Menu Foods: "It was a Slow Death"

Long Island, NY"Spunky, our Miniature Schnauzer, started to get sick and stopped acting his name," says Helen. "Our vet did some tests and found that his liver and kidney enzymes kept fluctuating so he gave us a few prescriptions, but he never got better." Sadly, Spunky passed away a few months before the Menu Foods recall.

"Spunky was only seven, and we got him when he was six months old. My husband and I don't have kids so he was our baby," says Helen.

"By Christmas time he really went downhill. He didn't want to eat and definitely didn't want to play. We took him back to the vet for more tests. Now his kidney enzymes were sky-high, even though he was still taking both prescriptions. Near the end I fed him with an eye-drop. I was trying everything; I even fed him "Boost"--a blend of nutrients that humans receive when they are weak.

Nothing was mentioned about his diet. We lost him in January and news broke about Menu Foods a few months after that, in March, 2007. I still have a pouch of the Iams pet food pouch we fed him. I phoned my vet as soon as I heard the Menu Foods recall news on TV. He said that yes, it was possible that the dog food killed him. I was trying anything to get him to eat. I even tried baby food, but the damage was done.

I felt like I had killed him because I was hand-feeding him the Iams food when he didn't want to eat it. One thing we didn't do: he never ate table food, solely dog food. There we were, thinking that we were doing the best for Spunky. In fact it was the worst thing. I will never buy any food made by Menu Foods again.

In March, I contacted Menu Foods when I found out about the recall. Someone, a customer service rep, told me that they would get back to me right away. I didn't hear from them. Then I heard about the class action suit and joined. Just a few weeks ago, I called Menu Foods again to find out the status of the lawsuit. Someone asked if I had joined a class action. After replying that indeed I had, the Menu Foods rep (or whoever it was) would not talk to me. Apparently, since I already had legal representation, she couldn't talk about it.

I have all the vet bills: they total over $2,500. I realize that in the eyes of the law, pets are property and we cannot claim for pain and suffering. But I know my dog was in a lot of pain. What about his suffering? This has been so sad, not only for me but for everyone else whose pets passed on."

Update on Menu Foods Mediation (from the Menu Foods website)

February 29, 2008

Yesterday, the parties in the Multi-District Litigation informed the U.S. District Court as follows:

"The parties are pleased to report that since February 14, 2008, the date of the last status conference, they have made substantial progress in resolving the outstanding matters that existed as of that date. The parties are hopeful that a comprehensive, cross-border settlement can be achieved and, as a result, request an additional two week period in which to work toward such a resolution. The parties respectfully request leave to submit a further status report to the Court in two weeks."