New Recall, Same brand, different plant...

[Lightplum]

I have to say agree with Michele, and while my dogs were/are not on any diamond product, In the past they were on canadae and before it was recalled mine got terribly sick, this was before I was really reading/on any forums, I stumbled across the recall put 2 and 2 together and was fuming. I will NEVER EVER feed another Canadae product again because of that my trust in them is gone.(and come to find out several shelties died because of it).


It wasnt like they were keeping the recall hush hush, pet food companies recalls just dont make news like human products do, so maybe barb is that 90% of your customers are still in the dark and unaware of what is going on and what the full story is. Especially being in another country where the food is not processed I can bet that the avg joe customer isnt even remotely aware of what is going on in SC.

 

[marymrumfelt]

I guess it just boils down to what you feel comfortable with. I am a firm believer in companies shouldn't lie to their consumers, and Diamond did just that. If they're saying they test every bag, then they should indeed be testing every bag. This company has issues in the past, and if they haven't learned, I worry they'll never learn. But again, if you're comfortable putting your trust in a company that lies to their consumers, then I suppose you should keep feeding it. Also, after reading what happened to people when they called in, that doesn't make me too comfortable with the company either... I am glad nothing more came of it with the people who were affected on here and their dogs are okay this time....

 

[mbfrench]

I have to say agree with Michele, and while my dogs were/are not on any diamond product, In the past they were on canadae and before it was recalled mine got terribly sick, this was before I was really reading/on any forums, I stumbled across the recall put 2 and 2 together and was fuming. I will NEVER EVER feed another Canadae product again because of that my trust in them is gone.(and come to find out several shelties died because of it).


It wasnt like they were keeping the recall hush hush, pet food companies recalls just dont make news like human products do, so maybe barb is that 90% of your customers are still in the dark and unaware of what is going on and what the full story is. Especially being in another country where the food is not processed I can bet that the avg joe customer isnt even remotely aware of what is going on in SC.

I totallly agree,they (customers) were not aware of the initial recall out of this plant here in SC.
And I might add also,many people that do have the upscale pet food stores to shop in,have no other place to buy thier brand,so they over look any possible issues with food,because "thier" dogs are not having problems,so they continue to buy it.
Even our local TS where we do shop for kibble,continued to keep TOTW on thier shelves,even after it was announced about the recall on the food. I happen to go in there,and spoke to the manager,he did not know about it. But immediately pulled everything. And thanked us for the heads up,and I also printed off the recall for him.

Brian ended up getting so very ill,and was diagnosed with salmonella poinsening as well all with in the same week that we were nursing 4 dogs back to health. It was no fun.

I will never ever feed a Diamond product again.They have had far to many issues just in the few years we have had shelties living here. They will never learn~

 

[Justicemom]

Just as a point of interest.....I'm not passing any judgment here one way or the other. But I am going to express some ideas that will likely be unpopular. But I'm really just playing Devil's Advocate, so please be gentle!

As a pet supply owner, this Diamond recall I thought was pretty devastating at first. But for the average consumer coming into my store, 90% were unaware of the recall and an equal number were unconcerned. They just wanted to know when I was going to have TOTW and CHSP and NB back on my shelves. They did not want to switch brands.

I'm trying to decide what conclusions to draw from this. My typical customer is upper income, educated and loves to spoil their pet. In spoiling their pet, this means feeding their pet the food that it loves. They are aware of the benefits of holistic and grain-free foods and will spend extra for it. But, they do not spend hours on dog forums each night and were totally unaware of the recall and equally unconcerned. They just want their food back.

Interesting. So I went back and reviewed some of the store returns for dog food that we have had over the last several months. (we have a policy if your the food does not "agree" with your dog for whatever reason, we will take it back). The reality is that no matter the brand, the number of bags returned even with the recall did not increase.

I'm still trying to develop an hypothesis about this recall and I'm coming to abit of conclusion that in the final analysis there is a huge amount of hysteria about this and most of this originates on the internet and dog forums.

In reality, I think that Diamond, in trying to do the right thing, did the wrong thing. As it turns out the problem was not as big as was originally suspected, but now the company will be spending millions to get consumer confidence back. Basic economics means that this will only increase the price of dog food overall.

Then I had a chat with my brother, the sheep-farmer today. His dogs are working dogs and live outside. He feeds dog chow and he thinks that's good food. And then I'm reminded that my dogs love to drink out of stagnant mosquito invested mud puddles and Indy loves to eat Bacca's poo.

