Menu Foods No Closer to Finding Cause of Pet Deaths (Update1)

By Kevin Bell

March 22 (Bloomberg) -- Menu Foods Ltd. said it's no closer to finding out whether substances in its dog and cat food led to the deaths of 13 cats and one dog reported in the U.S.

Separately, the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sought criminal investigations into the deaths and a ``self-reporting'' Web site run by a veterinarian, www.petconnection.com, reported 845 pets dead due to the pet- food recall.

Company spokesman Sam Bornstein said in an interview today tests have come back negative for a variety of potential causes of kidney failure suffered by the animals, including heavy metals, mold and bacteria.

Menu Foods, based in Toronto suburb of Streetsville, said on March 16 it recalled cans and pouches of pet food with gravy sold under brand names such as Iams, Eukanuba and retailers' own labels after linking pet deaths with the food. The company has hired university scientists and independent laboratories to help it find the cause of what is making the animals ill.

``It's a puzzle,'' Bornstein said. ``We have yet to draw a scientific link between that testing and the issues with pets that have been reported.''

Web Site

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported this week that 13 cats and one dog died after eating Menu Foods' products from plants in Kansas and New Jersey. Its investigation focused on wheat gluten.

Menu Foods has declined to identify the suspect ingredient, and said a switch to a new supplier coincided with customers' complaints.

Pet owners, meanwhile, reported 1,715 sick or dead animals to the Petconnection Web site as of late this morning, including 500 cats and 345 that died. While the numbers are ``self- reporting,'' the majority of owners checked the food fed to the animals against Menu Foods' recall list, the site said.

``If nothing else, these numbers show the tragedy is much bigger than the official reports,'' it said. Marty Becker, a Twin Falls, Idaho-based veterinarian who oversees the Pet Connection site, couldn't immediately be reached for further comment.

PETA

PETA said it's seeking criminal investigations of Menu Foods and a Procter & Gamble Co. Iams brand factory to find when they knew a Menu pet product was killing dogs and cats.

PETA spokesman Shalin Gala said the group sent letters to local prosecutors in Brampton, Ontario; Dayton, Ohio; and Columbia, Missouri, asking for probes of plants there.

``If they could have done something sooner about this and didn't, they could have violated cruelty statutes,'' Gala said in a telephone interview from Norfolk, Virginia.

In a related action, the Toronto-based law firm of Rochon Genova LLP said it filed a lawsuit today in Ontario Superior Court on behalf of cat owner Amanda Whiting of Toronto seeking compensation from Menu Foods.

The lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, says pet-food manufacturers have an obligation to ensure their products are safe, according to a statement released by the law firm.

Officials from the firm didn't immediately return a call to Bloomberg News.

Bornstein declined to comment on PETA's action and on possible lawsuits.

Units of Menu Foods were unchanged at C$3.91 at 3:59 p.m. in trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange. They have lost 47 percent since March 15, the day before the recall was announced.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kevin Bell in Toronto at kbell2@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 22, 2007 16:06 EDT

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