Recalled dog food suspected in the March 11 death of Kailua dog

SATURDAY, MARCH 17, 2007 – Honolulu attorney Emily Gardner is preparing to file a lawsuit on behalf of a Kailua family who lost their beagle and suspect the cause is a sudden illness as a result of consuming dog food manufactured by Menu Foods.

Ms. Gardner has been receiving inquiries about what people can do if their dog or cat has been sickened by many brands of canned and foil pouch food including Nutro, Iams and Eukanuba. Announced today, the recall includes products that bear the code dates of 6339 through 7073 followed by the plant code 4197. The recalled food was manufactured between Dec. 3, 2006 and March 6, 2007. The Kailua dog died Sunday, March 11. The pet owners had been feeding the dog Iams food with codes that match the numbers covered by the recall today. Update: Recall has been expanded to all cans and packets of recalled food, regardless of codes, manufactured before March 7, 2007. SEE LIST LINK BELOW.

Gardner's client is not interested in deriving financial renumeration from her claim and intends to donate any monies she might receive to animal-related charitable organizations. Her main concern is that nothing like what happened to her dog, Twinkles, happens to any other any pets.

Gardner commented, "With pet foods, we have a situation where the end-use consumers can't speak up for themselves. Putting a defective product on the market hurts pets and the families who care about them."

Gardner is accepting calls at her office in Honolulu: 808 543-2061 or contact her by email at eagardner@hawaii.rr.com. More information on the pet food recall will be updated on this Web site.

Updates on the brands covered by the recall are found at at www.avma.org, (American Veterinary Medical Assn.), www.menufoods.com/recall and www.fda.gov. On March 30, 2007, Menu Foods announced that melamine has been identified as being present in the food that caused the pet illnesses and deaths. Menu Foods added more brands to their list in April. Four Natural Balance venison products and Blue Buffalo Company Spa Select Kitten dry food were added on April 18, LiveSmart dog food on April 25. Additional brands and treats from other manufacturers have been added to the recall. Touch THIS LINK to see an informational list of recalled pet foods.

On May 11, 2007, Attorneys Thomas Grande and Emily Gardner filed two lawsuits against pet food manufacturer Menu Foods. The two lawsuits include: 1) a multi-party personal injury suit for ten Hawaii pet owners who suffered the death or severe illness of a pet, filed by Gardner; and, 2) a consumer class action against the manufacturer for Hawaii consumers who purchased the tainted pet foods, jointly filed by both attorneys.

For information on the settlement of the pet food recall class action suit on May 21, 2008, touch here.

Related News Links, most recent at top
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FDA expands pet food recall, CNN.com, 4/18/07
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Interview: Attorney Emily Gardner on the Pet Food Recall, KHNL TV News, Wednesday, 3/21/07
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