Do some dogs are sensitive stomachs and are allergy prone to certain proteins? Absolutely!

But for the majority and to sum it up: Reality check, people!

Ok, I'm ready for my beating now!

I practiced in private practice in 2005 when the melamine contaminated foods killed all those pets. I lost 2 of my patients to it. Yet 99% of my clients didn't know about it. Why? Because for most of pet owner their dogs and cats are not the center of their lives. They are something for the kids to play with or to guard the house or hunt with. They don't want to research anything for their pets if someone tells them its a good food or the dog doing fine. Good enough. They have other things to worry about. Goes for vaccines, medications, training etc etc.

My dogs happen to be more important to me that most people. I don't have a husband or kids. I will not give them anything I feel might be harmful and the reality is Diamond has lost my confidence that they are not harmful. I can't control them drinking out of puddles or eating poo anything else in the course of the day moving around being a dog(unless I muzzle them and wrap them in bubble wrap) but if something happened to them because of something I purposefully gave them that is other thing.

 

[corbinam]

My dogs happen to be more important to me that most people. I don't have a husband or kids. I will not give them anything I feel might be harmful and the reality is Diamond has lost my confidence that they are not harmful. I can't control them drinking out of puddles or eating poo anything else in the course of the day moving around being a dog(unless I muzzle them and wrap them in bubble wrap) but if something happened to them because of something I purposefully gave them that is other thing.

I agree.

It's true--we (in general) are different than the majority of pet owners. Just read our forum! We take vacations with our dogs, we buy cars that will work best for our dogs, we spend less on ourselves so we can buy more for our dogs, we spend countless hours and money training our dogs, playing with our dogs and talking about our dogs.

Yes, many people LOVE their dogs. And I think that in general, the attitudes of the general population towards dogs has changed drastically over the years, but for us on this forum, our pets are truly a part of our family.

So if that means that I know about the recall and other people don't (or don't care) then it makes sense. Do you know why Blue Buffalo is so popular? Marketing. I'm not saying it isn't a good food. But I would say that it isn't above and beyond the best food. People have heard of it because they play commercials on TV talking about how much better it is. People know about it because it's sold at places like PetSmart, etc...Most people haven't even heard of Acana! Sure, more and more people want to feed their dogs "better" food, but it's all about marketing.

 

[Ann]

I can't control them drinking out of puddles or eating poo anything else in the course of the day moving around being a dog(unless I muzzle them and wrap them in bubble wrap) but if something happened to them because of something I purposefully gave them that is other thing.

This is so true. There are many things we can't control in the lives of our dogs (and our kids too!) but those we can control, such as the food we feed them, are our responsibility.

I come at this from a bit different perspective. I buy my food at one of two holistic, high-end pet food stores near my home. I pay top dollar for my food, and I expect the people who staff and run those stores to be up to the minute on such things as recalls or changes in food and alert me to anything I should know. If one of my dogs got sick from a food I'd bought at these stores, I would also blame the store. You might consider that in your customer relations, Barb. The retailer is not exempt from blame when selling foods that are tainted, IMO.

As far as the companies go, I agree with everyone else. Trust is key, and if I can't trust a company's word or it's product, they're dead to me. Admittedly, I do a lot of research and know what I'm buying and who I'm buying it from, and that may not be the typical dog owner. We have to be the advocates for ourselves and our pets. I take owning dogs as a serious responsibility, not a hobby or as an accessory. This is the trend in dog owners I see; they are better educated and more conscious of what they're using for their pets. A smart company will recognize that and take notice in more than just their ads and marketing (i.e. all the substandard foods that now call themselves "organic" etc). Those that don't, like Diamond, will eventually, and hopefully, fail.

That's it for my soapbox today!

 

[Tagg]

I think we all have to take a deep breath and realize that what is happening in our dog food is also happening in people food. In the past couple of years we have seen Maple Leaf meats with Listerosis - twice, bagged spinach with E.Coli and bean sprouts with I can't remember what. It's going to happen and so you just have to try to wade through it all and hope that your animals and you are okay.
Most pet people don't own a thermometer, let alone know the correct way to use it, expect that their dog's will throw up or get the scoots occasionally, and basically have to get the "bang on the head" moment before they realize that what is happening to their pet is not normal. I'm sure Dr. Shelli will concur that many show up with their scratching, inflamed skin on pets and when you ask when the problem started you can usually bet that it will be weeks to months, not days that the animal has shown symptoms of a problem. Food isn't always the issue but I don't know how many people, vets included, deemed Phoebe's problems as food allergies. It turned out that she had an immune problem when she was hit with multiple stressors at one time. Once that was back in balance she can eat anything and has been healthy now for years.
A caring owner educates themselves on how to observe the health of their pet. It's not the number of toys, the fancy beds etc. that an owner can provide that makes me want to allow a baby of mine to go to a home but instead, I want to see how much research they have done into pet ownership they can demonstrate. They are more likely to continue the learning curve as they go through the years of being a caretaker to one of our fur babies. They are more likely to come to their own conclusions about feeding, training etc. and not just take the word of a vet, store employee or animal trainer concerning the well being of their pet. They are more likely to hear about recalls in food and be proactive in their dog's health by researching any condition that may show up.

