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What is it with the same horrible stories recurring again? First all the dog food recalls and now those chicken jerky treats I first posted about in November are in the news again.
Late last year the FDA issued a warning that they’d been receiving reports that chicken jerky treats manufactured in China were making some dogs sick. The details were muddied: no one brand could be identified as causing problems, the FDA had been receiving reports on and off for years about illness related to these types of treats, and only issued warnings when the number got high enough. Officials counted around 70 reports of sick dogs before making its statement in November.
Is 900 a high enough number? Because that’s how many dogs the FDA says they’ve been told have gotten sick or died after eating the treats. Now the story has gotten a whole lot more serious. ABC News has the details, however unclear they still are.
Since the third warning issued in late 2011 the FDA has received a staggering number of reports of dogs who developed kidney failure, many of which died from it, after eating chicken jerky treats. The FDA has collected samples of the treats from owners, but it won’t say what brands or whether they’ve tested the samples. Representatives merely say that they haven’t yet found a cause for the reported illnesses.
Some of the brands allegedly collected by the FDA include Waggin’ Train and Canyon Creek Ranch, which are both owned by Nestle Purina and produced in China. Nestle itself has remained rather mum on the issue, merely saying that it holds all of its plants, including the ones in China, to the highest safety standards, and intimating that the dogs may have gotten sick from something other than the treats.
The situation is just so frustrating because over a sixth month period there are twelve times more cases of dogs contracting kidney failure from the treats, but we don’t really have any more information. We have rumors of possible contaminated brands, but they’re just rumors and haven’t been confirmed by any official company or agency.
The primary signs of kidney failure in canines are vomiting and lethargy. If your dog exhibits any of these signs after eating a chicken jerky treat, contact your veterinarian immediately.
All I can do is reiterate my warning from last year: don’t feed your dogs chicken jerky treats. It sounds like we never should; it’s not like with a recall where we just avoid affected foods, or a spell where produce from a certain region should be avoided. There have been problems with chicken jerky treats for years, so in my opinion it’s just better to stop buying them indefinitely. Treats are just that: treats.
This doesn’t mean you can’t reward your dog, but nine times out of ten your dog will be just as happy with your love and attention as it would with some food. If you must give your dog food treats avoid chicken jerky ones, or avoid things marketed as treats altogether. It’s better both on your wallet and your dog’s waistline just to use pieces of your dog’s regular kibble as reward. It’s what we do, and Chihiro never seems any more excited for random dog treats we give her (often received at the vet) than she does for her bits of kibble.
Update: right before I posted this article I found out that Diamond Pet Foods has issued another recall for Salmonella infection: this time it’s their Diamond Naturals Small Breed Adult Lamb & Rice. Full details are at their recall website.
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*(This image by Charkrem is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.)
