Poisoned pet food claimed the lives of many dogs and cats last year. While one such instance is too many, it’s understood that accidents do happen and humans do err. However, some companies and individuals willingly and knowingly looked the other way and allowed a tainted food supply to enter into the marketplace, according to indictments handed down last week in Missouri.
The Bush administration moved to prosecute two Chinese companies and an American importer that are accused of knowingly being involved with the sale of contaminated food ingredients that killed and sickened thousands of dogs and cats. A nearly year-long investigation by the Food and Drug Administration led to the indictments. The importer, ChemNutra, is based in Las Vegas, where it contracted to buy wheat gluten, a plant protein used as a binding agent in pet foods, from an export broker in China, who in turn bought the wheat gluten from a Chinese processing company. This processing company is charged with lacing the product with melamine, an inexpensive masking agent, if you will, that makes the wheat gluten look like it contains more protein than it actually does. The export broker allegedly mislabeled the shipments with an inaccurate product code to escape mandatory inspections in China. While the U.S. has pressured China to more carefully screen its food supply - for both pets and humans - stricter inspections must be demanded by consumers. While there’s only so much the U.S. arm of the law can do in controlling China’s inspections process, as without an extradition treaty it’s unlikely that officials of the Chinese companies can be brought to justice here, it must act swiftly and decisively in dealing with companies like ChemNutra, which is accused of knowing that the shipments had been miscoded and would escape inspection in China, yet failed to disclose that to the American pet food manufacturers to whom it sold the gluten. ChemNutra’s officials deny any intent to defraud and the indictment does not charge that ChemNutra was aware that the shipments were laced with melamine.
All nations must send a message to Beijing as it gears up for hosting the Olympics that its regulations must be strengthened and enforced and fears must be allayed before the games begin. If indeed prosecutors prove ChemNutra’s wrongdoing, stiff fines and mandatory jail time are in order. Knowingly poisoning the food supply - human or pet - is an act of terrorism and should be treated as such. Days after these indictments were handed down, the largest beef recall in American history was announced. If indeed we are what we eat, what kind of message are we sending to the American public and the world at large? Are we willing to risk being poisoned in the name of profit?

More on Westminster
There’s a bit of a contradiction when it comes to the popularity of dog shows. Although the number of dogs registered with the AKC is down dramatically, the number of viewers of televised dog shows continues to increase. Tuesday night’s Group and Best In Show judging averaged 3.4 million viewers on the USA network - up 23 percent over last year. In a week in which the NBA All-Star game and festivities were being held and Mr. Clemens went to Washington to testify under oath in the steroids scandal, the most emailed sports article for the week, according to The New York Times, was “Beagle, A Breed Long Unsung, Wins Best In Show.” The second most popular article? “Beagle Is Top Hound At Westminster Dog Show.” These were emailed more than the story “Wary Olympians Will Bring Food To China.” Yet somehow these numbers don’t translate into more dogs being registered with the AKC. How the AKC can manage to do that is the million, or, rather, the 3.4 million dollar question.
For those that missed “60 Minutes” last week, you’ll be happy to know that an archive of the segments by America’s favorite curmedgeon, Andy Rooney, is available online for viewing. A few handlers may want to take issue with Mr. Rooney’s comments about them. Apparently Mr. Rooney didn’t approve of some of the grooming techniques employed by the handlers at Westminster and suggested that some dogs ought to trot out their handlers for a show. Mr. Rooney, long known to be a diehard New York Giants fan and season ticket holder, claims that he never misses a Westminster, either. Who knew? Whatever one thought about Mr. Rooney’s comments on handlers and his attempt at humor, at least we know that he has good taste when it comes to reading material. Prominently displayed before him on his desk for the duration of the segment was the Westminster Kennel Club edition of Dog News. Thanks for reading, Mr. Rooney.