Recall has animal shelter concerned

Published 6:23 pm Friday, February 16, 2018

A recall of four major wet dog food brands has caused concerns among pet owners.

The J.M. Smucker Company announced a recall of some shipments of its Gravy Train, Kibbles ’n Bits, Skippy and Ol’ Roy wet canned food after traces of the euthanasia drug pentobarbital was found in the food.

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In a statement on the websites of the four brands the company said, “Veterinarians and animal nutrition specialists, as well as the FDA, have confirmed that extremely low levels of pentobarbital, like the levels referenced in this report, do not pose a threat to pet safety. However, the presence of this substance at any level is not acceptable to us and not up to our quality standards. We sincerely apologize for the concern this has caused.”

The recall has forced the Vicksburg-Warren County Humane Society to evaluate its food stores, and executive director Georgia Lynn said she has already begun removing the impacted brands from her shelves. She said they don’t use the wet food often, but on occasion use it to give the dogs a treat or help soften food for young puppies.

“I got to thinking about what I have in storage and a lot of those four brands,” Lynn said. “Over the last six months, we have had three or four unexplained deaths. I can’t go back and remember if six months ago we did give that 6-month old dog some Gravy Train.”

Lynn said pulling the impacted brands from the shelf will, “put a very big dent into the can food supply, but we don’t use can food that much.” She said they have plenty of dry food and would actually prefer people don’t donate wet food at all.

“When people ask what we need, we always tell them first we don’t need any can food, but we continue to get it,” Lynn said.

A full list of the cans of food impacted by the recall can be found at www.kibblesnbits.com/information.

If you have any questions about the recall or have any cans included you can call 800-828-9980 or contact the companies at www.bigheartpet.com/Contact/ContactUs.aspx.