The Pet Connection reports on their yeoman’s efforts to convince the AP to portray the impact of the food recall more accurately. For whatever reason the AP is reluctant to report numbers beyond those released by the FDA. Catmanager wonders why the FDA numbers are treated with such deference. Most media seem to love questioning official government figures. In fact, attempting to independently confirm “official” numbers is surely one of the most important functions of the media in a democratic society. So why, given how easy it would be to poke holes in the official numbers, is the AP insisting on reporting only the figures supplied by the FDA?

The Pet Food Blog busts some myths about the ingredients in pet food.

A Wisconsin lawyer, Briane P, writes about her (his?) experiences with the Menu Foods recall, from the first inklings that one of her cats was sick to her decision to file her own lawsuit in an effort to recoup the cat’s medical expenses. Anyone thinking of joining a class action lawsuit should pay attention to Briane’s final paragraph.

I will continue to post updates on both Stormy and the lawsuit here as I get a chance and as the case develops; it’ll give a chance for you to not just watch and see if Stormy lives and if we can make corporations take their responsibilities to consumers seriously, but also to watch how a lawsuit actually develops.

If you live in Wisconsin and have a pet that was affected, you can contact me about this and I’ll see if I can help you, but you should definitely contact a lawyer no matter where you live.

(And don’t join a class-action lawsuit or file one; those don’t help you and don’t hurt the companies. They help the lawyers who file them. I’m not interested in helping myself; I’m interested in helping my clients, which is why I don’t file class action lawsuits.)

Non-recall roundup
Thanks to the blog at the Bird Treatment and Learning Center for pointing out a free ring-tone service from the Center for Biological Diversity. If you give them your name and e-mail address, they’ll let you download any or all of more than forty animal calls (owls, frogs, a few mammals and miscellaneous birds).

It’s a Vet’s Life is a new blog written by a veterinarian. He explains in his first post,

I’ve realised that the private life of a veterinarian can be quite interesting to many, and having been urged countless times by my closer friends, I’ve decided to create this blog to share with you bits and pieces of my life and what it is like living the life of an animal doctor. I will never be as famous as James Herriot, but I sincerely hope and believe that some of you may still enjoy what you will read from my humble postings here.

In his second post he reflects on the meaning of the veterinarian’s oath and wonders whether “In the modern rat race of a commercialised world, . . . how many of us vets actually continue to hold fast to the very oath we made so many years past.”

Catmanager is glad the doctor behind It’s a Vet’s Life felt inspired to start blogging. I look forward to reading more from this thoughtful blog.