Mr. Weaver:
I can't tell you
how much it is appreciated that a commercial pet food company would actually reply to consumer
inquiries about the safety of their pet food. I don't believe any consumer here is on an unjustified witch hunt
against any particular pet food company or pet food manufacturer. Our concerns are simply the safety of
commercial pet food since March 16, 2007.
I hope the companies and manufacturers can see that an unexplained FDA enforcement action which mentions
a potential lethal consequence to our companion animals would cause a great deal of concern for pet parents
after the recalls, illnesses, and deaths of the last year. I also hope the companies are now aware that the pet
parent consumers are now following FDA enforcement actions in the thousands as the present earliest possible source
of information about a potential problem with pet food, in addition to pet parents posting together problems they
are experiencing on the internet in hopes of spotting trends earlier than the information provided by industry.
Many pet parent consumers are very skeptical of individually calling companies and manufacturers, as many of
them tried during the recalls and either were ignored, or fluffed off and told everything was fine by companies whose
foods were subsequently recalled.
That has caused certain lack of trust issues between consumers and companies which I don't believe can be solved
by traditonal contact the company individually methods. I believe the divide and conquer and minimize company exposure
technique is not working for many consumers any more. Additionally, many of us have observed commercial industry
standards towards consumer complaints seem to be stonewalling among some companies, as evidenced by Richard Sellers
article, "Recall Realities," found here:
http://www.petfoodindustry.com/ViewArticle.aspx?id=18136I, for one, am most glad to know this seems to be a dispute about FDA regulations and paperwork, rather than a boltulism
threat, as mentioned in the FDA notice, with your company and its products. Should the FDA confirm that, or be allowed
to confirm that, that would pretty much give confidence to many pet food consumers.
However, the old system does not seem to be working for consumers, industry, or the FDA. FDA action without explanation
causes concerns to the consumer, harm to the industry, and a lack of clarity on the part of FDA activities seemingly.
No consumer wants proprietary business information from the companies and manufacturers. What pet parents are
concerned about is commercial pet food safety. So perhaps what industry could consider, when an FDA action that
consumers are now watching occurs, is posting clearly and concisely on the company web site specific information
regarding the FDA action for all consumers to see, and/or more information in the FDA enforcement action notice regarding
threat level to pet food safety, including testing results on pet food if any health threats are of concern to the FDA.
That might prevent unjustifed consumer panic from occurring and prove more beneficial to all the concerned parties,
FDA, companies and manufacturers, and pet parent consumers. I hope the opinions of this one consumer will be
received in the spirit of improvng the situation for all of us.
