Do any forum readers PERSONALLY have problems with Nutro Food??

[karvskitties]

You all want to know the truth about Menu Foods.  They've been deceiving the public a whole lot longer than before the recall.  Their big selling point was they had their own recipe and made their own food in their California plant and their food never had any byproducts.  They've been telling that falsehood for years.  When the recall hit they posted on their website a slight alteration to that statement - claiming only their dry food was made in their USA plants and it was something like 90% of their sales.  No wonder they sold out to Mars.  And where were they when Menu Foods in Canada was putting poison in their pristine pricey food they were telling the public was made in their local USA plant? 

Did you mean Nutro? 

[Sandi K]

Updated article at Consumer Affair and more recent complaints about Nutro:

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/

No Nutro Is Good Nutro?
 As we have seen demonstrated in the last 18 months, what our pets eat on a daily basis can kill or maim them. Lisa Wade McCormick has done some outstanding reporting on the subject, particularly this spring when she followed a string of complaints that led to questions about Nutro pet food. One of the pet owners we heard from was Karin, of Littleton, Colorado. Karin checked in again this week with an update.

"I posted about three weeks ago that my dog has suffered chronic pancreatitis for the past eight months. The vet checked his pancreas levels regularly and they were always very elevated, along with abnormally high liver and lipase levels. After seeing this website, I immediately stopped feeding my dog Nutro.

"It has been three weeks since feeding him Nutro and the doctor was shocked by his bloodwork results. His pancreas, liver and lipase levels were all normal. She repeated to me twice that she was shocked, after eight months of consistently high levels. I believe it was due to the dog food. My dog is now off the medication he had been taking twice daily for his pancreas."

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/nutro.html

Nutro Pet Foods
 


 
 Michelle of Apo NY (06/09/08)
Because I live on a military base in Italy, my choice of dog food is limited to what is offered at the base commissary. I thought that Nutro was a natural based dog food and better than Purina and the others offered. Both of my Italian Greyhounds have been on it for a couple of months, they are on their second bag. I thought the yard started to smell funny after they had been on it for a couple of weeks.

I noticed that they threw up regularly, particularly the 9 month old IG. But it got worse this morning when he woke up and started to whine for no reason. He was clearly in pain, if he stood up his back legs shook, then he would go lie down. He has been lethargic all day and has passed four bloody/mucus filled stools.

I have been researching Nutro for a couple of days now and am disgusted to find that so many problems may exist with the food and I had no idea. I am detached from all of the press stateside and I am very upset no effort has been made to alert military families overseas of a possible problem.

Upon realizing the root of the problem, I sat down and placed a very expensive, high-quality dog food order on the web. Now I have to wait two weeks for it to arrive and in the mean time I will be boiling daily chicken and rice meals for my boys.

I am hoping there will not be any long-term health consequences for my boys. They are both Italian Greyhounds from stellar blood lines, they are also both membrs of my family and I and my children love them immensely. I am glad we caught this in time, unlike some of the others who have reported very serious illnesses or even death associated with this brand of dog food.

If the FDA is examining Nutro, they need to move quickly, it is hard to tell how many people at overseas military bases are feeding this crap to their dogs and possibly killing them.

Jim of Merritt Island FL (06/08/08)
Purchased dog food that made our dog sick. We fed our Lab Lamb and rice Nutro for 12 years.He was fine until his 12th year and then became ill for unknown reasons (2005) He drank massive quanities of water, and vomited frequently. Because of his age and unknown illness,our vet suggested to us to put him down.

We now have a Dashound puppy which we acquired a couple of months after the passing of the Lab. Prior to the purchase of the Dashound, we learned of a problem with the Nutro Lamb and Rice. We fed the Dashound Pup a different brand of Puppy Chow until he was abouth 6 months old. Nutro had assured the public that the problem with the Rice had been solved and the dog food was safe for Canine consumption.We put our 6 month old Dashound on Nutro Lamb on Rice Formula for Puppies.

Our Dashound is 3, and has been vomiting frequently for about a month, and has had loose bowels. We didnt think much of it, as Dashounds are dogs who go to ground and may ingest many unappitizing items. It never occured to us that it could be the dog food.

Today we put all three of our Dashounds(3 yr.old, 8mo old, 5mo old) on a different brand of Premium dog food. In hopes that we will have a turn around of the 3 yr. olds health problem.

