ohmidog!

Nature’s Recipe is voluntarily recalling chicken-based dog treats that could be contaminated with salmonella.

The company announced Saturday the recall of a limited supply of its “Nature’s Recipe Oven Baked Biscuits with Real Chicken,” which were manufactured at its plant in Topeka, Kan.

The product is distributed nationally, primarily through pet specialty retailers, according to the Associated Press.

Nature’s Recipe officials say no illnesses have been reported in pets or humans, but suggest that pet owners monitor themselves and their dogs for signs of salmonella and seek medical care if symptoms worsen.

The company advises consumers who bought the recalled treats to discard them immediately.

The recalled treats were sold in 19-ounce stand-up resealable pouches.

The products included in the recall are marked with the Lot Codes 2199TP or 2200TP and a UPC Code of 30521 51549. The pouches also have a “Best If Used By Date” stamp of either 10/11/13 or 10/12/13.

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick has admitted his family has gotten a dog — or at least a pet.

A day after declining to respond to rising speculation that he had gotten a dog — prompted by a box of Milk Bones appearing in a family photo he tweeted — Vick released a statement through his publicist:

“I understand the strong emotions by some people about our family’s decision to care for a pet. As a father, it is important to make sure my children develop a healthy relationship with animals.

“I want to ensure that my children establish a loving bond and treat all of God’s creatures with kindness and respect. Our pet is well cared for and loved as a member of our family. This is an opportunity to break the cycle. To that end, I will continue to honor my commitment to animal welfare and be an instrument of positive change.”

Vick posted a photo on Twitter last week of his daughter and him seated at a table. A box of Milk Bone dog biscuits could be seen on the right side of the photo, next to a book or folder with puppies on the cover. The photo was later deleted and replaced with a similar photo in which the Milk Bones box didn’t appear.

Last Wednesday, he initially evaded questions about it, according to Philly.com, and seemed to say his personal life — even if he Tweets about it — is private.

“I’m here to strictly talk about football,” Vick said. “What goes on in my personal life is not to be talked about. What’s most important right now is the Philadelphia Eagles and getting the win Sunday.”

Vick was barred from owning a dog during a three-year probationary period after his release from prison, where he served 19 months for owning and operating a dogfighting ring. He served an additional two months of house arrest after his release in May.

In July, as the probationary period drew to a close, he told CNN’s Piers Morgan that he did not want to deprive his daughters from having a pet.

Suspicions are growing that Michael Vick — now that a court order no longer prohibits it — might have gotten a dog.

A photo Vick posted on Twitter shows a box of Milk Bones at the edge of the frame, indicating he  might have gotten the family a pet, as he has recently mentioned he was considering.

Then again, they could be part of his diet. Or maybe they just keep them on hand for visiting pets, though I’d doubt there’d be too many of those.

In the photo, Vick is shown studying a game film on an iPad, while his daughter appears to be doing homework. At the edge of the picture, there’s an opened box of Milk Bones.

“It’s not hard to connect the dots from there,” Chris Chase wrote in his USA Today blog

The picture was quickly deleted and replaced by a similar, biscuit-less one, Chase wrote.

Under terms of his probation, Vick was ordered not to own a dog for three years. That period expired several months ago. In July, Vick, in an interview with Piers Morgan, said he’d like to get a dog for his children.

“I can’t take that dream away from them,” he said.

While his ownership of a dog would be legal now, it’s bound to be a source of contention among those dog lovers who still harbor a great deal of resentment toward the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback who admitted to drowning, electrocuting and beating to death dogs that did not perform in the dogfighting ring.

Vick, as part of his rehabilitation, has been working with the Humane Society of the United States, speaking to young people about the importance of treating dogs humanely.

What do you do with a ratty-looking invasive species that’s eating its way through thousands of acres of coastal wetlands?

In Louisiana, entrepreneurs have made hats and purses out of them, and, for several years, state wildlife officials have offered $5 bounties to hunters and trappers in an attempt to curtail their numbers.

Now, a local company is turning nutria into dog treats:

“Marsh Dog uses an innovative market-based approach to solve the problem — wild Nutria dog biscuits … Owners can treat their dogs to an all-natural, artisanal treat that tastes good and does good while helping to support the fight to conserve the fastest disappearing land in the world—coastal wetlands.”

The Marsh Dog website says the locally made treats are being sold in numerous pet care outlets in Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

And, the website makes clear, nutria are not rats. Despite public perceptions, despite a similarly slinky appearance, and despite sharing the same taxonomic order (as do squirrels, beaver, and guinea pigs) nutria are actually more closely related to porcupines or capybaras.

And they taste much better, the website says.

The Marsh Dog idea was born last year when owners Veni Harlan, a graphic designer, and her brother, Hansel Harlan, an attorney, were awarded a $7,022 grant by the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program, which helps fund attempts to curb the nutria population in Louisiana’s wetlands.

