** For a list of pet foods NOT recently recalled go to The Pet Food List **

From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Hundreds in Seattle line up lawsuits against pet food manufacturer.

At first, Cecily and Terrence Mitchell chalked their cat’s behavior up to old age.

Stranger things have happened than a 15-year-old cat uncharacteristically urinating around the house.

But when Yoda stopped eating and drinking, the Mitchells took her to the veterinarian. It turned out the Siamese cat with azure eyes and well-worn vocal chords was suffering from acute kidney failure, and on March 6, she was put down.

Almost three months later, the Seattle couple’s names appear on the cover page of a class-action lawsuit against pet food manufacturer Menu Foods. The Mitchells and thousands of others across the U.S. and Canada are suing Menu Foods for producing wet pet food made with contaminated wheat gluten.

[...]

Plaintiffs in the suits are seeking restitution for losses such as veterinary bills or missing work, as well as punitive damages. Menu Foods could also end up shelling out restitution for emotional hardship, contends Adam Karp, an animal law lawyer in Bellingham who filed a lawsuit.

Plaintiffs are likely to be divided into subclasses based on their state’s laws, and restitution for emotional hardship could be awarded based on that. Last year, a court of appeals in Spokane decided that “malicious injury to a pet” could be a reason for emotional distress in Washington state.

Read the rest.

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This one’s not pet food related but worth taking a look at….Nicaragua Seizes Chinese-Made Toothpaste.

Technorati Tags: pet food recall, cats, dogs, health, Menu Foods