Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / Pet owners warn: Be careful what you feed your dog! Is pet food killing them?

Transcript

Pet owners warn: Be careful what you feed your dog! Is pet food killing them? · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

0:05
Speaker 1: Climb Stories with Nancy Grace on Serious x M Triumph
0:09
Speaker 1: Channel one thirty two. If you have a dog at home,
0:12
Speaker 1: this might be important for you to know. Party Animal
0:15
Speaker 1: Dog Food is recalling two different kinds of food that
0:17
Speaker 1: may be contaminated with pinto barbital. That's the same drug
0:21
Speaker 1: used for the euthanasia of dogs, cats, and horses. One
0:24
Speaker 1: dog that ate the food died for other dogs got sick.
0:29
Speaker 1: The company sounded its alarm after a customer in Texas
0:31
Speaker 1: turned over cans of two foods that had tested positive
0:34
Speaker 1: for the drug. The class action suit seeks five million
0:36
Speaker 1: dollars of damages. Who do you love the most beside
0:40
Speaker 1: your family? Think about it. Who do you love who
0:44
Speaker 1: always greets you with a big smile, who gives you
0:47
Speaker 1: a hug whenever you want, never ask any questions, and
0:52
Speaker 1: always happy with whatever little treat you give them? Well,
0:56
Speaker 1: that gave it away. I'm talking about your pet. Right
0:59
Speaker 1: now my house, we are rocking six pets. I've got
1:03
Speaker 1: my cat, Cinnamon Girl, my dog Fat Boy a k A. Nitro, uh,
1:09
Speaker 1: my nephew who just moved in with us, his cat
1:13
Speaker 1: and dog that would be um BINGI and precious arguable
1:19
Speaker 1: and then my daughter who got obsessed with guinea pigs.
1:23
Speaker 1: Every time I try to sneak up on her while
1:25
Speaker 1: she was on iPad, I'd expect to see the worst.
1:29
Speaker 1: Oh no, it was her watching endless guinea pig videos.
1:33
Speaker 1: Don't worry. The same thing happened with cats two years ago.
1:36
Speaker 1: Hence Cinnamon. I love them and I think they love me.
1:41
Speaker 1: So when I heard about the story we are about
1:44
Speaker 1: to bring to you, I naturally was very upset. I
1:49
Speaker 1: Nancy Grace, this is crime Stories. Thank you for being
1:53
Speaker 1: with us. I'm talking about the deaths of pets all
1:58
Speaker 1: across our country from pet food. Okay, I just wanted
2:05
Speaker 1: to sing in for a moment with me. Longtime friend
2:09
Speaker 1: and colleague Laura Beverage, Karen Becker, veterinarian in the US
2:15
Speaker 1: and Canada, Rodney Habib Planet Pause, huge, huge falling of
2:20
Speaker 1: people regarding pet safety and pet health. Susan Thixton Truth
2:26
Speaker 1: about pet Food website, consumer advocate for Animals and Justice,
2:32
Speaker 1: later a lawyer that specializes and consumer class actions and
2:38
Speaker 1: as an expert in the pet industry. You know, I
2:40
Speaker 1: want to start with you, Laura Beverage, Um, what can
2:44
Speaker 1: you tell me about pets allegedly dying from pet food. Yes, Nancy,
2:52
Speaker 1: I lost my beautiful girl, Dumpling in July, and her
2:56
Speaker 1: her loss was from a pet treat. Wa wait wait,
3:00
Speaker 1: how do you know, Dumpling? How do you know Dumpling
3:04
Speaker 1: just didn't die of old age, Laura or some other ailment.
3:07
Speaker 1: I mean, she couldn't tell you what was wrong. Yes, Nancy,
3:11
Speaker 1: I had given her this treat, UM, and it was
3:15
Speaker 1: one that I bought because the label said safe for
3:19
Speaker 1: all hot alternative. Um. It just looked like and I'm
3:23
Speaker 1: very careful with my treats, that looked like the perfect treat.
3:26
Speaker 1: I gave it to her. UM. She chewed it for
3:29
Speaker 1: quite a while. She was right there with me, UM,
3:32
Speaker 1: and then UM. I noticed that the treat was gone. UM,
3:36
Speaker 1: and I began to hear her her breath sounds change.
3:40
Speaker 1: After she UM tried to get sick a couple of times,
3:44
Speaker 1: so I took her. She got in the car. She
3:46
Speaker 1: was acting like she was trying to throw up. Yes,
3:49
Speaker 1: and we are right down the street from an emergency clinic.
3:52
Speaker 1: She walked into the clinic. They pulled the UM treat
3:58
Speaker 1: from her airway and handed it to me. They saved
4:02
Speaker 1: it for me. We thought she was going to do okay,
4:05
Speaker 1: and she died about twelve hours later. She was our girl, Nancy,
4:10
Speaker 1: So she choked on a pet trait. Um, let me
4:16
Speaker 1: understand something, Jessica Slider, you're a lawyer who is right
4:20
Speaker 1: now preparing a class action lawsuit representing pets. Tell me
4:25
Speaker 1: the extent of this adain a choking Are you saying
4:30
Speaker 1: that the problem is that a pet trait is a
4:32
Speaker 1: choking hazard. In addition to Laura's situation, we're actually involved
4:38
Speaker 1: in another class action against another company called Avengers and Uh,
4:43
Speaker 1: I guess just to give you an idea of the
4:45
Speaker 1: types of claims that we bring their usually under the
4:49
Speaker 1: state consumer protection statutes, and they involved false advertising. And
4:55
Speaker 1: in Laura's situation, the treat that she purchased explicitly said
5:00
Speaker 1: that it was not raw hide, and she can tell
5:04
Speaker 1: you what first. With raw hide, it's not easily digestible.
