Recall alert: High-quality cat treats were sold locally

A Letter from Founder and CEO of Catswell, Marco Giannini

Dear Fellow Pet Parent:

At Catswell, our number one priority is the safety of our products and the health of our feline customers. We strive to make and sell only the highest-quality, natural cat treats with added vitamins that provide functional benefits such as improved hip health, breath, and other benefits.

During routine testing of our products, we recently discovered that two batches of our Catswell VitaKitty Chicken Breast with Flaxseed and Vitamins tested positive for a limited presence of an ingredient called propylene glycol. Although this ingredient is "generally regarded as safe" for both humans and dogs, the FDA does not allow it in cat food or treats, even at trace levels. Although no cases of illness in cats have been reported due to the two batches, we felt a voluntary recall was necessary. We have issued an FDA-approved press release to make our customers aware of the situation, identified the stores that received the product, and contacted them to return the product to us. While we were able to catch much of the affected product, some products did make it into the homes of our customers. For that, we are sincerely apologetic.

We are doing everything we can to resolve this situation quickly and ensure that our customers can continue to feel confident feeding Catswell products to their cats, as we do here.

To learn more about the affected product, we invite you to read our "frequently asked questions" here. If you would like to speak with someone live, you can call us at 1-888-559-8833 or email us at info@dogswell.com. If we are unable to get to your call, or it is after hours, please leave us a message and we will get back to you as quickly as possible.

We thank you, our valued customers, for your understanding, and we hope to be able to regain your trust.

Yours,

Marco Giannini

'The Chron' continues coverage on all things cat and dog in Austin

A feral cat at the AHS clinic

PHOTO BY AUSTIN HUMANE SOCIETY

Source: www.austinchronicle.com

Austin Humane Society needs help taming feral cat population

BY JORDAN SMITH, 2:21PM, FRI. JUL. 20

Austin has cats – a lot of cats. And in the absence of an ordinance that requires spay/neuter of pets, there are a lot of reproducing cats out there, many of them stray and/or feral. Year in and year out, the large free-roaming cat population remains a big problem in the city of Austin, local animal welfare advocates say.

And when you consider how quickly cats reproduce – they mate during warm months (so, you know, most of the year) and a female can become pregnant while still nursing – two cute strays can become dozens in short order.

In an effort to curb Austin's feral cat population, the Austin Humane Society has since 2007 operated a free Trap-Neuter-Return program. T-N-R is a volunteer-led effort to trap strays and ferals, get them to the AHS clinic to be fixed (dewormed, given shots, and to have one ear "tipped" so that they can be identified from afar as fixed) and then returned to the streets, where they often live in colonies – groups of cats that volunteers generally continue to feed and to tend to for years.

Although there's no "kitty census," as AHS Executive DirectorFrances Jonon puts it, the large number of cats that have come to the AHS T-N-R program over the last five years suggests how big the problem is: In 2007, the T-N-R program tended to more than 1,500 cats; the next year that number jumped to 5,000. Next month, the AHS clinic will mark it's 25,000th feral cat surgery. "The problem," says Jonon, "is massive."

Indeed, as the AHS program (which fixes dozens of cats every week) and its many volunteers, march forward, they're asking for your help. The AHS is looking for volunteers to help trap 150 feral cats from around the city and to bring them to the group's shelter on Wednesday, July 25, for a large-scale T-N-R spay/neuter event. (The shelter has humane traps that it lends out for exactly this purpose, and the AHS staff is ready to help you learn to use them so that you can get with the program.)

Want to help? Contact Leticia Stivers, the AHS' feral-feline-whisperer – officially, the feral cat program supervisor – at 512/685-0111 or 512/968-7131. Your feline friends – and the birds and lizards in your neighborhood – will thank you.

Oh, no more dog food recalls this time it's Pedigree don't know yet if it's local

From: www.dogster.com

Just when you thought pet-food recalls might be over -- they're not.

After a string of recalls that spanned the first half of this year and involved Diamond Pet Foods products and the risk of Salmonella, a new recall was announced last weekend -- this time involving products manufactured by Mars Petcare US and the risk of foreign objects being mixed into the food.

