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Pets Need a Voice Too Memorial

April 29, 2007, 12:0AM MT

By Jennifer S Hayes

Communities come together nationwide to mourn animals lost to recalled food.

Communities come together nationwide to mourn animals lost to recalled food.

By Jennifer Hayes, Best Friends Network

Saturday, April 28th marked the date that individuals banded together for marches and memorials dedicated to the many animals who have crossed the Rainbow Bridge, or are ill, as a result of eating tainted pet food. In addition to Austin, TX, organized events also occurred in Reno, NV, Uniontown, PA, Los Angeles, CA, Oceanside, CA, Ottawa Canada, Jacksonville, OR, Portland, ME, and Boston, MA.

After the passing of her 3-year old cat, Timber, Jennifer Hoeflein of Bastrop, TX formed the group Pets Need a Voice Too. Her website soon generated more attention than she had expected from people throughout the United States, who were experiencing the same loss of their companion animals, due to eating tainted pet food. Says Hoeflein, "I think Americans have forgotten how powerful their individual voices are when it comes to protecting their families and in many American households, pets are considered members of their families. This event has created a passion-driven response, an outcry for accountability and the demand for the meeting of product quality standards."

At Saturday’s memorial service in Austin, she and others recounted their recent losses. Philip and Alice Beers attended in memory of their dog Mischou, who crossed on April 18th. Mischou first starting showing signs of kidney failure in early February, but each time the dog started to recover and regain some appetite; they unwittingly continued to feed her the same contaminated food until the recalls were announced in March. Mischou was not only a beloved member of their family, but had also been an active community “spokes-dog” who successfully campaigned to allow canines at outdoor patios of Austin dining establishments. The Beers family is not alone though, as two days before Mischou’s passing, they saved a small terrier who had been hit by a car in traffic. Although Benji is not able to replace Mischou, he certainly does help fill a void in their hearts.

Beyond the grief, a repeated topic throughout the testimonials was outrage that the recalls did not occur until long after company officials were aware that their food caused illness and death. Faith in the manufactured pet food industry has been lost and those affected now feed their animals items such as tuna and chicken supplemented with vitamins, home cooked concoctions, or homemade raw diets.

Additional brands continue to be recalled and it was stressed for those who feed manufactured pet food to their animals to check the recall list regularly, as well as contact the food manufacturers for the most up-to-date information on their product. Though a pet food may say all of its ingredients are from U.S. sources, some of the sources themselves may get their own ingredients from foreign countries. It was also recommended to carefully check store inventories, as there is a concern that there may still continue to be recalled stock on some retail shelves. If recalled food is found, it is recommended that you contact the store manager immediately to have it removed.

Jennifer Hoeflein hopes that the day’s momentum continues and that pet guardians nationwide band together to contact elected officials to demand safety for pets. While Senator Dick Durbin from Illinois has begun discussions on the FDA’s inspection responsibilities, more needs to be done. Those at the memorial stressed the importance of contacting legislators, both on the local and national levels, to express concern and insist on safe food products to feed companion animals. The pet food industry must begin to think about their customers first, and not their bottom line. As Jennifer’s mother Carolyn Hoeflein said, “You can give a voice to your pets, even those that are now silent.”

For those who have lost animals, or currently have sick animals, the Best Friends Network Prayers, Healing and Support Community, Candle Ceremony Forum is a place to seek support among those who can empathize with your loss.

For more information about Pets Need a Voice Too, and the recent recalled foods, see:
• Pets Need a Voice Too website
• Itchmo
• The Pet Food List.com
• PetConnection.com
• Howl’s 911’s Pet Food Portal
• US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

Editor’s Note: On a personal note, the dry food that I feed my own cats, an all-natural human-grade pet food, was recently recalled on April 17th and I just found out on Saturday that the canned variety they eat was recalled only three days ago. Though horrified, I have been fortunate that the food I had been feeding them was manufactured prior to the addition of the melamine-laden rice protein. However, so many others nationwide were not so lucky and have lost their beloved family members. I had the opportunity to meet several of them on Saturday, but am still unable to imagine the sadness those individuals feel. In fact, the loss once again hit close to home, as I had met both Alice and Michou back in 2004, when I photographed them together while entering a pet costume contest at a Pet Fest celebration.

I sincerely wish to offer them all my most sincere condolences.

Photo credit: all taken by Jennifer Hayes
Lead Photo: Candle Ceremony, displaying photos of a few of the many pets who had crossed, along with memorial ribbons.
Photo #2: Jennifer Hoeflein, Founder of Pets Need a Voice Too, as she speaks to the group of her own loss.
Photo #3: Alice Beers displays a healthy photo of her dog Mischou, prior to her crossing on April 18.
Photo #4: Philip and Alice Beers posing with Benji.
Photo #5: Carolyn Hoeflein displays a scroll, listing all of the recalled pet food products from up to two days ago.
Photo #6: Richard Correll with Vodka, one of his remaining dogs after his loss of his 15 year old Chihuahua, Tiger, who passed away on March 13. See his story on Fox 7 News.
Photo #7: The photo of Alice Beers and Mischou from 2004.

What You Can Do:

Visit Pet Food Recall Story on the Network for information on who to contact to make your voice heard to ensure this does not happen again.
Click Here

Comments

Posted April 30, 2007, 8:9PM by beth

Thank you for this wonderful written story which truly shows love and respect to the people and animals affected. Thank you also for sharing what we can do to make a difference. It will truly make an impact when legislators across the country receive many calls and emails to remind them how important our animals are to us. Thank you for this very personal story.

Posted April 30, 2007, 10:31PM by Marla

Not to be negative, but the human grade pet food, definately was not!
Royal Canin food told my sister they were not on the recall, and they had the highest standards, next morning they were on the recall.
We definately need to make a difference.

Posted May 02, 2007, 12:17PM by veganmarcy

It's really part of the larger issues that animals are still considered commodities. That's why slaughter facilities and such are so horrendous, and in turn downed/diseased/cancerous animals are used in turn (incouding from the same species as food-eater!) to make food for our pets and even farm animals...along with chemical run-offs and other contamination issues. In fact, cow feces is mixed with cow slaughter bits and re-fed to cows along with giving them BGH etc. We can't operate these crazy/massive death factories anymore, the system just doesn't work.

Posted April 30, 2007, 5:22PM by rmlamasney25

The picture of the pets' photos and their loved ones hit me like a punch to the stomach. How awful. Let us fight for them, that this may never happen again.

Posted April 30, 2007, 2:49PM by kendra

It's definately time for the pet food industry to change. There's no excuse for what happened, and there's no excuse for using substandard ingredients whether it's tainted or not. Our pets deserve better than the food that our government thinks is suitable for them. I am so sorry to everyone who's lost a loved one because of this terrible event. I really hope that the industry changes to prevent this from happening again, so your loved ones won't have died in vain.