Karin of Littleton CO (06/07/08)
Just an update on my dog. I posted about three weeks ago that my dog has suffered chronic pancreatitis for the past eight months. (The vet checked his pancreas levels regularly and they were always very elevated, along with abnormally high liver and lipase levels.) After seeing this website, I immediately stopped feeding my dog Nutro.

It has been three weeks since feeding him Nutro and the doctor was shocked by his bloodwork results. His pancreas, liver and lipase levels were all normal. She repeated to me twice that she was shocked after eight months of consistently high levels. I believe it was due to the dog food. My dog is now off the medication he had been taking twice daily for his pancreas. I just can't believe there has not been a recall on this yet! I have told every dog owner I know to stop feeding their dogs Nutro.


James of St Augustine FL (06/07/08)
2 days ago i started feeding my dog nutro natural choice lamb meal and rice formula my dog got very sick throwing up runs very week took to vet still there not sure how long they need to keep him but vet bill going to be very high im sure he looked like he was suffering from this. i was stupid for changing his food and its costing me dearly and watching him suffer is the worst

Sharon of Cheektowaga NY (06/05/08)
I was feeding my Chocolate Lab Nutro dry dog food since I got him in November of 2007. He was fine & healthy until around April of 2008. He started vomiting, had loose bowl movements & was very lethargic. It really worried me, so I took him to the Vet. They kept him that day and for 2 more days after that.

He was diagonised with Pancreatitus and when he was hospitalized for the 3 days he was on Antiboitics pills for vomiting, and an IV. When I brought him home he was much better almost back to normal. He was sent home with prescription diet food and did very well on that. When he was done with the prescription food he could go back on his regualar diet(which was Nutro).

Again he got sick after I started feeding it to him. I had to take him back to the Vet again & they did more testing. This time they said it was not Pancreatitus, but gave him Antiobotics any way. That week he got sick a 3rd time & I took him back to The Vet again. IV, Meds and another stay at the Hospital.

I took him off the Nutro & He is much better. I chose to go with a Holistic food after that & he is well. I would have never known this had I not looked on the Web Site. I probably would have kept feeding him the Nutro and who knows what would have happened to him. I hope for the sake of others and their pets that they remove this food from the store shelves and do a recall. My Vet bills have been astronomical around $2000.00 plus what my Dog has gone through. I would hate to have any other Dogs & their owners have to have this happen to them. My Dog was lucky he survived this, but who knows what future damage has been done.


Colleen of San Diego, CA (06/04/08)
Our beloved Russian blue female cat, Titian was a healthy, indoor spayed cat born around Aug./Sept. of 91. Determined to keep her healthy, I did try to feed her a premium brand of cat food. After trying a few brands (wet and dry) she preferred the Max cat kitten wet and dry. 

So through each stage of her life from kitten to adult to senior and senior light we fed her the Nutro Max cat dry food. She was very healthy, never sick. Once in awhile she might throw up but I thought that was typical cat thing. She'd only had an elimination problem if 1. she was mad at us for being on vacation or 2.moving to a new house, new baby.

Then around the time of our remodel, 2006 I noticed an increased need to drink more water. By the time I thought of calling the vet, she seemed to stop doing that. Then in Nov. 06 we had her in for her normal pet check up (senior cat every 6 mon. or so). The vet said she had gone from 11.1 lb. to 5.45! We had also noticed she was rejecting the crunchies which she loved her whole life. The vet could not determine what it was at first: cancer, thyroid problems or chronic renal failure. We took a step by step approach and finally after bloodwork and much expenses she diagnosed her with chronic renal failure.

I didn't think anything about the tainted cat food since Nutro Max cat wasn't on the list and she didn't die suddenly like others...but now in retrospect since she was healthy and I did everything right by her, maybe the nutro slowly destroyed her system. Isn't that a coincidence that she fell ill around the time this horrible news was breaking?

Barbara of Meadow Vista CA (06/04/08)
In addition to my previous post June 1, as of today, June 3, I have filed a report with the FDA for my area. Please do the same in your areas. It must be done by phone, or at least in my area it does. The number for you to call for your area is available online at the FDA site, Animal Feed. Let's keep the ball rolling on this. It is too serious to just let it go.

