LAKE COUNTY — People who purchased the recalled Wal-Mart dog treats are coming out of the woodwork?angry, dismayed, and making appointments to take their dogs to the vet to make sure their furry friends are OK.
Two brands of dog treats sold at Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.were recalled and pulled off the shelves July 26 after reports from customers that the Chicken Jerky Strips from two Chinese companies ? Shanhai Bestro and Pingyang pet Product, Co ? made their dogs ill.
Evelyn Sprague of Spring Valley keeps her receipts for up to a year before tossing them. She says she purchased the treats from the Wal-Mart in Clearlake recently, and says she will be more careful when shopping there in the future. Up until she heard of the recall, Sprague had been feeding her five-year-old Shihtzu one Bestro chicken strip per day.
“I read the news report and got out my receipts from Wal-Mart and they”re the same item number as the one that was recalled. I bought packages on Aug. 15 and Aug. 22. It makes me so mad that they didn”t pull it off the shelves sooner. She”s been having problems with UTI”s for as long as I”ve been giving her these.”
Sprague intends to take her pet, Princess, to the vet in Clearlake Friday and hopes it”s not too late for her pet.
Tests of the products found what Wal-Mart spokesperson Jami Arms told the Record-Bee Thursday were “low levels” of melamine.
“We have carried out 17 different tests to determine the cause of the small number of complaints we received ? the product remains off shelves and we continue to take the extra precaution of placing a computerized block on the product at the cash register,” Arms said in a prepared statement.
She reiterated what she had said in an earlier interview, “We encourage customers who may have purchased this product to return it for a full refund.”
Meanwhile, Vicki Stone of Cobb, also an owner of a five-year-old Shihtzu, is wringing her hands, hoping that her dog, Doc, will recover.
Dr. Chris Holmes, of Wasson Memorial Veterinary Clinic, said Thursday that Doc is back in the hospital on IV fluids for another 48 hours, a repeat of a method used last week to try to save the dog. Holmes said Doc”s kidney toxicosis is “due to this melamine from the Bestro chicken treats the Stone”s bought at Wal-Mart.” He said it is unknown at this point if the dog will survive, nor what percent of his kidney function will remain.
“A lot of people have been asking me about this,” said Holmes, who recommended people look out for the following symptoms, “The earliest signs will be loss of appetite and lethargy.”
“There are a lot of other problems that can cause those symptoms?the signs of kidney toxicosis are non-specific. The only reason Doc is still alive is because the owners pursued it very aggressively. If a dog appears listless, people should be wary not to attribute it to the hot weather. People should be proactive and take the dog to their vet as soon as possible,” he said.
Arms said, “Pet food safety is a top priority at Wal-Mart, as we understand the important role that pets play in the lives of our customers. We proactively removed Chicken Jerky Strips manufactured by Import-Pingyang Pet Product Co and Chicken Jerky manufactured by Shanghai Bestro Trading with UPC 0087784900006 from our stores on July 26, 2007.”
Contact Elizabeth Wilson at ewilson@record-bee.com. To comment on this story or any others, look at the end of this story for “Comments,” fill in the web form, and the click “Publish”
