Wellness donates 120 tons of food

With the economic crisis now affecting Main Street USA as well as Wall Street, many US animal shelters are facing challenges in providing enough food and proper nutrition to record numbers of pets being left in their care, according to an article on The Earth Times.
Wellness, an all-natural petfood brand from WellPet, wanted to provide these dogs with a gift of food. Wellness, under the sponsorship of its charitable arm, the WellPet Foundation, donated 120 tons of dog food to animal shelters and rescue organizations across the US.
"We appreciate their helping us to keep the animals we look after happy, healthy and well-fed during these difficult times," said David Wolf of the National Greyhound Adoption Program.

Refrigerated dog food market grows

Refrigerated, fresh dog food is a growing market that is predicted to increase to $473 million in annual sales by 2012, according to research firm Packaged Facts.
The Freshpet Select brand sold at Schnucks is a mixture of brown rice, eggs, peas, carrots and barely cooked meats (chicken, turkey, beef, liver), plus added vitamins and minerals.
“It’s been here over a year, and it’s going really well,” said Dennis McCaddon, grocery manager at the Schnucks in Springfield, Ill. “Customers are saying their dogs really love it.”
Packaged Facts attributes the popularity of fresh dog food to convenience, technological advances, better distribution channels and heightened food-safety concerns.

Smokers would kick habit for pet

Pets may be a new motivator for people to kick the habit, as a study now shows that more than a quarter of all pet owners who smoke would try to quit if they knew smoking harmed their cat, bird or dog, according to an article on LiveScience.com.
In all, 3,293 adults responded to the online survey sponsored by Pet Supplies "Plus," a national pet product retail chain, as well as the Michigan Humane Society and a grant from the Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute.
About 20% were smokers and more than one in four lived with at least one smoker. Some 28% said that knowing that smoking was bad for their pets' health would spur them to give it up. And almost one in 10 (8.7%) said this would prompt them to ask their partners to quit, while around one in seven (14%) said they would tell their partner to smoke outdoors. These figures were even higher among non-smokers, more than 16% of whom said they would ask their partner to quit, while 24% said they would tell their partner to smoke outdoors.

Non-Chinese nutrients now available

NaturaPet announced this month 100% of their ingredients will come from trusted, non-Chinese suppliers, according to an article by Examiner.com. Natura became the first petfood company in the industry to test and guarantee that all of its products are free from melamine and cyanuric acid. Supplements are needed to ensure that pets receive optimum nutrition, and among the necessary supplements - certain B vitamins and taurine - have been unavailable from anywhere other than China.
After working with its suppliers, Natura has found alternative sources and has been using them exclusively.
"We will not compromise on food safety and nutrition because both are so critical to the health of pets," said Don Scott, president of Natura.
The Natura product line includes Innova, California Natural, EVO, HealthWise, Mother Nature, and Karma.

Peanut Corp. of America extends recall

The Peanut Corp. of America (PCA) has extended its product recall to all petfood products produced since January 1, 2007.
The Food and Drug Administration’s January 27 report on the contamination found in PCA’s Blakely, Georgia, USA, plant cited them for 10 observations. PCA expanded the recall to include peanut granules, pieces, nuggets, meal, dry roasted, oil roasted, pieces, paste and butter. No problems have been found in Texas or Virginia plants owned by PCA.

Proposed bills impose fee on petfood

Two bills (SB 5329 and HB 1406) were introduced Wednesday in Washington state that would impose a fee on petfood of $57.50 per ton to fund spay/neuter programs.
This fee would be unprecedented in both its size (the highest tonnage fee is $1 in Louisiana right now) and intended use (to fund spay/neuter programs rather than inspections).The bills would establish a companion animal spay/neuter assistance program within the Department of Agriculture.
The program would provide assistance to low-income residents as well as “caretakers of feral and free-roaming cats.” (Sec. 3(2)(b))
The bill requires that “each initial distributor or responsible buyer of petfood must pay to the department a companion animal spay/neuter fee on all petfood distributed by such person during the reporting period.” (Sec. 7 (2)(b))The digest on both bills asserts that “the program should be funded through a fee that is practical, administratively feasible, and targeted at the class of Washington residents that is most responsible for companion animals and their impact on our communities: Owners of cats and dogs.”
The Pet Food Institute is currently attempting to stop the bills' progress

Denmark now allows glucosamine in petfood

The Danish Food Minister Eva Kjer Hansen has visited Aller Petfood - part of the Danish company Aller Mølle Group - to talk about “simplifications of rules,” according to AllAboutFeed.net.
In the meeting, personnel of Aller Petfood explained the daily work of a petfood producer. Also the removal of the restriction to use glucosamine in petfood for foreign customers was discussed with Hansen.The relaxation of these rules mean that companies such as Aller Petfood can use glucosamine in petfood for export and thereby compete on the same level as their foreign colleagues.