A message to all you brewers out there that also love dogs. Hops are poison to dogs! They have been known to cause malignant hypothermia to dogs that have ingested them! Other symptoms include accelerated heartbeat and high blood pressure! Bottom line- keep all dogs out of the brewery.

Ed,
Thanks for the information - did not know that. I've been feeding my dogs Beneful for years (never purchased at Walmart) - JAC is now 16 years old and going strong. We've never had an issue with it.

I am the owner of four dogs, as well as a veterinarian and board-certified veterinary nutritionist working for Purina. I have been personally involved in Purina’s investigation into the recent concerns raised about Beneful dry dog food. In addition, I have been in contact with the veterinarians for several of the dogs whose owners feel may have had an adverse reaction to Beneful. As a dog owner myself, I understand the concern of dog owners to provide the best care possible for their pets, and so I want to share with you how Purina has been responding to this situation.

Purina launched an immediate and thorough investigation in an attempt to determine if the food was indeed causing dogs to become sick. Food samples from our plants, from the store and from consumers have been examined by Purina as well as by outside laboratories.

In a nutshell, all of these tests have indicated the complete safety of Beneful and provide no data to support a link between Beneful and the deaths of these dogs. But, I’d like to share a bit more detail, so you realize that Purina truly did an extensive investigation.

Purina conducted numerous tests to confirm the quality and safety of Beneful, including physical and microscopic examination, analytical testing for a broad spectrum of mycotoxins, including aflatoxin, as well as for the presence of pesticides. These examinations were conducted by Purina quality assurance experts and by independent laboratories. All samples tested passed with flying colors on all counts. In addition, I personally talked with the Texas veterinarian who, at the request of his client, submitted a sample to Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory for aflatoxin analysis. He assured me that the results he received for aflatoxin also were negative.

Please know that all of us at Purina are saddened by the loss of these consumers’ pets – and our compassion for all pets requires us to have total confidence in the quality of our pet foods. Purina takes every pet owner’s concern very seriously. If you have questions or comments about Beneful, now or in the future, you can contact Purina at 1-888-BENEFUL, or click here ( www.beneful.com/feb2007news ) for a complete update.

Dr. Dottie Laflamme, DVM, Ph.D., DACVN

February 6, 2007

Purina Beneful Update

In recent days, Purina learned about the unfortunate deaths of two dogs in the Huntsville, Texas, area. Concerns were raised about the possible link between consumption of Purina’s Beneful dry dog food and the deaths of the two dogs. Purina takes these matters seriously, and initiated a thorough investigation. Purina’s quality testing, including testing at independent laboratories, confirm the safety and efficacy of our products and confirm that the two dogs’ unfortunate deaths were unrelated to our product.

Importantly, one of the Huntsville, Texas, consumers also requested product testing through her veterinarian. The veterinarian submitted a sample of product to the Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory for aflatoxin analysis. We received confirmation from the consumer’s veterinarian late Monday, Feb. 5, that the results for aflatoxin were negative.

Additionally, we have conducted physical inspections and analytical testing, all of which confirm that our Beneful dry dog food products are safe, and meet all quality assurance specifications. Purina initiated the testing, which was conducted by an independent third party analytical laboratory, as part of its investigation related to the two Huntsville consumer contacts. As soon as we could contact the consumers to verify product code and packaging information, we secured finished product from our factories with the same production run and date code as the products in question and submitted the samples for testing. We received test results for the samples late Monday, Feb. 5, and the results confirmed the safety and quality of the products made at our factories. More specifically, the samples showed no presence of aflatoxin.

Because the quality and safety of our products and the trust of our consumers are top priorities, Purina took additional steps, including visiting the store in Huntsville, Texas, to confirm the quality of product at retail. We obtained additional samples for any available product matching date codes and production runs related to these consumer contacts. We then submitted samples of the product for analytical testing, which also showed no presence of aflatoxin.

We at Purina are saddened to hear of the loss of these consumers’ pets and appreciate the opportunity to investigate and demonstrate how seriously we take matters of this kind. We stand firmly behind the high quality of our products and reassure consumers that they can continue to feed Purina products with total confidence.
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I have been feeding my Terrier Beneful Healthy Weight for about two years.
I heard from a neighbotr this morning that it has been linked to diabeties in dogs. Is this true? I don't want anything to happen to my best friend.