Patty of Palm Coast FL (06/02/08)
My 7 year old Sharpei has been on Nutro dry food since he was able to be weaned. About 6 months ago, we noticed he was losing weight and having very soft stools (sometimes diarrea. He was also ALWAYS thirsty with a lot of gas. He went from 62 pounds down to 40 pounds. The vet was perplexed and did a lot of blood work that was normal.

We finally did a pancreatic function test and found him to have EPI, which is a pancreatic insufficiency. He is now on enzymes with his food. We changed his food in April to Beneful, but he developed a horrible smell (Petsmart told me that there is a lot of garbage in Beneful that probably caused the vile smell).

We went to switch to Nutro and bought a small bag. When we went to our normal pet food store that we have ALWAYS bought our food at, we were told that they no longer carry Nutro and never will. We explained our dogs symptoms and they were not surprised. Pancreatitis, if not treated can lead to EPI. We believe our dog developed this condition due to his Nutro food. He was on the chicken and rice and then on the sensitive stomach Nutro.

My dog has suffered with this condition and will now always have it. He will be on enzymes the rest of his life.

Debra of Grand Haven MI (06/02/08)
I'm sorry to say we had to have our cat Bobbi euthanized this weekend. One Friday she became very listless and had difficulty breathing. We rushed her to the Emergency Animal Hospital in Grand Rapids. The labs and xray indicated liver failure. They tried to hydrate and use medications to retore her liver enzymes.

However, the next day they indicated Bobbie would need a feeding tube and exploritory surgery to verify the diagnosis. We had already spent 1500 dollars and it would cost another 3300-4400 dollars for the surgery. It would not cure Bobbi's illness. At that time we decided to have Bobbi euthanized.

We are not really sure why Bobbi developed liver disease. The only change we had made was to put Bobbi on Nutro cat food. We started with a 5lb bag and when the cats ate it okay we bought a 20lb bag. Two weeks ago we opened the 20lb bag and started feeding the cats from this bag. We set out a large feeder that does not need refilling but about every 1-1.5 weeks.

When we returned from vacation I just assumed the food dish was filled by my brother just before we returned home, but it wasn't. The cats had stopped eating the food. My other cat, Missy did not get sick but she eats table scraps and Bobbi would never eat anything but cat food. I guess Missy ate enough table foods to sustain her. 

Two months ago we had also put our 14 year old poodle, Mike on the Nutro Max for older dogs. It's true that Mike wasn't doing well before the food change but he did develop the soft bloody stools and increased vomiting as reported by other consumers. Also, one of our bloodhounds had diarrhea this past month and one of them vomited a couple of times. Well, enough said you can check the consumers report for yourself. As of Sunday all our pets have been taken off Nutro and placed on another brand of dog food. 

 

[Sandi K]

OK this is troubling, on Nutro's home page there is an advertisement titled "Food for Heroes" and it says this:  The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation Chooses the NATURAL CHOICE® Brand as its Exclusive Pet Food Partner and there are pics and names of the search dogs implying they are using the food.  Maybe we all need to send an e:mail to this Search Dog Foundation and refer them to the complaints at Consumer Affairs.....this appears to be the link to their site:  http://www.searchdogfoundation.org/98/html/index.html   


http://www.nutroproducts.com/

[sharky]

OK this is troubling, on Nutro's home page there is an advertisement titled "Food for Heroes" and it says this:  The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation Chooses the NATURAL CHOICE® Brand as its Exclusive Pet Food Partner and there are pics and names of the search dogs implying they are using the food.  Maybe we all need to send an e:mail to this Search Dog Foundation and refer them to the complaints at Consumer Affairs.....this appears to be the link to their site:  http://www.searchdogfoundation.org/98/html/index.html   


http://www.nutroproducts.com/

They have been using the food for a long time... my guess is they have not had issues..

I have four animals three with issues ... all three amazingly are NOT linked to food but poor BREEDING:)... they are helped via diet but the root of the issue is gene s

[Sandi K]

Sharky, Im curious to know how you know they've been using it for a long time?  Do you have connection with the Search Dog org?  And this info on Nutro's site appears to be new to me anyway.....anyway regardless, its still good they know about the complaints at Consumer Affairs, Im not sure, like alot of people,  that they would know it could be food-related or not if their dogs were getting ill.  I think its good to have as much info as possible and be watchful so I did send them the info at Consumer Affairs just now.