5:09
Speaker 1: And also another problem that pets have is depending on
5:13
Speaker 1: the size of what the treat is, UH, it can
5:17
Speaker 1: cause this choking because they might just swallow a whole
5:19
Speaker 1: instead of just chewing on it, as what happened with
5:22
Speaker 1: Dumplin and I guess it kind of you know, going
5:26
Speaker 1: into some of the other cases that we've we are
5:28
Speaker 1: currently litigating a lot of the pet food that's out
5:32
Speaker 1: there advertises itself as a premium product. You know, the
5:38
Speaker 1: Avenger's pet food said it was human grade, and what
5:42
Speaker 1: the issue was with that pet food is that it
5:45
Speaker 1: was actually from a dead animal hauler. And the pet
5:50
Speaker 1: food that some of my clients fed to their dogs
5:55
Speaker 1: can contain the actual euthanasia drug that's used to put
5:59
Speaker 1: animals to sleep and in human execution. Wait wait, wait,
6:04
Speaker 1: are you saying that animal carcasses are in pet food? Yes,
6:10
Speaker 1: anything that is not human grade U s d A
6:13
Speaker 1: inspected is used in pet food and it's false average.
6:20
Speaker 1: I've got to write this down. I'm not understanding this,
6:23
Speaker 1: Laura Beverage. You know, I'm just a trial lawyer. You're
6:26
Speaker 1: the pet expert, and I'm about bringing our vet Karen Beckert.
6:30
Speaker 1: What is she saying? Laura, break it down from me
6:32
Speaker 1: and all of our listeners here on serious sex in
6:35
Speaker 1: What are the claims specifically, Because Laura, there can be
6:39
Speaker 1: a million arguments whether you're right or wrong about dumpling
6:44
Speaker 1: choking on a chew toy, okay or Patrick, but what
6:47
Speaker 1: is she saying? What are we talking about here? Well, Nancy,
6:51
Speaker 1: she it's it's swelled. So she's saying that when you
6:54
Speaker 1: read a label as Dumpling's label read, it read as
6:57
Speaker 1: an edible food. It had a calorie con tin on it,
7:00
Speaker 1: It had products chicken, rice, it had things that makes
7:05
Speaker 1: you think edible and not raw hide. People steer away
7:09
Speaker 1: from raw hide. Dumplin's um products swelled in her airway
7:14
Speaker 1: by fifty Well wait, wait, wait, wait, Laura, You're gonna
7:19
Speaker 1: have to excuse me. This is the only way I
7:21
Speaker 1: ever won a case. I would take each phrase and
7:25
Speaker 1: saying autopsy report or whatever, and I would break it
7:27
Speaker 1: down so I could totally understand it. Now I'm hearing
7:30
Speaker 1: something new. You're saying that the treat you gave dumpling
7:35
Speaker 1: swelled up in her airway. Okay, okay, let me And
7:44
Speaker 1: the other thing we're saying is that if it's not
7:48
Speaker 1: human grade f d A inspected, then what is it.
7:55
Speaker 1: We We know, Nancy, that we had one test that
7:58
Speaker 1: tested it um as raw hide. The FDA is still
8:01
Speaker 1: investigating and doing their own testing. It clearly was not
8:05
Speaker 1: in edible food product as the label read. When you
8:11
Speaker 1: look at the the edible ingredients. It clearly was not safe.
8:16
Speaker 1: It had safe on the labels three different times. Um,
8:19
Speaker 1: it was not even legal to sell in the state
8:23
Speaker 1: of Georgia where I am. I found out through my
8:27
Speaker 1: complaint that I filed with the Department of Agriculture. So
8:30
Speaker 1: she died on an illegally sold product that we UM
8:36
Speaker 1: will find out more about what it really was. That's
8:41
Speaker 1: it in a nutshell, and it broke our hearts. Let
8:45
Speaker 1: me go to h Jessica s later again before I
8:48
Speaker 1: head back to Rodney's. Susan and Karen Jessica. The claims
8:53
Speaker 1: that you are leveling against the pet food industry in
8:58
Speaker 1: plane term, you claim are causing the deaths of pets
9:04
Speaker 1: across the country and owners are none the wise or
9:07
Speaker 1: they don't even know what happened. For instance, if Laura
9:10
Speaker 1: hadn't gone to the emergency clinic, she would never have
9:13
Speaker 1: known that that pet chew swelled up fifty in Dumbin's
9:19
Speaker 1: airway and it was non edible food. Well, that's not food,
9:25
Speaker 1: it was a non edible substance that was she gave
9:29
Speaker 1: lovingly gave to her pet. Look, pets can't speak for themselves.
9:34
Speaker 1: That's why we're here today. So Jessica, in simple terms,
9:39
Speaker 1: explain to me what your allegations are. Right, So it's
9:42
Speaker 1: exactly what you just said, Nancy, As you know as
9:46
Speaker 1: a fellow trial attorney, the evidence that Laura and other
9:51
Speaker 1: consumers have been able to obtain has actually been able
9:55
Speaker 1: to allow us to bring these claims. Attorney have been
10:00
Speaker 1: bringing these false advertising, deceptive practices at claims against pet
10:05
Speaker 1: food companies for years, but they've never had the proof
10:08
Speaker 1: that we now have in these situations based on people
10:12
Speaker 1: like Laura who are actually investigating what's going on. Joining
10:16
Speaker 1: me is Karen Becker Rodney had been and Susan thinksen
10:20
Speaker 1: to you Rodney with Planet Pause way in on the
10:24
Speaker 1: climbs against the pet food industry. I'm trying to understand
10:26
Speaker 1: exactly what is being alleged. Well, Uh, Nancy first and
10:31
Speaker 1: foremost Laura, it would not be probably the only person
10:34
Speaker 1: in the world that would have this same situation. In fact,
10:38
Speaker 1: I wrote a article several years ago which has been
10:42
Speaker 1: viewed right now, I'd probably say by over a billion
10:45
Speaker 1: people worldwide. There's over two hundred thousand comments on there,
10:49
Speaker 1: and of those comments, there are probably uh thousands and
10:53
Speaker 1: thousands of people that have experienced the same issue that
10:56
Speaker 1: Laura has had through Harahide experience. Are there any concerns
11:02
Speaker 1: about dog food, Jessica Slider, Yeah, I mean there's a
11:07
Speaker 1: lot of concerns. One of the biggest issues is what
11:10
Speaker 1: we've been talking about that it's not subject to USDA inspection.
11:16
Speaker 1: Any of the you know, ingredients that are going into
11:18
Speaker 1: the pet food are not reviewed by the government. They're
11:21
Speaker 1: throwing dead animals in there, and youthanized animals and any
11:26
Speaker 1: kind of biproduct. Why would you put dead animals in
11:29
Speaker 1: in pet food? Why would there have to be dead
11:33
Speaker 1: animals in pet food? It's inexpensive, it's profit for the
11:38
Speaker 1: food in pet food industry. Okay, let me understand this.