“We both cook for our dogs,” Veni Harlan explained to The Advocate. ”We’ve both been involved with dogs all our life.”

The Harlans make the biscuits – each batch takes about four days — in their new commercial-grade kitchen in the backyard, and they say demand keeps increasing.

“People like that it’s all-natural and has no preservatives, and, of course, that it’s made locally,” said J.T. Hackett, a manager at Petz Plaza, a Baton Rouge pet shop.

Nutria are an invasive species native to South America. They gnaw at the roots of marsh vegetation, causing the plants to die, which contributes to coastal erosion.

The state’s Coastwide Nutria Control Program pays trappers $5 per nutria for each tail they bring out of the marsh. The program is federally funded and managed by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Trappers also have the option of selling the animals to companies like Marsh Dog, or Righteous Fur, a New Orleans-based company that makes hats, messenger bags and more out of nutria.

The state’s goal is to shrink the nutria population in south Louisiana by 400,000 animals a year.

Nutria make up about 20 percent of each dog treat. The treats also include brown rice and black strap molasses. An 8-ounce bag of the treats retails for about $8.50.

“We honestly didn’t know how well they would be received,” Veni Harlan said. “And we’ve just been blown away. The people have really responded. They get it. They understand what this is about — that it’s about Louisiana.”

In these two ads — the one above for Hyundai, the one below for a breath-freshening dog treat — artists took some liberties to make their points.

In the case above, the point being that the Hyundai Coupe can accelerate from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour in 8.4 seconds — during which time you might want to keep your head inside the window.

In the case below, the point being that a dog’s front end can often smell as bad as his back end.

The Hyundai ad was created by Shalmor Avnon Amichay, an advertising firm in Tel Aviv; the one below, for 8 in 1 Dental Biscuits, by Publicis in  Frankfurt, Germany.

(To see all our archived “Woof in Advertising” selections, click here.)

A dog in Oregon has become the first confirmed canine victim in the nationwide salmonella outbreak.

The dog, a 3-year-old mixed breed in southern Oregon named Levi, got sick late last month after eating Happy Tails multi-flavored dog biscuits, said Emilio DeBess, the state public health veterinarian. DeBess said tests on the biscuits showed they were tainted.

The outbreak that has sickened at least 575 people nationwide and been linked to eight deaths.

DeBess said the biscuits — one of the brands that have been recalled — tested postive for salmonella, according to the Portland Oregonian.

In a related development Friday, The Associated Press reported that Peanut Corp. of America’s plant at Blakely, Ga., knowingly shipped salmonella-contaminated products as far back as 2007, according to inspection records released Friday.

In Oregon, DeBess said Levi’s illness is the first time since the outbreak started in September that health authorities in the U.S. have confirmed a case of a sick dog, and the first time that salmonella has been found in dog biscuits.

With the potential for cross-contamination, DeBess said, people should be especially diligent about washing their hands after touching a dog with bloody diarrhea.

Read more »

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is advising pet owners to discontinue using peanut butter products in light of last week’s recall by the FDA, which traced sources of Salmonella contamination to a plant owned by Peanut Corporation of America (PCA), a distributor of peanut butter and peanut paste used in some dog treats.

“The ASPCA recommends that pet parents discontinue the use of all affected products immediately until further information has been received,” said Dr. Steven Hansen, the ASPCA’s Senior Vice President of Animal Health Services. “Pet parents should wash their hands after handling any potentially contaminated food and immediately consult with a veterinarian if any signs or symptoms are noticed in their pets.”  

The ASPCA warning follows PetSmart’s voluntary recall of seven dog biscuit products as a result of a salmonella outbreak. In addition, the Jewel-Osco company announced its own dog biscuit recall earlier today in what it described as a “precautionary move.” The recall affects Happy Tails Brand Multi-Flavored Dog Biscuits in 26-ounce and 4-pound sizes.

For a complete list of affected brands and more information on the recall, please visit FDA’s recall page.

Read more »

Albertsons grocery stores are recalling dog treats sold in Washington and seven other western states.

Albertsons is voluntarily recalling Happy Tails multiflavored dog-biscuit products, saying they may contain peanut butter that could be contaminated with salmonella.

The decision comes after federal authorities urged consumers to avoid foods containing peanut butter until more is known about a deadly outbreak of salmonella possibly linked to a Blakely, Ga., facility owned by Peanut Corp. of America.

The dog treats have not been linked directly to the salmonella outbreak; Albertsons said it was recalling the products “out of an abundance of caution.”

PetSmart said late Tuesday it is recalling seven types of its Grreat Choice dog biscuits because of a salmonella concern.

The pet products retailer said the affected products contain peanut paste made by Peanut Corp. of America, whose Blakely, Georgia facility is currently the focus of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration salmonella probe.

PetSmart said it is not aware of any cases of illness related to the dog biscuits, and was conducting the recall as a precautionary measure.

Read more »