[menusux]

Let's take a look at a challenge Hill's made to the practices of Nutro re: their "lite" classification of a dog food.  The challenger is Hill's--the advertiser is Nutro.

http://www.adlawbyrequest.com/_db/_documents/NAD,_Nurtro_Products.pdf

Case #4714 August 21, 2007

Page 3-

"The testing protocol that Nutro attached (to its submission) indicates, without support, that any product samples created at least twenty minutes apart constitute separate "production batches".  This statement seems to suggest that the average MEC (Metabolizable Energy Content) for the individual samples from a SINGLE production run--such as the 3057 kcal/kg result Nutro obtained on June 21--could, by itself, substantiate Nutro's "Lite" claim, even though Nutro averages the results from THREE separate production runs and cites this as its support in its submission.  Nutro's "20 minute" definition finds no support in AAFCO's guidelines, nor is there any authority to support it.  In practice, samples from different production batches--as is required by AAFCO--are most easily identified on the retail shelf by looking for products that bear different date codes, as Hill's did in its testing.  In fact, AAFCO has issued a guidance memorandum, which is available to the public at:

http://www.aafco.org/Portals/0/Public/Guidance%20DocFinal.pdf

describing how animal feed manufacturers should identify different "production batches" (a term the document uses interchangably with "production lots") using such codes on the packaging.  According to the guidance memo, "All feed and feed ingredients should contain a code that links the individual production lot to production records so as to provide a history of such product.  The code should be contained either on the product packaging, labeling or other distribution records..."  In any event, Nutro itself cites the average MEC from THREE data points, one for each production run it tested--not the average from the individual samples within any single production run--as the relevant final "number" that it claims relates to AAFCO's "Lite" standard.  Nutro's own method thus recognizes these three results as the relevant data.

Page 4-

"The challenger took issue with the advertiser's explanation that the high MEC values obtained by the challenger's testing might be linked to temporary product irregularities caused by Nutro's switchover from its Wilson Way production facility to new factories.  The challenger argued that it was unlikely that the samples it tested all came from the Victorville, CA plant, as opposed to Nutro's other production facility in Lebanon, TN, which, argued the challenger, the advertiser admitted has produced its "lite" dry products continuously since 1996.  Moreover, argued the challenger, the advertiser had not provided evidence that there were, in fact, such temporary irregularities in its "lite" dry products' MEC levels at the Victorville facility.

Second, argued the challenger, the samples it tested came from products actually available to the public for purchase (which is how it acquired them).  It selected the products to be tested based on the date codes printed on the bags, to ensure a range of unique production lots, argued the challenger, and reported these codes with the test results.  On the other hand, contended the challenger, the advertiser apparently tested samples coming straight off the production line at one of its facilities (without specifying which one).  Additionally, the advertiser did not state whether it tested samples of the same product formula that is now on store shelves and available to

Page 5

"consumers. Based on such information, argued the challenger, it is impossible to know exactly what the advertiser tested, including whether the three production runs tested were of the same formula and, if so, whether this was the reformulation described by the advertiser.

Third, while the challenger submitted samples of the products to an independent laboratory for testing, the advertiser conducted its own in house testing.  The challenger contended that "although in-house testing may be proper in some circumstances and it not per se less reliable, in light of the other deficiencies in Nutro's data and in light of the delays in Nutro's submissions and the shifting statements Nutro has made to NAD, this is an additional reason to credit Hill's results."

Moreover, argued the challenger, of the three production runs tested by the advertiser, the results from two of them (May 17 and June 15) were over AAFCO's maximum allowable MEC of 3100 kcal/kg as was the average of all three (3118 kcal/kg).  The advertiser had admitted, argued the challenger, that it thus did not meer AAFCO's standard, but contended that the 3100 kcal/kg limit was only suggested and not an absolute limit.  The challenger stated that, to the contrary, the plain language of the Regulation indicated the 3100 kcal/kg was "a bright-line threshold".

Page 8

"In addition to its explanation that the challenger's test evidence of caloric values exceeding AAFCO recommendations was a result of product reformulation, the advertiser contended that these high caloric results were partly due to manufacturing anomalies in either or both of Nutro's manufacturing plants.  Specifically, explained the advertiser, certain employees at its production facilities were adding extra fat to the extruder to increase manufacturing through-put, and this practice affected Natural Choice Lite MEC values."