11:41
Speaker 1: Rodney Rodney had been Planet pause, are there dead animals
11:47
Speaker 1: and pet food? Well, there's a lot of things that
11:49
Speaker 1: go into pet food and this is a massive a
11:52
Speaker 1: yes or no yes on that. Wow. Okay, Susan thinks
11:57
Speaker 1: in joining me with truth about pet food web site
12:01
Speaker 1: consumer advocate for the pet Susan, I need to understand
12:05
Speaker 1: this because I've never until Laura began telling me what
12:11
Speaker 1: had happened to dumpling. I had never heard of any
12:14
Speaker 1: of this. I don't want to feed fat Boy or
12:18
Speaker 1: Cinnamon or even the guinea pigs Abby and Chloe. I
12:22
Speaker 1: don't want to feed anybody animal carcasses. Help me understand
12:28
Speaker 1: what's happening in our our pets allegedly dying because of
12:33
Speaker 1: unwinning consumers like me feeding them. This kind of pet
12:37
Speaker 1: food susan absolutely nancy. They are and you use the
12:42
Speaker 1: key word. The word is feed. Pet food is not
12:48
Speaker 1: regulated as food. It is termed food, but pet food
12:53
Speaker 1: is not held to any of the requirements that food is.
12:59
Speaker 1: It is how to feed as in cattle feed, chicken feed,
13:04
Speaker 1: stored in a barn, stored in fifty pound bags, and
13:07
Speaker 1: fed on the ground. It is held to feed standards,
13:12
Speaker 1: though it is termed food. On the FDA website right now,
13:17
Speaker 1: they don't hide it. Uh. There are compliance policies, and
13:22
Speaker 1: the FDA openly says it is acceptable for diseased animals
13:28
Speaker 1: and animals that have died otherwise than by slaughter. It
13:32
Speaker 1: is suitable quoting it is suitable for use in animal food.
13:37
Speaker 1: That is a direct violation of the Federal Food, Drug
13:41
Speaker 1: and Cosmetic Act. The Act defines food as anything consumed
13:47
Speaker 1: by humans and animals, but FDA says, we're just not
13:53
Speaker 1: going to enforce it with pet foods slash animal foods. UH.
13:59
Speaker 1: Four teens states across the US also have state law
14:04
Speaker 1: that um are very similar to the Food, Drug and
14:07
Speaker 1: Cosmetic Act. But these fourteen states have laws that are
14:12
Speaker 1: specific two animal food slash cut food. Florida, which is
14:18
Speaker 1: the state I'm from, is one of these states. The
14:22
Speaker 1: state law says specifically that it would be considered adulterated
14:27
Speaker 1: if it contains any part of a diseased animal or
14:30
Speaker 1: an animal which has got otherwise than by slaughter. But
14:34
Speaker 1: the state of Florida does absolutely nothing to prevent this.
14:39
Speaker 1: They turned the other way. As we were talking. I
14:42
Speaker 1: just plugged into Google about treats or raw high treads
14:47
Speaker 1: bad for your dog, and I looked up the latest
14:52
Speaker 1: recalls on pet treats. I just happened to hit that one.
14:55
Speaker 1: Listen to this chicken dog treats now linked to nine
15:00
Speaker 1: hundred complaints of chicken jerky pet treats that cause death
15:05
Speaker 1: or illness. Nine hundred reports of death or illness UH
15:13
Speaker 1: since November. That's what I'm reading from from tooth that
15:18
Speaker 1: those complaints started in two thousand and seven, and to date, Nancy,
15:25
Speaker 1: the FDA has not given consumers an answer as to
15:30
Speaker 1: why so many dogs have died and gotten sick. Rodney
15:35
Speaker 1: is one of those pet owners from that treat. Okay,
15:40
Speaker 1: we don't know what is causing the illnesses and deaths.
15:45
Speaker 1: I want to say that right now in defense of
15:48
Speaker 1: the dog food companies. I want to pause and thank
15:52
Speaker 1: our partner making our program possible today, and it is
15:57
Speaker 1: link a k C Caller. Don't leave your dog out
16:02
Speaker 1: of all the fun over the holidays. This is the
16:04
Speaker 1: so called must have gift for dogs and really for
16:08
Speaker 1: their owners, the link a k C Smart Caller. It's
16:11
Speaker 1: backed by the American Kennel Club. The link a k
16:14
Speaker 1: C Coller. Listen to. This is a g P S Locator,
16:19
Speaker 1: a Thinness activity tracker for your dog, and it's controlled
16:23
Speaker 1: through a smartphone app. It even has an LED light
16:26
Speaker 1: and a temperature sensor. Now, the part I like the
16:29
Speaker 1: best is the GPS locator. You always know where your
16:33
Speaker 1: dog is and that's important to me. We got fat
16:36
Speaker 1: Boy at the pound and I love that little guy
16:39
Speaker 1: and I want to know that he's safe, not running
16:41
Speaker 1: up and down the street while I'm on Sirius sex
16:45
Speaker 1: in two. I want to know he's safe and sound.
16:48
Speaker 1: Did he get out of the yard? Is he running
16:50
Speaker 1: in front of a car? I can see exactly where
16:52
Speaker 1: a fat boy is right on the app. It's total
16:56
Speaker 1: piece of mine. Now, what about the activity and wellness track?
17:00
Speaker 1: I get a big kick out of that. It doesn't
17:02
Speaker 1: matter how old your dog is, whether it's a pure
17:04
Speaker 1: breed or a mutt like my fat Boy. Link a
17:07
Speaker 1: k C shows the exact amount of activity every dog needs,
17:11
Speaker 1: and it's so easy to set up. There are sizes
17:15
Speaker 1: for every dog and it's super comfy. Link a k
17:19
Speaker 1: C looks great on fat Boy. Now you've got to
17:21
Speaker 1: go to our Instagram and our Facebook and Twitter to
17:24
Speaker 1: see pictures a fat boy with me and the children.
