Dog Food Recall Linked to Mad Cow Disease

May 30, 2003

U.S. consumers are being asked to return dog food that may have come from a Canadian cow that tested positive for mad cow disease.

The suspect food, in 50 pound bags, was produced in Canada by Champion Pet Food of Morinville, Alberta. If found, the food should be held for pickup.

Pet Pantry International of Carson City, Nev., which sells the products by phone or e-mail, said customers should search for two products: "Maintenance Diet" with a "use by" date of "17FEB04" and "Beef with Barley" with a date of "05MAR04."

The voluntary return is a precaution to prevent discarded dog food from getting mixed with feed for cattle, goats or sheep, the Associated Press reports. Customers who bought dog food since February should check their supplies and, if found, should call the company at 1-800-381-7387. Pet Pantry also is using sales records to contact consumers.

Meanwhile, Canadian authorities have slaughtered almost 400 cattle from five of the 17 farms or feed lots quarantined in the investigation. The animals' brains were sent for testing to pinpoint the source of the country's first outbreak of mad cow disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE.

The outbreak, detected last week in one Alberta cow that was slaughtered in January, caused the United States and other countries to close their markets to Canadian beef products and raised questions about industry regulation.karl theis jrvideo field reporterwww.RealityExpander.com Ch.10 TimeWarnerAustin,Texas cell 512 297-9875e-mail: theis888 www.exposureofthetruth.isfamous.com

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