe the "pet food recall of 2007 memorial" would be better than "pile o death" although true is harsh sounding to those that haven't had to watch their pet die from toxic pet food. Ceaser Millan walking by this "memorial" at his place in L.A. all summer long (when they air) will scream remember us, we count. Borrowing his "We are pack" because all of us experiencing this have become that grass roots effort, in need of a name.
Also once this story breaks and it will, one of those days here soon. There will be much more avenues open to this effort getting the support we are seeking. Contacting all celebrities that own pets, they all have "babies" once the story breaks. Videoing the marches this weekend and putting it on youtube.

The president needs one, Barney would love to hear from us all, we could address them to Barney [edited].
Found this today, I don't know how to cut, paste and copy stuff, here's the addy though.
http://wwwmercurynews.com/healthandscience/ci_5730637
Aritcle about FDA recalling things over the last few years, spinach, lettuce, peanut butter and now pet foods. Intresting read, if someone could post it here. Says what we are all saying. Someone dropped the ball and there wasn't a watch dog around to pick it up.

Sorry E. Hamliton, new here. I trying to find my way around is a feat into itself. I have my postcards ready and someone mentioned a stuffie company here in the good ol' USA, went out looking for one today. No luck finding one not handmade in CHINA. That can't happen......Anyone help?

E. Hamilton, thanks for giving me directions to find this thread. I have a couple of suggestions... How about that Greta woman on Fox news? (I don't remember her last name) She seems to really put a lot of effort into the stories she covers.  Also...It might be good to end your postcard message with something like:

Was my pet one of the 16?? Has he been counted?

Yes I know what the number 16 is. Obviously the news media are the ones that don't know since that is the number they keep using. Of course my dog isn't one of the 16, nor is yours or anyone elses whos pet has died. My comment was to draw attention to the number 16 they all keep using and when the post cards come in, obviously all of these dead pets have not been counted.  Maybe it was just too obscure.

I just noticed the Washington Post is in the Rockville area:

The Washington Post
51 Monroe St # 500
Rockville, MD 20850
(301) 294-2600 - close call
washingtonpost.com

(don't laugh - I'm a west coaster so didn't know it was located in Rockville)

Would it be worth also sending postcards to Elizabeth Williamson who reported the article FDA Was Aware of Dangers to Food ?  I realize her article has more to do with human food, but it does relate so thought I'd toss it into the mix.  E., if you feel it's too much, just say so & no worries.

We still need to hear from more people here.  I'll try notifying some pet egroups I'm on.  Hopefully, others who've read this topic are doing so as well.  This is only going to work if the number of post cards sent is high enough to get attention.