17:27
Speaker 1: Keep your dog safe and happy and healthy. Try link
17:30
Speaker 1: a k C risk Free ninety days the perfect gift
17:35
Speaker 1: for you and you're dogging right now. Save thirty and
17:39
Speaker 1: get free shipping on your order when you use code
17:42
Speaker 1: Nancy in a n C y at link a k
17:45
Speaker 1: C dot com, link a Alpha k Kappa C Charlie
17:51
Speaker 1: dot com. Code Nancy, save thirty plus free shipping link
17:57
Speaker 1: a k C dot com code Knee and sy link
18:00
Speaker 1: A k C dot Com. Thank you for being our
18:03
Speaker 1: partner today with me. Laura Beverage, Karen Becker, Rodney habib
18:09
Speaker 1: Susan Thixton, and Jessica let Slater are saying our pets
18:13
Speaker 1: are in danger. I mean, I'll be honest, it's all
18:16
Speaker 1: I can do to keep the car in the middle
18:18
Speaker 1: of the road. And what I mean by that is
18:20
Speaker 1: to take care of the twins, to work full time,
18:23
Speaker 1: and to do all the work really and a full
18:27
Speaker 1: time job as a mom. I have to play guilty
18:30
Speaker 1: to Karen Becker, you're the vet in the US and Canada.
18:33
Speaker 1: I don't really read the ingredients on the dog food.
18:37
Speaker 1: Uh No, I play guilty to that. I would never
18:40
Speaker 1: even dream of it, right, And Nancy, you are among
18:44
Speaker 1: millions of other pet parents that not only trust the
18:47
Speaker 1: company's producing these products, but of course when you take
18:51
Speaker 1: your blessed fuzzies to the veterinarian in veterinary school, we
18:55
Speaker 1: are not taught about quality control, We're not taught about
18:57
Speaker 1: the transparency issues going on within the pet food industry,
19:00
Speaker 1: and most I think importantly, we're not really taught objective
19:05
Speaker 1: veterinary nutritions. So we are as veterinarians and my profession,
19:09
Speaker 1: we also have actually been involved, were part of those victims,
19:14
Speaker 1: and that we were blindly trusting an industry that has
19:18
Speaker 1: significant transparency issues. Significant and this feed versus food issue
19:25
Speaker 1: is just the tip of the icebergs. So the frustration
19:28
Speaker 1: for veterinarians, of course, is that we are responsible for
19:32
Speaker 1: partnering with pet parents in terms of making sure that
19:35
Speaker 1: we are taking care of our patients to the best
19:38
Speaker 1: of our ability. But part of that means extending trust
19:41
Speaker 1: to companies that are not being transparent. But not only
19:44
Speaker 1: the raw materials going into the pet foods um But
19:47
Speaker 1: you asked a great question, how did use that n
19:49
Speaker 1: asia solution get into food and treat? That begs the
19:54
Speaker 1: question of what dead animals that were youthanized? So what
19:59
Speaker 1: animals do we use? And eye we euthan eyes um
20:01
Speaker 1: we humanely uh overdosed with sodium pina barbital beloved pets
20:07
Speaker 1: so that they don't have to die in egg and
20:08
Speaker 1: all death. So animals that are euthanized, of course, are
20:12
Speaker 1: filled with drugs that should never get into the food chain.
20:15
Speaker 1: And yet we know that there are drug residues of
20:17
Speaker 1: animals that have died of euthanasia, which then the question is, well,
20:21
Speaker 1: what what animals? What animals hold on I've got an update.
20:26
Speaker 1: The chicken cheese, the chicken jerky. That chicken jerky was
20:31
Speaker 1: made in China. Okay, so I don't know what regulations
20:37
Speaker 1: they have in China. The FDA website will have a
20:43
Speaker 1: list of recalls. You can go to FDA dot gov.
20:47
Speaker 1: There's a cab for animals slash of that Mirria, I believe,
20:52
Speaker 1: and on the right hand side of the page will
20:54
Speaker 1: be a link for recalls. However, consumers are not going
21:00
Speaker 1: to find out if there are any deaths related to
21:03
Speaker 1: a pet food, how many illnesses have been related to
21:07
Speaker 1: a pet food. They would literally have to file freedom
21:10
Speaker 1: of information that request for each and every product and
21:16
Speaker 1: keep following those requests. And that's whether FDA will actually
21:20
Speaker 1: give you accurate information. Rodney had been Planet Pause. The
21:27
Speaker 1: allegations that justicas later it's about about to bring in
21:34
Speaker 1: a class action lawsuit include illness and death, illness and
21:38
Speaker 1: death of our pets because of what Rodney, Well, this
21:44
Speaker 1: is a long series of events there, and I have
21:46
Speaker 1: a pet myself who is of our kidneys are gone
21:49
Speaker 1: from those exact chicken jerkey strips that you're talking about,
21:52
Speaker 1: highlighting that they're made in China and we don't know
21:55
Speaker 1: that as pet parents. In fact, on the package just
21:57
Speaker 1: says assembled or put together or just distributed in the
22:00
Speaker 1: United States. To play on words for the average consumer.
22:04
Speaker 1: But to go back and to talk about what Jessica
22:07
Speaker 1: is bringing to the limelight, we have so many issues
22:10
Speaker 1: right now circulating within pet food. We have research and
22:12
Speaker 1: studies around the world popping up things like high levels
22:16
Speaker 1: bp A that are being found in let's say, cans
22:19
Speaker 1: of pet food because of the seal and the glue.
