MCHS In The News

Shelters unaffected by pet food contamination

By

David Francis

May 17, 2007

Pet shelters in the Washington area have not been affected by the contaminated pet food that sickened animals around the country and triggered a major product recall.

Other shelters around the country found themselves short of pet food after the Food and Drug Administration recalled more than 100 brands due to suspected contamination.

Thousands of pets have been killed since March, when the contamination was first discovered.
Because many shelters are dependent on donations of pet food to feed animals under their care, the recall drained their supplies.

Around the District, however, shelters have not experienced a food shortage and have kept their animals away from tainted foods.
“We’ve been extremely careful,” said J.C. Crist, director of operations at the Montgomery County Human Society. “We’ve only had one issue. We’ve been extremely fortunate.”

Washington Humane Society communication and marketing director Tara de Nicolas said her organization receives its food from only one source, and that this source did not supply tainted food. She said these sole-provider agreements are common with larger shelters.
A survey of a number of shelters around the region, including the Animal Welfare Leagues of Arlington and Alexandria and the City Dogs shelter in Washington, revealed that no area shelters had been adversely affected by tainted foods.

However, the problem was so widespread and went undetected for so long that Crist has drafted legislation that would require tighter FDA control over the pet food supply. He plans on submitting the bill to his representative in Congress in hopes that it would be considered in committee.

Crist also said he recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the county and the Homeland Security Department to develop an alert system for pet owners if food contamination occurs again. He said he wanted to develop a text-message system pet owners can sign up for, similar to other alert systems available around the area.

The contamination has been traced to ingredients purchased from China. On Wednesday, Beijing acknowledged Melamine — a chemical used in fertilizer — was used in the production of wheat gluten sent to the United States for use in pet food.

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