"On Tuesday, the Chinese government reported that an elderly man died and 202 people were sickened at a hospital in Heilongjiang Province, after they consumed a breakfast cereal that turned out to be laced with rat poison."
http://mobile.iht.com/articles/2007/04/11/asia/gluten.3.xhtml

And

Thursday, April 12, 2007
China: Hospital poisoning 'intentional'
"BEIJING -- A food poisoning case that killed one person and sickened more than 200 others who ate a hospital breakfast contaminated with rat poison was intentional, state television said Thursday."

"Mass poisonings are common in China, which has been struggling to improve a dismal food safety record."

My inlaws are from Taiwan and they refuse to buy any food or fruit from China which is sold in Canada because of the pesticides.  Especially the pear apples, they must be from Taiwan or Japan.  Anyone from Asia knows that China is infamous for its use of pesticides in all farming produce.

Regards,
Joanne

Hi, dear friends.

In an effort to make some sort of sense out of all this horrible, horrible news, I have been scouring the internet for as much information as I can find...just trying to put the pieces together in some way so I can understand what is truly happening, how deeply it invests into the fabric of my life, and how I can share important information with others and their animal companions.  I have to say; it absolutely breaks my heart to know just the tip of the iceberg of the evil cruelty and unrepentant greed I have discovered in just a few days. 

I am a family practice physician who works with trained physical therapy dogs in a clinical setting with children and adults who suffer from physical and emotional disabilities.  These dogs are my friends, my companions, my family.  I know you all understand when I say my dogs are my life!  They mean so much not only to me, but also to so many wonderful, hard working souls struggling as hard as they know how to have a good and happy life without pain, without restrictions. 

So when I began to see the widening ripples of this whole despicable international government and corporate sell-out, all I could do at first was cry.  But crying won't stop any of this or punish those all-too-well-deserving selfish b*****ds involved in this interlocking web of blame-shifting, sanctimonious, murderous CRAP! 

I am, hopefully, one of the lucky ones.  I took my babies in for a pre-op physical for minor surgical procedures related to aging in giant breeds and their labs came back indicating ARF.  Follow-up scans confirmed it and, now, almost two months - and hundreds of worried hours - later it looks like they're going to be okay.  Maybe better than okay since I will never, ever, feed them anything I haven't either prepared myself or thoroughly researched beforehand.  I wouldn't have known anyway near soon enough without that hand of providence, since my "pups" never complain about anything I ask them to do, they love their jobs that much! 

For those of you suffering with ailing companions because of this, please know there are thousands of caring souls holding you in the light of Grace and love.  We are praying for you and yours to make it through.  For those of you who have lost dear ones, my deepest sympathies go out to you.  Please know their deaths won’t be in vain.  There are many of us who will fight for justice in their names – and our numbers are growing daily.  We will fight for them and for the untold millions of animals cruelly and painfully killed by these unfeeling, unenlightened excuses for human beings.

I've never really blogged before, so pardon my rambling.  I just had to get it off my chest.  I am SO ANGRY!  You know, my breeder rescued my boy when he was just two from the horrible physical and emotional abuse he suffered under his first human's hands - broken ribs, twisted legs from no activity or walks, threats of putting him down because he resisted being beaten - all this and he has never held it against anyone.  The first time we met, we were best friends from that moment on.  He loves everybody!  It just seems so wrong that he should suffer even one more moment of pain. 

Anyway, to get to the original purpose for writing, below are links to some of the very best information I have found so far.  The first group contains excellent sources for understanding the science and biology of what's happening, the second group contains wonderful community networking resources, the third group contains websites for organic and natural pet food, and the last group contains websites that document the vile way this entire industry handles our pets and their food.  It is only recommended for those with very STRONG CONSTITUTIONS!  Please visit at least some of the websites in the first three groups – INFORMATION IS POWER! 

FYI: For many years I was involved in neonatal infectious disease research working on developing the H. influenza vaccine, among other things.  So, yes, I DO have a strong and well-grounded opinion on GMO and irradiated food.  If you have an opinion in opposition to mine, that’s fine.  I respect that.  Just don’t attempt the diversionary tactics of “my scientific expert’s better than your scientific expert.”  Write your own reply, site your own experts’ work and let the people decide.   

Namaste.   

http://dogtorj.net/index.html
http://dogtorj.net/id32.html
http://www.krispin.com/lectin.html
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/318/7190/1023
http://www.gak.co.jp/TIGG/41MR1e.html
http://www.dadamo.com/knowbase/lectin/lect3.htm
http://www.gmcontaminationregister.org/ *Note connection with melamine.
http://reviews.ebay.com/Waggin-Train-Chicken-Jerky-Tenders-Avoid-at-all-Cost_W0QQugidZ10000000003237483
*Remember Bird Flu?  Remember the hundreds of thousands of pet dogs brutally killed by local Chinese government workers?  Several times?
 
http://www.petconnection.com/recall/
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx
http://www.vetspecialist.com/misc/food_recall.htm
http://www.dogchannel.com/dog-news/dog-food-recall-updates.aspx
http://network.bestfriends.org/

http://www.thewholisticpet.com/category.cfm?Category=247&CFID=15915324&CFTOKEN=59987843
http://search.onlynaturalpet.com/search.aspx?searchterms=Organic-Dog-Food
http://www.theorganicpages.com/topo/searchall.html?txtKeyword=pet+food&Search=Search
http://www.championpetfoods.com/orijen/orijen/
http://www.ziwipeak.com/About-Us/

http://www.secretdogvideo.com/a1.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5244304.stm
http://www.voice4dogs.org/tsinc.htm  *Regional proximity - How can we expect them to care about our dog food?  Regardless of cultural food differences, where is the compassion, or even self-respect?

It's very sad. How do we find out who manufactures what? Is there a website out there where you can trace the source of what we and our pets are eating?

Ya know, a dear friend of mine (also involved in the animal health profession) and I have been discussing this whole thing in great detail since the day Menu Foods announced the first recall. We kept saying "how long until they announce it's made it into the human food supply?" We both kept saying we hoped we were wrong, but look at where we are now. What a horrible thing this really is.  Its easy to be freaked out about our own food supply when only 2% of all food imports are actually inspected.  (Now THAT'S national security! )

Thanks for the link to the article.  I knew about the babies, but still, every time I read about it, I could just scream.