PETA Demands Answers Regarding Pet Deaths

NORFOLK, VA - Over the course of the last few weeks, pet owners have heard all kinds of reasons why their pet's food might be tainted. The problem is, none of the specialists in the area seem to agree on the cause. Now it appears that the original pet food recall, which included some 60 million cans and foil packs of food from Menu Foods, may not have been extensive enough. Evidence indicates that the same contaminate found in poisoned wet food may also be found in the dry food products of an as yet unknown vendor.

Early reports from Menu Foods, the Ontario based company responsible for the initial pet food recall, was that there was a problem with the wheat gluten. This appeared to make sense because a similar problem was responsible for an earlier pet food recall in 2005. At that time, Diamond Pet Foods, a Missouri based company, recalled many varieties of its food when it found aflatoxin in the products. Aflatoxin is a poison produced by fungi that grows on grains of the type typically used to make wheat gluten, the thickening agent for gravy of wet pet food cuts.

On Friday, March 23^rd, however, during a press conference, other experts stated that rat poison was the culprit responsible for the most recent string of cat and dog deaths. According to the New York State Food Laboratory, they found 40 parts per million of aminopterin in the food samples provided by Menu Foods.

The use of aminopterin is not allowed in the U.S. except for research purposes because the drug is known to cause cancer and birth defects in humans. Other countries, however, continue to use the substance in rat poison. Experts were quick to agree, however, that it is highly unlikely that the chemical would be used to spray a crop against rodent infestation.