22:22
Speaker 1: We're finding ink from the pet food which is making
22:25
Speaker 1: its way into pet food, where researchers right now in
22:27
Speaker 1: Europe have showed that it's decreased the sterility of animals
22:32
Speaker 1: by two percent globally. Because of these issues that are
22:36
Speaker 1: that are surmounting in the pet foods, you have applatoxins
22:38
Speaker 1: that are coming in from the grain of the grain
22:41
Speaker 1: industry now in the United States, and these aplatoxin levels
22:44
Speaker 1: that Susan herself has funded studies and found that these
22:49
Speaker 1: levels are way beyond the legal limits. And so when
22:53
Speaker 1: you're bringing these things in, these dyes that are in
22:55
Speaker 1: the food today. We're looking at any bag of food
22:58
Speaker 1: that you go out there and get, it's full of
22:59
Speaker 1: calm or what are those colors? You're looking at red
23:02
Speaker 1: number forty, you're looking at blue and yellow dyes, and
23:05
Speaker 1: these guys are known carcinogens today. The problem is they'll
23:08
Speaker 1: tell you that a small dose isn't an issue, but
23:11
Speaker 1: what happens when an animal is consuming that over an
23:14
Speaker 1: extended period of time? And these are things that I
23:16
Speaker 1: believe Jessica and the rest of the pet parents in
23:19
Speaker 1: the world, they really want to know why this is happening. Well,
23:25
Speaker 1: rumors about the remains of dead cats and dogs being
23:31
Speaker 1: put into pet food have been floating around out there
23:34
Speaker 1: for I would say twenty years, but proof of this
23:38
Speaker 1: is still sketchy to some would argue non existent. To
23:44
Speaker 1: Jessica Slater, what proof do you have that makes you
23:49
Speaker 1: think there are rendered carcasses in pet food? So in
23:55
Speaker 1: our Avengers class action to my clients fed their pets
24:02
Speaker 1: this Avinger's product that was supposed to be human grade,
24:06
Speaker 1: and within less than fifteen minutes they started acting disoriented,
24:12
Speaker 1: almost intoxicated, and they were rushed to an emergency vet,
24:17
Speaker 1: and one of the dogs ended up dying because it
24:21
Speaker 1: was so close in connection to them eating the food.
24:25
Speaker 1: There was a necropsy done of the animal that died,
24:29
Speaker 1: and in that necropsy, which also the FDA was involved
24:32
Speaker 1: with and sent off for testing the stomach contents, they
24:36
Speaker 1: actually the scientists a toxicologists found this euthanasia drug in
24:41
Speaker 1: the dog's stomach contents, and then it led to testing
24:45
Speaker 1: the cans and testing the food, and both of those
24:48
Speaker 1: came back positive for this pent barbite hall, which is
24:51
Speaker 1: the euthanasia drug. So, I mean, I don't know about you, Nancy,
24:55
Speaker 1: but that seems like it's pretty clear evidence that that's
24:58
Speaker 1: what's going on. There are only no federal enforcement of
25:02
Speaker 1: standards for the content of pet food. Now. The FDA,
25:06
Speaker 1: as we were told earlier, technically has authority, but the
25:10
Speaker 1: agency has really passed this off to non governmental organizations
25:16
Speaker 1: and partnerships that really encourage voluntary compliance. Um, you know,
25:24
Speaker 1: back to you, Laura Beverage, what makes you believe that
25:30
Speaker 1: animal carcasses, dies, and so forth are in our pet
25:34
Speaker 1: food and it's actually making dogs sick, pets sick and
25:40
Speaker 1: pass away across the country. Nancy, What I learned, unfortunately,
25:44
Speaker 1: and what I continue to learn, and it's so upsetting
25:47
Speaker 1: every day, is that labels are not what you think.
25:52
Speaker 1: I am in the human health side. When I read
25:54
Speaker 1: a label on something, I believe that label. When I
25:57
Speaker 1: read the label for the product that that took our
26:02
Speaker 1: precious dumpling from us UM, I realized through a lot
26:07
Speaker 1: of hard work that that label did not represent the
26:12
Speaker 1: product that I bought. I would never have bought the product.
26:15
Speaker 1: And everyday consumers are buying these products that have they
26:20
Speaker 1: lift chicken or they lift beef by products, but when
26:24
Speaker 1: you read the real definitions of those you realize people
26:28
Speaker 1: don't know what they're buying. And it's happened, and another
26:32
Speaker 1: dog has died from from the product that killed my girl,
26:36
Speaker 1: and nothing's been done, and this is happening with so
26:39
Speaker 1: many products. Nancy, it's you. You just can't believe. And
26:44
Speaker 1: I hate myself for not understanding that. But I'm I'm
26:48
Speaker 1: learning and I'm going to continue to learn more. I
26:51
Speaker 1: hope we're all going to the pet food industry has
26:54
Speaker 1: denied these allegations for years, but reports just keep happening,
26:59
Speaker 1: even and claims pet food companies continue to use euthanized
27:04
Speaker 1: pets to make dog food. Is it possible? Can it happen?
27:12
Speaker 1: We have to understand the allegations are very very serious
27:19
Speaker 1: and if they are true, could bring down giants within
27:24
Speaker 1: the pet food industry. So anonymous sources, people not willing
27:29
Speaker 1: to go on the record. That's that's not helping. So,
27:33
Speaker 1: Jessica Slater, you're bringing a lawsuit alleging what that animal
27:38
Speaker 1: carcasses are used. What exactly are you alleging in your lawsuits? Well,
27:41
Speaker 1: we're alleging that the pet food companies, and as I said,
27:47
Speaker 1: this is not necessarily specific to Laura's situation, but it's
27:51
Speaker 1: also the Avenger situation, and many others are falsely labeling
27:55
Speaker 1: their products in order to defraud consumers like Laura, who
28:00
Speaker 1: it wasn't her fault. She did the investigation. She tried
28:03
Speaker 1: to buy the better food, but instead ended up with
28:07
Speaker 1: a bad product that was the same as any other
28:09
Speaker 1: product that's not advertised as something that it's not. And
28:13
Speaker 1: because of that, Laura and my clients in the Avengers
28:18
Speaker 1: class action lost their pets or their pets were sick
28:23
Speaker 1: became sick from eating these products. Not to mention, you know,
28:27
Speaker 1: the economic harm of buying a product that's advertised is
28:30
Speaker 1: something that's that's not well? Let me ask you this,
28:35
Speaker 1: Karen Becker, veterinarian both in the US and in Canada.
28:39
Speaker 1: If you look on the back of the ingredients, you
28:42
Speaker 1: see things like vague terms like meatmeal or um. You
28:48
Speaker 1: don't really know what the components of the dog food are. Now,
28:53
Speaker 1: are there actual claims, Karen Becker that pets have died
28:57
Speaker 1: because of this? Uh? Yes, Nancy, And so you you
29:00
Speaker 1: bring up a good point when you see something on
29:02
Speaker 1: the back of your food label that says meat meal?