So here you see Nutro rung up by Hill's and the various "explanations" they came up with as to why they were not following AAFCO standards.  You see them do the testing for this challenge not with an independent lab, but in their own in house facilities.  Note that Hill's used an independent lab.  I would love to see what some independent labs could show us re: the problems being reported currently with Nutro.

OK this is troubling, on Nutro's home page there is an advertisement titled "Food for Heroes" and it says this:  The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation Chooses the NATURAL CHOICE® Brand as its Exclusive Pet Food Partner and there are pics and names of the search dogs implying they are using the food.  Maybe we all need to send an e:mail to this Search Dog Foundation and refer them to the complaints at Consumer Affairs.....this appears to be the link to their site:  http://www.searchdogfoundation.org/98/html/index.html   


http://www.nutroproducts.com/

They have been using the food for a long time... my guess is they have not had issues..

I have four animals three with issues ... all three amazingly are NOT linked to food but poor BREEDING:)... they are helped via diet but the root of the issue is gene s

To add to what Arlo has said, there are some so-called forums that actually remove negative posts about foods.  Many of us here have witnessed it on other sites.

I have not only witnessed the removal of negative posts regarding Nutro from certain forums, but I have personally had my own posts removed and been sent a warning pm by the admin of the site to 'stop scaring people away from using Nutro' !! I have been 'black-listed' at that site by calling me a trouble-maker.

That is why you are having problems finding the info that you desire regarding Nutro.

Here's a quick recap of what happened to Mary:

Kaffe,

These two exchanges are also not surprising but interesting:

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showpost.php?s=472f1da2276cb04dcf77652b3931e6d4&p=2260724&postcount=18

Quote:
Originally Posted by sharky 
Very true.. it is unfortunate that instead of making sure something is a FACT they let it be one without verifiyng

Itchmo is good for the TESTING aspect as some are paying for the foods to be tested ...

Maybe you, sharky, should heed your own advice and check your 'facts' before posting them here and elsewhere on the internet.
__________________
MarySmith

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showpost.php?s=472f1da2276cb04dcf77652b3931e6d4&p=2260729&postcount=19

Quote:
Originally Posted by MarySmith 
Maybe you, sharky, should heed your own advice and check your 'facts' before posting them here and elsewhere on the internet.

I do /.////  ... It amazing what some call FACTS... feel free to pm me

I remember when the "fact" was that all PFCs cook in the can--despite links to the contrary about that "fact".

 

Now for some reason, the entire thread has POOF!-disappeared. 

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=163912&page=2

"You are not logged in or you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:

"You are not logged in. Fill in the form at the bottom of this page and try again.

"You may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features or some other privileged system?

"If you are trying to post, the administrator may have disabled your account, or it may be awaiting activation.

"The administrator may have required you to register before you can view this page."

Maybe it's on hold while the "facts" are checked and will return when they're posted.  The thread is on vacation waiting for the "facts". 

I expected that it would get deleted when I challenged someone's 'facts'!! Oh well, what can you expect from a site sponsored by the big Pet Food Industry!

I expected that it would get deleted when I challenged someone's 'facts'!! Oh well, what can you expect from a site sponsored by the big Pet Food Industry!

This was my last post in that thread:

Quote:
Originally Posted by sharky View Post
I do /.//// ... It amazing what some call FACTS... feel free to pm me

Please post your 'proof' in this thread that 'consumeraffairs dot com' does not verify the information as fact that they post in their articles.


Quote:
Originally Posted by sharky View Post
Very true.. it is unfortunate that instead of making sure something is a FACT they let it be one without verifiyng

Well, OK--the thread is on vacation because it's waiting for the "facts", but they're big on fun and games:

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/arcade.php?s=512ac3e76ec11aea1563b040c7da7754&do=stats&gameid=173

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/arcade.php?s=512ac3e76ec11aea1563b040c7da7754&&act=Arcade&module=report&user=8708

 

As a long-term member of The Cat Site, and part of its moderating team, I feel called upon to address some misperceptions that are apparent in this thread.