Dog eating from bowl by Shutterstock.com

Announced last Saturday, June 30, it's a voluntary recall of a limited range of three varieties of Pedigree weight-management canned dog foods "due to a potential choking risk," according to the Wall Street Journal's Market Watch. The specific products being recalled are these:

+ Pedigree Healthy Weight Premium Ground Entree in Meaty Juices

+ Pedigree Weight Management Meaty Ground Dinner Beef & Liver Dinner in Meaty Juices

+ Pedigree Weight Management Meaty Ground Dinner Chicken & Rice Dinner in Meaty Juices

+ Pedigree Healthy Weight Premium Ground Entree in Meaty Juices

+ Pedigree Weight Management Meaty Ground Dinner Beef & Liver Dinner in Meaty Juices

+ Pedigree Weight Management Meaty Ground Dinner Chicken & Rice Dinner in Meaty Juices

They have a lot code printed on the end of the can that begins with 209, 210, 211 or 212 and a best before date between 2/24/2014 and 3/23/2014. 

It seems that small pieces of blue plastic "entered the food during the production process. The source of the plastic has been identified and the issue resolved," reads the press release. Mars Petcare US warns that the food should not be given to pets or sold in stores. All three of the affected lines were distributed to retail consumers throughout the United States. 

Colorado wildfire pet rescue efforts

From our friends at North Shore Animal League America:

Our emergency rescue team set up their Mobile Rescue Units, loaded with food, medicine and supplies, as temporary shelter to care for pets of evacuated residents until it is safe for them all to return home. We will be there to help through this tragic time, in anyway possible, until we are no longer needed.

The emergency rescue team will also transport animals to our national adoption headquarters in New York, if necessary. This will open up more space for animals displaced by the wildfires. This helps reduce the chance that lost animals will be euthanized, and ensures that as many owners as possible will be reunited with their pets when the crisis is over.

Our hearts go out to the people in these areas of devastation.

It’s only through the generosity of our loyal supporters like you, that we can respond quickly and save lives during these natural disasters. 

More info click here. 

French existential cat talks about the indignities of going to the vet

 "The 'doctor' cures nothing, yet they keep sending me."
Henri on Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/henrifb

Henri on Twitter: http://twitter.com//HenriLeChatNoir
Henri's store: http://store.henrilechatnoir.com/

Uggie from "The Artist" leaves his mark

from: independent.com

Uggie, the canine star of the Oscar-winning film The Artist, became the first dog to put its paw prints in cement outside the famous Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

The Jack Russell terrier was celebrated at a treat-laden ceremony outside the landmark as councillor Tom LaBonge declared it Uggie Day in Los Angeles.

"The main message that Uggie would like to send to everybody out there is to please adopt," Uggie's trainer, Omar Van Muller, told the crowd. "He's adopted. He made it. If you guys can adopt a dog, even if they don't make it on the big screen, they'll be big stars at your house."

The event also marked Uggie's retirement from show business.

Uggie, who arrived at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in a fire engine, was bestowed with a golden bow-tie collar and given a cake in the shape of a fire hydrant after performing tricks for photographers and tourists lining a red carpet.

Click here for more. 

KUT News report on APD Change in Canine Protocol: Cisco did not die in vain

In Wake of Cisco the Dog Shooting, APD Announces Changes to Canine Protocol

By Wells Dunbar, KUT News

Photo by facebook.com/JusticeForCisco

After the controversial shooting of a pet dog named Cisco earlier this year, Austin Police are announcing training and policy changes to the use of lethal force on dogs.

Austin Police Department Chief of Staff  David Carter says the department is quickly implementing policy and training changes – in hopes an incident like the Cisco shooting doesn’t happen again.

“Before an officer takes action, there needs to be an imminent threat of bodily injury,” Carter says, “whereas in the past, it would describe that the animal was dangerous.” Additionally, officers would need to “justify the position of using a firearm, versus using some other method to repel a dog, if that’s necessary. For example using a nightstick, or chemical spray, or a tazer, or some other thing such as that.”  Additional responsibility now also falls on the officer’s supervisor to investigate such shootings, instead of having the officer self-report on the circumstances of the shooting.

For more click here.