29:04
Speaker 1: What type of meat is it? Is it? How is
29:08
Speaker 1: it pig? Is it chicken? Is it turkey? Did it
29:11
Speaker 1: die of natural causes in the field? Did it die
29:14
Speaker 1: by slaughter? Was it helping when it was slaughtered? What
29:16
Speaker 1: pieces and parts go into pet food? So, in essence, Nancy,
29:20
Speaker 1: what's happening is the pet food industry is a beautiful
29:24
Speaker 1: dumping ground for everything not approved for human consumption. So
29:28
Speaker 1: things that are approved by human consumption, things approved by
29:31
Speaker 1: USDA food inspectors go into the human food industry where
29:35
Speaker 1: it's effectively healthfully inspected. Everything that fails inspections or all
29:40
Speaker 1: of the pieces and parts that humans cannot eat that
29:44
Speaker 1: goes into pet food. And that's the problem. You're not buying.
29:50
Speaker 1: The images on the label don't portray that it is
29:55
Speaker 1: garbage and and basically that's what they are. If it
29:59
Speaker 1: is of it, okay, then label it as such. Consumers
30:04
Speaker 1: are led to believe that they are buying the steak
30:09
Speaker 1: picture of it on the label. Why why would it
30:11
Speaker 1: not be steaked? So um if it if it is garbage,
30:16
Speaker 1: and then it should not should be labeled as garbage.
30:19
Speaker 1: It should not mislead the consumer and that it's something else.
30:24
Speaker 1: They'd be better off digging out of their neighbor's garbage
30:27
Speaker 1: can to feed their dog then going out and spending
30:30
Speaker 1: money for a product that is basically no different than
30:34
Speaker 1: what's in their neighbor's garbage can. Part of what we
30:36
Speaker 1: look at from a legal perspective is if a consumers
30:41
Speaker 1: able to make an informed decision about the products that
30:45
Speaker 1: they're purchasing, which, as Susan said, in the realm of
30:48
Speaker 1: pet food, sometimes you're looking at products that consumer, even
30:54
Speaker 1: when it's educated and that's looking to buy a better product,
30:58
Speaker 1: isn't able to discern from the labels and they can't
31:02
Speaker 1: make this informed decision, especially as to the health risk
31:06
Speaker 1: that their pets might be facing from eating that food.
31:09
Speaker 1: Let me pause and thank our partner today one eight
31:12
Speaker 1: hundred dentist. If you're like me and my family at all,
31:16
Speaker 1: we have really blown it out over the holidays. We
31:18
Speaker 1: eat every sweet that gets in front of us. Now
31:21
Speaker 1: you got to think about one eight hundred dentist. The
31:24
Speaker 1: specialists at one eight hundred dentists match you with a
31:27
Speaker 1: local dentist that suits your dental needs. Like me, my
31:32
Speaker 1: mom lives with me. She's eighty six. I need a
31:35
Speaker 1: special dentist for her. The children are just ten. I've
31:38
Speaker 1: got to have a pediatric dentist. For a dentist with
31:41
Speaker 1: the latest technology. Find a dentist with SARAHK C E
31:46
Speaker 1: R E C with sarahk Dentists, create a high quality
31:50
Speaker 1: crown in one office visit. No more multiple trips, spending
31:56
Speaker 1: gaps of time with gaps in your teeth. That's not attractive.
32:00
Speaker 1: With the dentist you find. Using one eight hundred dentists,
32:02
Speaker 1: you get the care you need before the year's over.
32:05
Speaker 1: You don't have to worry about replacing a temporary crown.
32:08
Speaker 1: You got to December with a permanent one in January.
32:12
Speaker 1: Usher in the new year with a smile. Learn about
32:15
Speaker 1: Sarah and book your appointment today by going to one
32:19
Speaker 1: eight hundred dentist dot com, slash seek one eight hundred
32:24
Speaker 1: dentists dot com, slash C E R E C one
32:30
Speaker 1: eight hundred dentist dot com slash Sarah. You know that's
32:34
Speaker 1: one of the greatest gifts I am trying to give
32:36
Speaker 1: my children is a beautiful smile, so they're never self conscious.
32:41
Speaker 1: They can walk into a room and light it up
32:44
Speaker 1: with that big, perfect smile. Call one eight hundred dentists.
32:47
Speaker 1: Thanks guys at one eight hundred dentist, and I also
32:51
Speaker 1: want to thank another partner. Everybody's talking about super foods.
32:56
Speaker 1: I didn't even know what that was, but it's nutritionally
32:59
Speaker 1: dense food that is especially beneficial to your health. Beats
33:04
Speaker 1: are one of the most powerful superfoods you can put
33:07
Speaker 1: in your body. I've learned that they're loaded with important
33:11
Speaker 1: nutrients that increase your blood flow and that increases your energy,
33:16
Speaker 1: getting oxygen to all parts of your body. But who
33:19
Speaker 1: has time to prepare beat every day and eat them?
33:23
Speaker 1: Because I don't. Now you can get the energy benefits
33:27
Speaker 1: of beats and a powerful concentrated super food drink called
33:32
Speaker 1: super Beats s U p E R b E e
33:36
Speaker 1: t S only super beats made from beats grown to
33:39
Speaker 1: exacting standards then concentrated into superfood crystals. Super Beats promote
33:45
Speaker 1: your body's own natural ability to produce healthy circulation, increase
33:50
Speaker 1: energy stamina. If you want the benefits of a powerful
33:54
Speaker 1: super food called eight hundred five one six zero six
33:58
Speaker 1: eight three, or go online to Nancy's Beats dot com.
34:03
Speaker 1: With a first order, you get a free thirty days
34:06
Speaker 1: supply of super Beats repeat free, plus indicators trips to
34:11
Speaker 1: see how super Beats works for you, plus free shipping.
34:15
Speaker 1: You're not going to get all that at the vitamin store.
34:19
Speaker 1: Call eight hundred five one six zero six eight three
34:23
Speaker 1: or go to Nancy's Beats dot com today. Super Beats
34:27
Speaker 1: thank you for being our partner today with me Laura Beverage,
34:32
Speaker 1: Karen Becker, Rodney habib Susan Thixton and Jessica. Let's later.