 

[mbfrench]

This is so true. There are many things we can't control in the lives of our dogs (and our kids too!) but those we can control, such as the food we feed them, are our responsibility.

I come at this from a bit different perspective. I buy my food at one of two holistic, high-end pet food stores near my home. I pay top dollar for my food, and I expect the people who staff and run those stores to be up to the minute on such things as recalls or changes in food and alert me to anything I should know. If one of my dogs got sick from a food I'd bought at these stores, I would also blame the store. You might consider that in your customer relations, Barb. The retailer is not exempt from blame when selling foods that are tainted, IMO.

As far as the companies go, I agree with everyone else. Trust is key, and if I can't trust a company's word or it's product, they're dead to me. Admittedly, I do a lot of research and know what I'm buying and who I'm buying it from, and that may not be the typical dog owner. We have to be the advocates for ourselves and our pets. I take owning dogs as a serious responsibility, not a hobby or as an accessory. This is the trend in dog owners I see; they are better educated and more conscious of what they're using for their pets. A smart company will recognize that and take notice in more than just their ads and marketing (i.e. all the substandard foods that now call themselves "organic" etc). Those that don't, like Diamond, will eventually, and hopefully, fail.

That's it for my soapbox today!

OOOWEEE!
Thank you for putting my thoughts into words typed~ my thoughts exactomundo!!

 

[Silaria]

Ann, I agree with that you said about trust. I will never feed Iams, and by extension Eukanuba, because their use of Chinese sources in their food caused me to loose my Malamute to kidney failure back in 2005/2006. The only reason my other dog wasn't impacted was because we were still feeding her dry food rather than the sliced meat in gravy soft food. (My Mal had a mega-sophagus and constantly choked on dry kibble, even if we wet it down first.)

That experience made me really try to play closer attention to what foods and treats I was selecting.

Now with Diamond, even though I wasn't feeding one of the products manufactured by them I will still stay as far away from their products as I can. It's the combination of multiple recalls in a short period of time combined with the information in the FDA report about their shoddy maintenance and cross contamination. Also hearing from people I respect, such as Michele (mbfrench), about her experiences with their customer support make me leery of the company.

What Tagg points out is also very true; there have been a lot of recalls in human foods lately for contamination; just this week the largest grocery store chain my area issued a recall on bagged lettuce. Really, the only way to (mostly) avoid it is to farm everything yourself so you know where it came from, what it was fed, how it was cared for, etc.

Honestly, I'm more likely to re-try a brand for human consumption than one for animal consumption. That's because the FDA requirements around human foods/medications are much stricter than the FDA requirements for pet grade products.

 

[take4roll10]

I absolutely agree with Ann. My dog would drink puddled water, eat poop and feast on people's garbage if I let her. That's a no-brainier...she's a dog, so she's an opportunist and a scavenger.

Does that mean I let her? Of course not.

Our dogs do not know what is healthy for them. They do not know what nutrients and vitamins they need to maintain a long and healthy life. As pet parents, it is our job to feed them and make sure they receive adequate nutrition and healthy food.

Some owners will spend an enormous amount of time researching to find the "perfect" food and some will just base their decision off of word of mouth, marketing, etc. To each their own, but I don't think that the internet is creating hysteria over this recall.

I think forums and websites are telling it like it is. Some batches of food were positive for Salmonella and all food produced at that facility are being recalled because of possible cross-contamination.

If it wasn't for me posting about finding a completely different dog food in my TOTW bag, then some members are the forum would still be feeding that food. That is clear evidence that Diamond's facilities were not following proper protocol like they claimed and their foods were cross-contaminated months before this recall was issued.

What about the 15 people who are sick with Salmonella and the 5 of them who were hospitalized? I don't think they would say people need a reality check.

I am thankful for the internet and people posting their experiences. It makes us a more informed consumers.