Iams Dog Food Recall

From PETA:

Menu Foods reportedly knew of this potentially deadly food as early as February 20, 2007. When reports surfaced that its dog and cat food might have caused severe illness in customers’ animal companions, the company quietly conducted lethal toxicity tests to confirm the contamination. Dogs and cats were forced to ingest toxic and lethal food in Menu’s laboratory before the company announced the recall of pet food from stores nationwide nearly one month after the initial illnesses were reported. During this critical time, countless animal companions may have been at risk of getting sick, and many may have died.

In addition to the appalling failure to disclose information about the contaminated food to its consumers, Menu Foods chose to test the food by forcing healthy dogs and cats to ingest it—instead of using one of the reliable, humane alternatives that are readily available, including chemical analyses of the food, necropsies and tissue analyses of the already deceased animal victims, and non-animal test methods, such as the functional gastro-intestinal dog model (FIDO) or TIM-1 and TIM-2 (small and large gastro-intestinal models).

No one knows how many animals are dying in homes or how many are dying in laboratories for pet-food profits. PETA is calling on Menu Foods to provide full disclosure regarding the location of its laboratories, for law enforcement agencies to investigate whether cruelty-to-animals charges should be filed against Menu Foods in the U.S. and Canada for alleged failure to warn consumers about the tainted food as soon as the company had the information, and for Iams to stop unnecessary suffering and death by immediately ending its laboratory tests on animals.

PETA’s Investigation Revealed Cruel and Deadly Tests Conducted for Iams
For nearly 10 months in 2002 and early 2003, a PETA investigator went undercover at an Iams contract testing laboratory and discovered a dark and sordid secret beneath the wholesome image of the dog- and cat-food manufacturer. Undercover footage captured images of dogs who had gone insane from intense confinement to barren steel cages and cement cells, dogs who were left piled on a filthy paint-chipped floor after having chunks of muscle hacked from their thighs, and horribly sick dogs and cats who were languishing in their cages, neglected and left to suffer without veterinary care. In addition to suffering through painful experiments, animals in Iams labs were denied companionship and enrichment and were confined to their barren cages for at least 23 1/2 hours every day. The recent massive recall by Menu Foods, contract manufacturer for Procter & Gamble’s Iams and Eukanuba brands—of more than 60 million cans and pouches of dog and cat food is further proof that laboratory tests on animals do not guarantee that a product will be safe to use.

Puppy Names

I like to think of myself as a great namer of puppies. My boyfriend probably would disagree, however, I will hold to this day that Martini would have been cute, and 8Ball would not have been. Maybe Starry got lucky with Rockstarr. Anyway, here are my simple tricks for naming your puppy:

1) Take into account the coloring of your puppy. For example, Starry is all white, like a little star.
2) Take into account the temperment of your puppy. For example, Starry is sort of a diva
3) Think about any special situation concerning the new arrival. For example, we bought Starry late at night in a parking lot, and so as I was driving home, I was also drinking a Rockstar energy drink.
4) Think of anyone specal to you, or otherwise. We have a friend with the last name fo Starr, and for when he runs for President, we thought it would be fun to have our dog partially named after him

Congratulations of the new puppy, and hopefully you wil find this helpful!

Update: Where Have I Been?

Hello,

I am have been going through a slight crisis of writing. It effectually ceased to be fun for me, so I took a little break. But, I'm back.

So, for my update blog, I'll tell you a bit about Starry. Of course next to nothing is new with her, but she is healthy, and happy, and just got a bath. How do you give a tecaup Chihuahua terrified of being submerged up to her ankles in water a bath, you ask? Just pick them up! She gets one in the shower and love it!

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Mandy & Starry

Special Winter Treat for the Pampered Pup

If you're looking for something extra special with which to pamper your little (or bigger) pup this winter, than take a cue from my obviously spoiled rotten little princess and plug in an electric blanket. Little dogs absolutely adore the extra warmth.

For safety considerations, aside from following all of the standard directions provided with the blanket on its packaging, this should only be allowed under close supervision, and I wouldn't crank the heat all the way up, but prefer to keep it at a more medium temperature. Make sure plently of water is available to your dog (as always), and make sure there isn't any water near the blanket. Also, beware of the cords, as a little one could easily become tangled. Like I said, let them nap on these under close supervision.

Affordable Collars That Actually Look Good

Collars are so mundane, they really are. They're like socks, or a belt. You know they're a necessity of life, yet there always seems to be a million things you'd prefer to purchase. Starry just burned through the bejewled collar she's had for less than a year which cost be 50 bucks, and since she recently chewed a whole through my favorite pair of designer jeans, I am less than eager to go buy her a new one. Still, she needs one badly, so I was ecstatic to check out Pure Country pet Boutique and find a bunch of fabulous options all priced at under $20. They have all of my necessary requirements; some with jewels, some with studs, leather, etc.

While you're snooping around, you can try and find Starry who won a modelling contest for their site. I'll give you a hint, she might sneak up on you in an orange sweater and say "Boo"!

Adorable Photos of Jessica Simpson & Daisy