34:37
Speaker 1: How many animals do you believe, Jessica later, are in
34:41
Speaker 1: the complaints that have died or been sick because of
34:46
Speaker 1: pet food? Oh? I mean right now? We have in
34:52
Speaker 1: our Avengers class action. Uh. I've received calls from probably
34:58
Speaker 1: nearly sevent people that have had, you know, situations where
35:04
Speaker 1: their dogs became sick. And obviously we know with Laura
35:09
Speaker 1: and someone else that they were they lost their pets
35:13
Speaker 1: to the no hyde treat I mean there's probably countless
35:17
Speaker 1: numbers of people, which you mentioned earlier, didn't know why
35:21
Speaker 1: their pet died, and their pet could have died from
35:23
Speaker 1: the same thing. Like Rodney said too, we don't know
35:27
Speaker 1: what the long term effects of some of these things
35:29
Speaker 1: that are in the pet food is either well, I mean,
35:31
Speaker 1: let's get real about it. Let me break it down
35:33
Speaker 1: into regular people talk at the front of your dog
35:36
Speaker 1: fed said, uh, this is fortified with dead dog mate.
35:42
Speaker 1: I wouldn't buy it. I wouldn't put it in fat
35:44
Speaker 1: boy's bowl. Pet food is made from a lot of
35:48
Speaker 1: unusual things, and if you look at the ingredients, you
35:51
Speaker 1: don't know. They want you to think that they are fat, healthy,
35:55
Speaker 1: free range chickens walking around in somebody's backyard out in
35:58
Speaker 1: the country, beautiful veggies. Um. But when you're paying fifteen
36:04
Speaker 1: bucks for a fifteen pound bag, thank it through, thank
36:09
Speaker 1: it through, You're not getting sirloin, all right? That's not
36:12
Speaker 1: what is in there? What is in there? Well, that's
36:17
Speaker 1: a great question. So what most people don't recognize about
36:20
Speaker 1: pet food is that the majority of pet food is
36:23
Speaker 1: inappropriate fillers, so corn, wheat, rice, soy, all of these carbohydrates,
36:30
Speaker 1: these starches that are biologically not appropriate for carnivores, which
36:34
Speaker 1: is what dogs and cats are. People think that there's
36:36
Speaker 1: great quality steak or you know, really wonderful quality meats
36:41
Speaker 1: going into those pet foods, but that's just unfortunately not
36:43
Speaker 1: with the bulk of the pet food is made up of.
36:46
Speaker 1: It's these rendered inappropriate, high sugar content grains that or
36:52
Speaker 1: or potatoes that go into pet foods, and that's part
36:55
Speaker 1: of the issue. But then of course the quality control
36:58
Speaker 1: of not only the grains going is but also the
37:00
Speaker 1: meat is a huge issue pertaining to to not only
37:05
Speaker 1: impacting the health of the animals, but also the quality
37:09
Speaker 1: and the taxis that can be included with the raw
37:11
Speaker 1: materials going into pet foods ultimately means that there can
37:14
Speaker 1: be acute deaths like we've seen, but also the slow, quiet,
37:18
Speaker 1: insidious degeneration of organs as well as overall animals not
37:22
Speaker 1: feeling well, you know, they have difficult for veterinarians to
37:25
Speaker 1: diagnose in terms of why animals aren't thriving. But it
37:28
Speaker 1: doesn't automatically mean the animals will die instantly once they
37:31
Speaker 1: eat these foods, as some of these pet parents have experienced.
37:35
Speaker 1: As veterinarians, we have the very difficult task of trying
37:37
Speaker 1: to discern why animals just aren't doing as well as
37:39
Speaker 1: they should be, are not living as long as their
37:41
Speaker 1: lifespans should be dictated well. Right now, the cancer rate,
37:45
Speaker 1: according to the people in the trenches, the veterinarians, is
37:48
Speaker 1: one and two dogs. This is a massive issue. When
37:51
Speaker 1: the pet owner goes to remove a bag of pet
37:53
Speaker 1: food off the shelf and swips around the side, you
37:55
Speaker 1: have your guaranteed analysis which make up the majority of
37:58
Speaker 1: a bag of pet food. All always on the very
38:00
Speaker 1: top comes protein, fats, moisture, ash. But the actual number
38:05
Speaker 1: one source of energy, which trumps all of those that
38:08
Speaker 1: should be on the very top is hidden and nor
38:10
Speaker 1: has it been ever put on a bag of pet foods.
38:12
Speaker 1: So when you have a dog with cancer and you're
38:14
Speaker 1: told and instructed that of course sugar will fuel cancer
38:18
Speaker 1: as a consumer, when you remove that bag off the shelf,
38:20
Speaker 1: that number one source those high starches, those carbon hybrates
38:24
Speaker 1: are not listed on a bag aside from an acuba
38:27
Speaker 1: of the effect. You get a dog with a tumor
38:29
Speaker 1: on the side of it and you feed that bag
38:31
Speaker 1: that's over starch, you're gonna watch that thing blow up
38:34
Speaker 1: overnight on your animal. And that is a huge problem
38:36
Speaker 1: for today's BA owner. Under f d A rigs, only
38:39
Speaker 1: about fifty of a cow can be sold for human consumption. Okay,
38:46
Speaker 1: the high bones, digestive system, brain faces, utters, other quote
38:53
Speaker 1: undesirable parts are left over. Where does that go? That
38:57
Speaker 1: can't even go to hot dogs? Well, Nancy, here is
39:01
Speaker 1: the to touch on what you just said about approximately
39:04
Speaker 1: the animal that's being used. Now, if you talk to
39:05
Speaker 1: the National Renders Association, this is our problem. In fact,
39:10
Speaker 1: they're trying to come into the answer to what we're causing.
39:14
Speaker 1: And the statistics that they're churning out right now on
39:16
Speaker 1: their website would say that we slaughter ten point to
39:19
Speaker 1: billion animals a year in America. And so if you
39:22
Speaker 1: can only use fifty of those, and you topple that
39:25
Speaker 1: with two billion pounds of left over scraps from the
39:28
Speaker 1: grocery stores that are being purchased, they collect fifty six
39:32
Speaker 1: billion pounds of raw material every year in the US
39:35
Speaker 1: and in Canada, So you'd fill up every single major
39:38
Speaker 1: landfill in the world in four years if you didn't
39:41
Speaker 1: do anything with that meat. And that right now is
39:44
Speaker 1: a massive issue that's happening not just in America but globally.