Every board has its own forum rules, which participants agree to respect when they become members. At The Cat Site, the board's rules are openly posted in the forum welcoming new members, as well as elsewhere at the site; all members are also reminded to review and abide by the rules every time they post. I'm sure those of you who are also members there can attest to that.

Out of respect for our members' privacy, we don't discuss matters relating to them in public. However, I can say this much: The thread in question was not deleted by the moderating team, but temporarily removed for review and then returned to the board.

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showpost.php?s=472f1da2276cb04dcf77652b3931e6d4&p=2260724&postcount=18

As of now:

"You are not logged in or you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:

"You are not logged in. Fill in the form at the bottom of this page and try again.

"You may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features or some other privileged system?

"If you are trying to post, the administrator may have disabled your account, or it may be awaiting activation.

"The administrator may have required you to register before you can view this page."

So the thread is still "on vacation", Mary Smith has unjustly been labeled as a "troublemaker" and blacklisted from the site.  I've not seen one of their advisors blacklisted here, even though she can't provide links to verify the information she posts here and it's frequently in error as a result.

Apparently this is how they define it at the other website where threads take permanent vacations....

[Joe Z]

Just Me & Mary Smith:  I posted pics of my pups in the den.   None are sick right now (had a cancer scare last year) but they're aging & right now we're in a celebrating life mode and avoiding (blocking, ducking, hiding from...) memorial topics.  Actually, a number of friends lost their dogs with-in the last year so we've spent quite a bit of time in that relm.

My newsletter isn't a forum.  It is e-mailed twice a month.  I started the blog in September so that we can have an on-line presence and so that I can easily reference folks back to previous articles.  Not many folks (hardly any) post comments and the ones that do post are often quite emotive.  I do however get little two word or one sentence e-mail replies such as, "Didn't know that", "Good Issue", and stuff like that.  We had a good response when we had a contest a few months ago so I know folks are reading it - they're just not forum or commenting type folks I guess.

The name of the newsletter is The Dog Den Digest and can be reached at www.dogdendigest.com.  There are links to the blog and a sample issue in the upper left.  If anyone should actually visit the blog and read some stuff - please be nice in any comments.  Our opinions are always growing and changing as we discover new information.  --Do note -  I'm not soliciting for the newsletter.  I think it covers a different niche than what more knowledgeable involved forum type folks would find of interest.  It's very basic, not scientific, at times (okay - lots of times) - opinionated - and I'm hoping to maintain all that.

Sandi K:  It's been my observation that when a group "chooses" a product - it's often because the product is offered for free or a greatly reduced price.  For cost-conscious animal groups and organizations it's an offer that's hard to refuse.

This is all just typical endorsement PR but it works well.  Look at this promotion Pedigree did back in 2005:  http://www.doggienews.com/2005/02/pedigree-dog-food-gives-away-free-chow.htm   

It's GREAT PR -- a noble cause and gets the folks hooked on their food and creates loyalty at the same time.  As one comment said:  Too bad it's from Pedigree.

Good PR works.  The hero dog thing is a very good PR campaign!  But dangerous for them too -- because if it's proven that their food is tainted  -- then they would be poisoning these hero dogs.....  No company would want to face the fallout from that.

Menusux:  I'm finding this industry in-fighting strangely facinating.............

[MarySmith]

Just Me & Mary Smith:  I posted pics of my pups in the den.   None are sick right now (had a cancer scare last year) but they're aging & right now we're in a celebrating life mode and avoiding (blocking, ducking, hiding from...) memorial topics.  Actually, a number of friends lost their dogs with-in the last year so we've spent quite a bit of time in that relm.

Joe Z,

I'm glad that YOUR dogs have not been ill, but many of the Itchmo family members have either lost pets or have very sick pets. It would be nice if you would help encourage the members who do have ill pets by posting in THEIR threads on those forums. That IS what family members usually do here.

[catbird]

Off-topic but:

For a long time after I joined this forum, I was not able to post in the Memorials or Sick Pets boards either.  I'd lost beloved animals under traumatic circumstances a few years previously, and had come close to losing some of my current cats due to recalled-food related problems.  I could not even read those threads, let alone post on them, because I would break down every time I tried to read them.  The pain was at that point just too raw for me.  It wasn't because I didn't care, or didn't want to be part of the community, or anything like that--it was because I cared so much, and could identify so closely with the pain people must be feeling.

