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Nearly 63,000 people have signed a petition asking Nestle Purina to recall chicken jerky treats manufactured in China — the subject of nearly 1,000 consumer complaints, an FDA investigation and a class action lawsuit.

But not a recall.

The most recent data shows that since November the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has logged over 900 reports of canine illnesses and deaths associated with chicken jerky treats made in China.

“I lost my best friend Sampson on Friday, January 13, 2012,” writes Terry Safranek, who started a petition for a recall of the treats on Change.org . “He died 9 days after ingesting the last food he ever ate: Waggin’ Train ‘Wholesome’ Chicken Jerky.”

While Sampson’s death is one of the cases still under investigation by the FDA, Safranek urges consumers to contact Nestle Purina and ask them to voluntarily recall the product.

Meanwhile, a Chicago area dog owner has filed a class action lawsuit against Nestle Purina, alleging that Waggin Train chicken jerky treats, made in China, were responsible for the death of his 9-year-old Pomeranian.

Dennis Adkins of Orland Park, Ill., filed the lawsuit in April 18 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He said his dog died of kidney failure two weeks after consuming the product.

The suit names as defendants Waggin’ Train LLC, the manufacturer of the product; Nestlé Purina Petcare Co., which is the corporation that owns the brand; and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., the distributor.

The lawsuit states Nestlé Purina and Waggin’ Train have received more than 500 complaints about dogs becoming sick and dying after consuming the treats, yet continues to market their product as being “wholesome.” Read more »

Thanks to a newspaper and a good samaritan, a Chihuahua named Boo’kie was returned home last week after the pickup truck he was in was stolen from a Wal Mart parking lot in Winston-Salem, N.C.

John Jenkins, a 67-year-old cancer patient who’d gone to the store to fill a prescription, spent two sleepless night after Boo’kie, his 7-year-old Chihuahua, disappeared.

The dog had helped him through the death of his wife, in 2009, and his battle with throat and esophageal cancer.

He and friends had searched all last Monday and Tuesday for the dog.

On Tuesday night, Vanessa Calvery, a personal chef, was driving home from delivering meals when she saw a Chihuahua standing in the middle of a road in the rain near her home in Rural Hall.

Calvery, who has two Chihuahuas of her own, stopped her car, bundled the dog up, brought him home, cooked him chicken and made him a bed in her TV room.

The next day, Calvery, who was laid off from her full time job on Jan. 1, took the dog to the Animal Care Clinic in Rural Hall, where she takes her own dogs, because one of his  paws seemed swollen.

One of the veterinarians at the clinic, Preston Roberts, recognized Boo’kie from a story about his disappearance that ran on the front page of the Winston-Salem Journal on Wednesday.

That story, by reporter Laura Graff, noted Boo’kie had one paw larger than the other, a result of frostbite when he was a puppy. The vets office called Jenkins, whose number was published in the story.

By then, Jenkins had gotten his truck back, after it was found abandoned. He got the call just after returning home from getting new keys made.

When he picked the dogs up, he saw that the animal clinic had given Boo’kie a new collar, and implanted a microchip under his skin.

“They done everything, and they charged me nothing,” he said.

Jenkins, according to the Journal’s follow up story, also by Graff,  had offered a $500 reward for Boo’kie’s safe return.

He tried to give it to Calvery when he met her at the clinic.

She turned it down.

(Photo by David Rolfe / Winston-Salem Journal)