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Procter & Gamble announced today that it's recalling its feline prescription dry food for cats with kidney disease due to the "potential" that it's contaminated with salmonella. From the release:

The Procter & Gamble Company is voluntarily recalling two specific lots of its prescription renal dry cat food as a precautionary measure, as it has the potential to be contaminated with salmonella.

The following products are included:

Iams Veterinary Formulas Feline Renal 5.5 lbs with lot code 01384174B4 and UPC code 0 19014 21405 1

Iams Veterinary Formulas Feline Renal 5.5 lbs with lot code 01384174B2 and UPC code 0 19014 21405 1

This product is available by prescription through veterinary clinics throughout the U.S.

No illnesses have been reported. A FDA analysis identified a positive result on the lot codes listed above. Lot codes can be found in the lower right corner on the back of the bag.

Consumers who have purchased dry cat food with these codes should discard it. People handling dry pet food can become infected with Salmonella, especially if they have not thoroughly washed their hands after having contact with surfaces exposed to this product. Healthy people infected with Salmonella should monitor themselves for some or all of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramping and fever. Rarely, Salmonella can result in more serious ailments including arterial infections, endocarditis, arthritis, muscle pain, eye irritation and urinary tract symptoms. Consumers exhibiting these signs after having contact with this product should contact their healthcare providers.

Pets with Salmonella infections may have decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain. If left untreated, pets may be lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever and vomiting. Infected but otherwise healthy pets can be carriers and infect other animals or humans. If your pet has consumed the recalled product and has these symptoms, please contact your veterinarian.

For further information or a product refund call P&G toll-free at 877-894-4458 (Monday – Friday, 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM EST).

Seems as if the food companies have not learned much over the last few years. Two Friday night dump and run recalls were issued this week. Earlier in the week, we reported a food recall on Feline's Pride and now we have two more recalls to bring to you. Thanks to reporting from Gina over at Petconnection.com you can get a bit of background on the companies involved.

Recall One: Merrick Beef Fillets

MERRICK PET CARE RECALLS BEEF FILET SQUARES 10oz BAG (ITEM # 60016 LOT # 10084TL7 BEST BY MARCH 24,2012) BECAUSE OF POSSIBLE SALMONELLA HEALTH RISK

United Pet Group, Cincinnati, Ohio is voluntarily expanding its recent recall of its Pro-Pet Adult Daily Vitamin Supplement tablets for Dogs to include additional pet nutritional supplement products for dogs and cats due to possible Salmonella contamination. The list of recalled products is provided below. The Food and Drug Administration is aware of this recall.

The recalled products are sold nationally at various retailers. The products include various United Pet Group Pro-Pet and Excel branded products for dogs and cats, and certain other private label brands of the same products. All of the affected products are in tablet and powdered form. These products are being removed from retail stores and consumers should immediately stop feeding these supplements to their pets. The affected products are those with expiration dates that include and are between "01/2013" and "06/2013." Products with expiration dates earlier than 01/2013 or later than 06/2013 are not included in this recall. The expiration date can be found imprinted vertically on the right side of the product label.

From Veterinary Practice News:

The United States Department of Agriculture has granted a full license to Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health’s Nobivac Canine Flu H3N8. This is the first vaccine against canine influenza virus (CIV), according to the company, which announced the approval June 9, 2010.

The full license means that the USDA confirms the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine. Nobivac Canine Flu “has been shown to significantly decrease the signs, severity and spread of CIV infection. The vaccine has also been shown to reduce the incidence and severity of lung lesions,” the company reported, adding that field experience data shows that the vaccine is well-tolerated.

On this Memorial Day, all of us at PetHobbyist.com want to honor the men and women who have given their lives in service to our country.

We'd also like to honor those animals who fought alongside their human partners. This British monument was designed with that thought in mind:

On the lower level, two heavily laden bronze mules struggle through an arena, enclosed by the dominant wall symbolising the war experience. The mules approach a flight of steps that leads through the wall. Beyond the wall, on the upper level, a bronze horse and dog stand facing north into the gardens, bearing witness to the loss of their comrades and representing hope for the future.

Via DogHobbyist.com site coordinator Cheryl Cooper, this letter, signed by AKC chairman Ronald Menacker and president/CEO Dennis Sprung to Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeff Lurie and the Ed Block Courage Award Foundation:

On behalf of the American Kennel Club, our 5,000 clubs nationwide, and the millions of responsible dog owners we represent, we are writing to ask you to withdraw Michael Vick as the Philadelphia Eagles' recipient of the Ed Block Courage Award.

We understand that his teammates selected Mr. Vick for this honor, but in doing so they are demonstrating a lack of understanding about the nature of both animal and child abuse, and are trivializing Mr. Vick's heinous actions. Michael Vick horrified the world, and especially those of us who devote our lives to promoting the health and welfare of dogs, with his engagement in dog fighting. In addition to the bloody fighting contests, reports indicate that many dogs were electrocuted, drowned or hung for underperformance.

A man who has been convicted of these atrocities should not be held up as a role model of sportsmanship and courage. Further, Ed Block, the award's namesake, dedicated his life to ending the vicious cycle of pain and despair suffered by children at the hands of their abusers. It is unconscionable that a man who tortured and abused helpless animals be honored by an organization dedicated to ending abuse.

Please take a stand against ALL forms of abuse by selecting another player to represent the Philadelphia Eagles at the 32nd Annual Ed Block Courage Awards.