I understand what you are saying, JoeZ.

[Mandycat]

     I think all forum members have the right to post or not post anywhere they want to.  We shouldn't be telling anyone to post in some specific place, or judge their reasons for participating here by where they post.  It amazes me that we can be so indignant if someone from Itchmo is offended or judged on another site, but then do the same thing here to new people.     Give Joe Z a break!  I think he has explained himself very well and I welcome his comments and find them interesting.  

[Sandi K]

JSandi K:  It's been my observation that when a group "chooses" a product - it's often because the product is offered for free or a greatly reduced price.  For cost-conscious animal groups and organizations it's an offer that's hard to refuse.

This is all just typical endorsement PR but it works well.  Look at this promotion Pedigree did back in 2005:  http://www.doggienews.com/2005/02/pedigree-dog-food-gives-away-free-chow.htm   

It's GREAT PR -- a noble cause and gets the folks hooked on their food and creates loyalty at the same time.  As one comment said:  Too bad it's from Pedigree.

Good PR works.  The hero dog thing is a very good PR campaign!  But dangerous for them too -- because if it's proven that their food is tainted  -- then they would be poisoning these hero dogs.....  No company would want to face the fallout from that.

Joe Z, I suspect that is the situation, that they are being offered free food or at a highly discounted rate but it did surprise me that a national resuce dog org would be feeding that food, I had thought it would have been a much better quality food.  If I was the Pres of that organization, I would re-think my patronage to Nutro once I read the Consumer Affairs articles and posts.  I would think that it was something I couldnt take a chance on and feed those very heavily trained expensive search dogs something that has had reports of causing other dog illnesses.  I did send the Consumer Affairs links and info to the organization today.  All we can do is let people know what we have found and let people make decisions on their own but at least they have the info now.   I would think any PFC would jump at the chance to have that as one of their selling points if the organization did some research and decided what other food they felt would be better.

[PFR07PS]

The deal with Nutro and Search Dog Foundation is a matter of marketing, not PR.  An endorsement of a product actually is the responsibility of Marketing as they handle establishing and managing the partnership between product and person/group.  Public Relations is actually a by-product of the endorsement.

Search Dog Foundation is basically a “brand.”  The organization has a division whose purpose is to license that brand or basically seek to form partnerships with related products (such as pet food) where that company would give them money and/or free product. Search Dog is a 501c3 and they receive no government funding.  Thus, the endorsements/partnerships are critical to allowing them to rescue dogs, train them and then pair them with firefighters. 

It states on the Nutro site that when you purchase their products you help support Search Dog.  It also states “For this new exclusive sponsorship, we’ve pledged over $500,000 in cash and dog food over three years.”  To a group like Search Dog, I would think this would be substantial.  Also, if this is an exclusive sponsorship, then it is most likely contractual and they may not be able to get out of that contract without penalty. 

If you look at the Search Dog Foundation website there is an icon for “Corporate Club” and two selections.  One is for “Licensing, Marketing & Sponsorships”.  This allows for product endorsement (for a fee they promote your product), etc. 

There is also a “Corporate Canine Club.”  Search Dog actually lists 8 corporate partners. Interesting that one of them is Iams.  However, they also have PetEdge and PetCo as corporate partners.  The corporate sponsorship allows for adopting a dog ($10,000) and special PR events. 
DonnaC

[Sandi K]

Thanks for that info Donna, I had no idea.  Its a pity those poor dogs are being fed this cwap.   

[karvskitties]

Which is a reason why the Humane Society hasn't stepped up to the plate when people expected them to.  In the King County area - their biggest donor is Iams.   With resources beingg what they are (donations of pet food just ain't happening) - they will be very reluctant to speak out on the Menu Foods topic nor others where litigation with Iams is concerned.

[petslave]

I think this is fairly common, and far-reaching.  I was looking at the website of a tiny rescue group for dogs in a very rural region, maybe 3 people in the group and a few part-time foster homes.  They absolutely insisted on foster homes & dog adopters feeding Hill's, which surprised me.  They even had several paragraphs on the website extolling the wonder of this line of foods.  After reading Donna's post, I'm assuming they got their food from Hill's free or low cost, and maybe had some kind of agreement to keep the dogs on the food in return.