Pet food pro responds to pet food crisis.

Agawam, MA…With 210-dog years of experience in the pet food business, Dave Ratner, spokesman for small pet food retailers and the CIO (Chief Instigating Officer) of Dave’s Pet Food, urges pet owners to adopt a common sense approach to the recent recall of almost 100 brands of wet pet food in cans and foil pouches.

“For many pet owners, this recall is a very emotionally charged issue,” explains Ratner, “no pet owner wants to put their beloved pet in jeopardy, yet owners are wondering what they can do to keep their pets well fed and safe. It’s also very confusing for them since so many different brands of pet food are involved. The best advice is – don’t panic - there are still plenty of alternative products on the market for pet owners to feed their pets while maintaining their health and safety.”

Ratner, who recently discussed the impact of the massive Menu Foods pet food recall on the all-natural, organic pet food market on National Public Radio’s Marketplace, and was also recently featured on the NBC nightly news, highlights several points:

1. Be informed. First of all, in addition to monitoring their pet’s health and returning any recalled products (complete list at http://www.menufoods.com/recall/), pet owners should remember that the recall involved ONLY wet pet food. Pets still need to eat just as humans do when there is a food recall, and, according to the U.S. Drug and Food Administration, ‘At this time, no dry dog or cat food has been implicated in pet injury or death.’ The FDA will continue to release additional information as it becomes available.

2. Be vigilant. As in any type of recall where food contamination is involved, pet owners should be judicious in their choice of alternatives. To be ultra-conservative, pet owners may want to avoid pet foods with gravy until all investigations and findings are complete, as the FDA continues to collect and analyze recalled product samples in an attempt to identify the source of the contaminant in the recalled food.

3. Be creative. If pet owners were in the habit of adding wet food on top of their pet’s dry food, they may want to temporarily switch to adding fresh well-cooked poultry or hamburger instead.

4. Be realistic. As harsh as it may sound, pet owners should keep the extent of the pet illnesses and deaths potentially caused by contaminated food in perspective. Firm numbers are not yet in, but just as in the case of human food recalls, the number of those affected involve a very small portion of the total population.

5. Be patient. In the United States (unlike Canada), pet food production involves the enforcement of FDA standards similar to the production of human food products. When suspected contamination occurs in the manufacturing process, a proscribed set of FDA protocols are in place to investigate the source of the problem, which can often be a time consuming process.

About Dave Ratner
Dave Ratner is an avid pet owner and CIO (Chief Instigating Officer) of Dave’s Pet Food, who, along with a leading pet food nutritionist, developed Dave’s “Simply the Best” “no-gas” dog food after Dave’s dog Elsa developed a kidney problem. The owner of 4 pet stores with three decades in the pet biz, Dave takes a fun and informative approach to pet food and pet food retailing, rolling out his brand through pet shops/pet professionals only, with an unprecedented opportunity for profit sharing.

Dave also writes a monthly column for Pet Age and leads seminars nationwide. In addition, Dave is the only small independent retailer on the Board of the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association. Most recently, Dave provided professional testimony for the Senate Finance Committee in Washington, D.C. concerning the plight of small businesses.

Dave's Pet Food headquarters is located at 11 Ramah Circle in Agawam, MA 01001. For additional information call 888-763-2738 (toll free), visit www.DavesPetFood.com, or email Dave at Dave@DavesPetFood.com and tell him about your dog.