39:48
Speaker 1: So what did the slaughterhouses do with that? A rendering
39:53
Speaker 1: plant as a huge grinder that is filled with whatever
39:58
Speaker 1: comes in. Some plants are choosier than others. Will some
40:03
Speaker 1: plants take whole carcasses of disease animals, cats and dogs,
40:08
Speaker 1: and shelters, zoo animals, road kill, expired meat. What what
40:13
Speaker 1: is in there? And is it making your pet sick?
40:18
Speaker 1: Is it killing your pet? That's an excellent question. Um
40:24
Speaker 1: it would cost you a hundred dollars a year hundred
40:27
Speaker 1: and ten and ten dollars a year to find out
40:30
Speaker 1: the answer. All pet food ingredients are defined, and their
40:36
Speaker 1: definitions are very different from the counter food and human
40:43
Speaker 1: petriod chicken is different than human food chicken. Petrod beef
40:47
Speaker 1: is different than human food beef. They each have their
40:50
Speaker 1: own definition and those definitions are not public information. Everything
40:57
Speaker 1: in human food is public. If that man might not
41:02
Speaker 1: be easy for consumers to find and muddle through all
41:06
Speaker 1: the laws, but it's out there if you want to
41:09
Speaker 1: read it. It is not public in pet foods there
41:12
Speaker 1: they are corporately owned by the American Association of Feed
41:17
Speaker 1: Control Officials and copyright protected, so consumers don't even have
41:23
Speaker 1: access to this information when they want to do the
41:27
Speaker 1: home I will tell you that I was heartbroken. I
41:31
Speaker 1: didn't know what direction to go in, but I knew
41:35
Speaker 1: I had to get to someone. I did finally find
41:39
Speaker 1: out that the FDA has a reporting site. I reported
41:42
Speaker 1: to the FDA. I called my Department of Agriculture. It
41:47
Speaker 1: took hours to do these reports, and it took hours
41:50
Speaker 1: for them to come in and do the paperwork. Um,
41:55
Speaker 1: it's it's not easy for someone to do and a
41:58
Speaker 1: lot of people don't know that those reports are available
42:01
Speaker 1: to fill out the Department of Agriculture. And then realized
42:05
Speaker 1: from my report that this product was not even legally
42:09
Speaker 1: registered to sail in the state of Georgia, and that's
42:12
Speaker 1: different in every state. So there there are so many
42:16
Speaker 1: reasons that you need to report, both at a state
42:19
Speaker 1: level and at the FDA level, But again, it's hard
42:22
Speaker 1: to do. It's time consuming. The average person does not
42:26
Speaker 1: know where to go to find out how to do
42:28
Speaker 1: these reports, and we have to increase the education on this.
42:32
Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, Alan Deep, haven't there been
42:36
Speaker 1: some lawsuits filed? Nancy, Yes, there are other lawsuits, including
42:41
Speaker 1: one filed by a Texas pet owner, Wendy Black, who's
42:45
Speaker 1: suing Party Animal, Inc. And Avenger's Dog and Cat food
42:48
Speaker 1: company in Los Angeles court. Black is trying to have
42:51
Speaker 1: her complaint turned into a class action lawsuit. If approved,
42:55
Speaker 1: that means anybody who bought Party Animal organic brand dog
42:58
Speaker 1: food in the past four years could join it. Party Animal,
43:01
Speaker 1: by the way, is the brand. Avengers is the maker
43:05
Speaker 1: of the product. Black lawsuit claimed she fed two varieties
43:08
Speaker 1: of Party Animals Cocalicious canned dog food to Bianca, a
43:12
Speaker 1: miniature Snauser. Bianca allegedly became very ill after eating it,
43:17
Speaker 1: so Black took her to a vent and the vet
43:19
Speaker 1: had to treat her, including giving the dog ivy fluids.
43:23
Speaker 1: Because Black believed it was the Party Animal food that
43:26
Speaker 1: made Bianca six, she wrote to the store where she
43:29
Speaker 1: bought it. Soon after that, the manufacturer called her asked
43:32
Speaker 1: her to send the remaining cans of food to them.
43:35
Speaker 1: She did, but she kept some of the cans which
43:38
Speaker 1: she had tested by scientists at Texas A and M.
43:41
Speaker 1: The lawsuit alleges those tests were positive for pinto barbatall.
43:46
Speaker 1: That is a drug used to euthanize animals. That's right,
43:51
Speaker 1: that was in the food. Allegedly, contrary to the label,
43:54
Speaker 1: the dog food did not contain coconut oil as had
43:57
Speaker 1: been advertised, And just weeks after black Party Animal recalled
44:01
Speaker 1: two lots of its co colicious canned dog food for
44:04
Speaker 1: possible contamination with pentop barbital, which, as I said, as
44:08
Speaker 1: an animal euthanasia drug. Also now interestingly, Party Animal is
44:13
Speaker 1: now suing Avengers, the maker of the dog food, because
44:17
Speaker 1: of the alleged contamination. Laura Beverage um tell me about Dumpling,
44:24
Speaker 1: who I'm very familiar with Nancy as as a heartbroken
44:28
Speaker 1: um pat owner. Dumplin was the center of our household.
44:33
Speaker 1: She protected my children. We have epilepsy in my haffle.
44:39
Speaker 1: She was intuitive in terms of protecting one or two
44:44
Speaker 1: of my boys. They took that away from me. I
44:47
Speaker 1: need to know as a consumer, who's minding the store,
44:51
Speaker 1: who is overseeing um the labels, who I pay my taxes?
44:56
Speaker 1: My state gets gets tax money from people who by
45:00
Speaker 1: pet products. Why are they not protecting our pets? Why
45:05
Speaker 1: are they not overseeing the labels? Why are they not
45:09
Speaker 1: ensuring that When I go in and buy something and
45:12
Speaker 1: I read this, I never said raw had. I read
45:17
Speaker 1: this as the most incredible alternative. It says the safe
45:22
Speaker 1: raw had alternative. It says safe, safe, safe, all over
45:26
Speaker 1: human grade. I made an educated decision and I failed her.
45:32
Speaker 1: So I need somebody to mind the store. Laura Beverage,
45:36
Speaker 1: Karen Becker, Rodney Habib Susan Fixton, Jessicae Later to all
45:42
Speaker 1: of you, Thank you, Nancy Grace Crime Story, signing off,
45:47
Speaker 1: goodbye friend,