Longtime PetHobbyist BFF and nationally syndicated columnist/best-selling pet author Gina Spadafori wrote this morning about a heroic Los Angeles firefighter and the people who object to the fact that he saved a dog's life:

I opened my e-mail, and found crap from haters who are demanding that "our tax dollars" not be "wasted" on animals. In particular, they’re referring to the dramatic rescue of the dog from the flood-swollen Los Angeles River. Firefighter Joe St. Georges was lowered from a helicopter, wrestled with and was bitten severely by the terrified animal -- but would not give up. Instead, he changed his grip to get the dog's mouth facing out, and then signaled for them to be lifted together out of the raging water.

Folks, that's a hero.

In yet another attack on the reptile community, today Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will look to list the "Big 9" from the USGS survey published in October on the Lacey Act as injurious species:

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will propose to list the Burmese python and eight other large constrictor snakes that threaten the Everglades and other sensitive ecosystems as "injurious wildlife" under the Lacey Act.

Salazar made the announcement at the Port of New York, which serves as the largest point of entry in the nation for imports of wildlife and wildlife products. Last year, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Inspectors at John F. Kennedy International Airport handled more than 27, 000 separate wildlife shipments valued at more than $1 billion, or 16 percent of all U.S. wildlife imports.

The proposal, which will be open to public comment before Salazar makes a final decision, would prohibit importation and interstate transportation of the animals.

"The Burmese python and these other alien snakes are destroying some of our nation’s most treasured – and most fragile – ecosystems," Salazar said. "The Interior Department and states such as Florida are taking swift and common sense action to control and eliminate the populations of these snakes, but it is an uphill battle in ecosystems where they have no natural predators. If we are going to succeed, we must shut down the importation of the snakes and end the interstate commerce and transportation of them."

From PetConnection.com's Kim Campbell Thornton, news that people and their animals are facing evacuation orders in Southern California due to flooding and landslide danger in areas that previously burned:

(P)eople in some burn areas in Los Angeles County are facing mandatory evacuation this morning. People, take your pets with you. There are shelters where they can be cared for during the evacuation period, or you can find a pet-friendly hotel or impose on generous friends or relatives who don’t have allergies. Some shelters for people also have pet-friendly areas, a result of the Katrina debacle. Whatever you do, take your dogs and cats with you. You’ll be glad you did.

The news from Haiti is getting grimmer every moment. Many of our users have asked what they can do to help, and we've put links to the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders in our splash.

For those of us in the animal loving community, two organizations could use your support.

One is the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation, which is on the ground in Haiti now with teams of handlers and dogs specially trained to search for earthquake victims. They are giving updates on the teams deployed in Haiti, and what they're seeing there, on their Twitter feed and Facebook page.

From their media release:

National Disaster Search Dog Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization dedicated to recruiting rescued dogs and partnering them with firefighters to find people buried alive in the wreckage of disasters, today announced six Canine Search Teams are en route to Haiti to assist with search and rescue efforts in response to the powerful 7.0 earthquake that struck the island on January 12. The State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance are working in conjunction with California Task Force 2 (CA-TF2), a FEMA urban search and rescue task force based in Los Angeles County.

As dawn broke over Port-Au-Prince today, a C-17 cargo plane landed with its life-saving cargo: six Canine Disaster Search Teams trained by the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (SDF).

The teams were deployed as part of Los Angeles County’s California Task Force 2 (CA-TF2) to find victims of the earthquake buried under rubble. The teams are now staging on the grounds of the U.S. Embassy.

Ron Weckbacher, who has deployed with his Search Dog Dawson to many disasters including 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, updated SDF via satellite phone on the challenges they face in finding survivors. Teammates Ron Horetski & Pearl, Jason Vasquez & Maverick and Bill Monahan & Hunter are out doing recon around the city to determine where to begin search and rescue efforts.

Other Task Force members are setting up the base of operations that will serve as the Command Post for the long, grueling work in the days ahead. Also recently arrived on the scene is SDF Search Team Julie Padelford-Jansen & Dakota with Florida Task Force 1 (FL-TF1).

As the L.A. Teams stepped off the plane in Haiti, fellow SDF handlers in Sacramento (CA-TF7) and Orange County (CA-TF5) were preparing for deployment. Each Task Force brings over 50,000 pounds of equipment, including vehicles, heavy machinery and supplies in addition to their most valuable tool: live-scent Search Dogs.

The dogs are able to climb and run across rubble, like the piles of concrete in the streets of Port-Au-Prince, and determine within minutes if there are survivors buried below. We will be providing you with daily updates on their progress. Please check www.SearchDogFoundation.org for stories about the teams, and follow us on Twitter.

The devastating earthquake that occurred in Haiti on Tuesday, Jan. 12, is tragic. The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) is closely monitoring the early response in Haiti to determine if and how we and others involved in animal welfare and health may assist in the Haiti response and recovery efforts.

As always with disasters like this, the humanitarian rescue efforts will be the focus in Haiti for the first week or so. However, veterinarians are on standby to assist with the tragedy.

Once the immediate human needs have been met, the AVMA is ready to address the animal issues in any way we can.

For ongoing updates, please follow the AVMA and the AVMA Veterinary Medical Assistance Teams (VMAT) on Twitter:

@AVMAVMAT: AVMA VMAT's twitter feed
@AVMAvets: AVMA's general Twitter feed

The AVMA disaster response efforts led by the AVMA Veterinary Medical Assistance Teams (VMAT) are funded through the generous support of the American Veterinary Medical Foundation. Your donation to the AVMF will help the Foundation make emergency care available to all animals in times of crisis.

(F)or those who, despite AVMA's clear acknowledgment of the human priorities, think it's wrong to even mention the needs of animals, remember there are tremendous public health implications of starving, dead or dying domestic and farm animals as well as wildlife. Veterinary medicine is part of the public health system.