From tinadt at sbcglobal.net Sun Apr 1 12:36:29 2007 From: tinadt at sbcglobal.net (Tina Thomas) Date: Sun, 1 Apr 2007 12:36:29 -0700 Subject: [Cagdu] FW: dog safety reminder and emergency preparedness Message-ID: <200704011936.l31Jag0E011959@lothlorien.nfbcal.org> Subject: dog safety reminder and emergency preparedness This article is not about a guide dog, but it serves as a great reminder on thinking ahead when it comes to the things we keep around and which our dogs might play with. It also is an encouragement for us to become aware of how to help our dogs in an emergency situation. Cincinnati.Com The Enquirer Last Updated: 7:57 pm | Wednesday, March 21, 2007 Quick-thinking owner saves dog BY JENNIFER BAKER | JBAKER at ENQUIRER. COM WEST CHESTER TWP - Luc Bedard knew just what to do when his dog, Mandi, rolled onto her back and choked on a small ball as they romped in the backyard. Bedard, who has been taking CPR classes since he was 12 at the urging of his mother, a nurse, tried to give Mandi the Heimlich Maneuver. But the 160-pound dog was too big for that to work. She was frantic, literally choking to death, and wouldn't stay still. Then, the English Mastiff passed out from lack of air. Desperate to save her, he thrust his hand down her throat to try to pull the tennis-sized ball up while also pushing it up from the outside. The ball popped out, and he blew air into her lungs by placing his mouth over her nose. She revived and is fine. "It was just so scary," the 41-year-old tattoo artist said today in an interview from his West Chester home as he recounted Sunday's ordeal. "You are in a situation where you know the animal is panicking because they can't breathe. Any of us know what it's like when you can't breathe. It's the worst situation." He wasn't squeamish about covering his dog's nose with his mouth. "It didn't matter," he said. "It was no different than me putting my hand down her throat. I was trying to help. It's just like a member of your family. You do what you can to help them." Bedard and his wife have only had Mandi and her brother, Bear, about three months. The dogs are part of the family, which includes their 3 1/2 year-old son, Eli, and two other dogs, Rue and Ben. The couple is throwing out all small toys. "All toys are going to be the size of her head so it's guaranteed she won't swallow them," Bedard said. http://news. enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070321/NEWS01/303210024 Copyright 2007, Enquirer.com __________________________________________________________ Finding fabulous fares is fun. Let Yahoo! FareChase search your favorite travel sites to find flight and hotel bargains. http://farechase. yahoo.com/promo-generic-14795097 __._,_.___ Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic Messages Yahoo! Groups Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Visit Your Group SPONSORED LINKS * Dog handler * Dog school * Dog trainer school * Dog world * Dog world magazine Got Yodel? Best Yahoo! Yodel Give us your best yodel and win! Yahoo! TV You're fired A new season of The Apprentice begins. Sell Online Start selling with our award-winning e-commerce tools. . __,_._,___ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://nfbcal.org/pipermail/cagdu/attachments/20070401/eca9ce3d/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: _AVG certification_.txt Url: http://nfbcal.org/pipermail/cagdu/attachments/20070401/eca9ce3d/attachment.txt From tinadt at sbcglobal.net Sun Apr 1 12:38:04 2007 From: tinadt at sbcglobal.net (Tina Thomas) Date: Sun, 1 Apr 2007 12:38:04 -0700 Subject: [Cagdu] FW: USA: (RE: toxic contamination) FDA Testing Reveals Chemical in Pet Food Message-ID: <200704011938.l31JcH2A021479@lothlorien.nfbcal.org> Tina, Nina and Sicily **"Champions do more" Be sure to check out my online mall At: www.go4gold.biz Subject: USA: (RE: toxic contamination) FDA Testing Reveals Chemical in Pet Food Chicago Tribune news: FDA Testing Reveals Chemical in Pet Food chicagotribune.com FDA Testing Reveals Chemical in Pet Food By ANDREW BRIDGES Associated Press Writer March 30, 2007, 10:03 AM CDT WASHINGTON -- Recalled pet foods contained a chemical used to make plastics, but government tests failed to confirm the presence of rat poison, federal officials said Friday. The Food and Drug Administration said it found melamine in samples of the Menu Foods pet food, as well as in wheat gluten used as an ingredient. Cornell University scientists also have found the chemical, also used as a fertilizer, in the urine of sick cats, as well as in the kidney of one cat that died after eating the company's wet food. Menu Foods recalled 60 million containers of cat and dog food earlier this month after animals died of kidney failure after eating the Canadian company's products. It is not clear how many pets may have been poisoned by the apparently contaminated food, although anecdotal reports suggest hundreds if not thousands have died. The FDA alone has received more than 8,000 complaints. The new finding comes a week after scientists at the New York State Food Laboratory identified a rat poison and cancer drug called aminopterin as the likely culprit. The FDA said it could not confirm that finding. New York officials have detected melamine as well, though it's not clear how that chemical would have poisoned pets. It's typically used to produce plastic kitchen wares, though it's apparently used as a fertilizer in Asia, said Stephen F. Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine. The recall involved nearly 100 brands of "cuts and gravy" style dog and cat food made by Menu Foods. The recall covered products carrying names of major brand-name and private-label products sold throughout North America. The apparently melamine-contaminated wheat gluten also was shipped to an unnamed company that manufactures dry pet food. The FDA is attempting to determine if that product, imported from China, was used to make any pet food, Sundlof said. Menu Foods used wheat gluten, a source of vegetable protein, to thicken the gravy of its pet foods, FDA officials have said. Copyright C 2007, The Associated Press http://www.chicagot ribune.com/features/health/sns-ap-pet-food-recall,1,5230642.story?coll=chi-n ews-hed __________________________________________________________ Looking for earth-friendly autos? Browse Top Cars by "Green Rating" at Yahoo! Autos' Green Center. http://autos. yahoo.com/green_center/ __._,_.___ Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic Messages Yahoo! Groups Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Recent Activity * 1 New Members Visit Your Group Got Yodel? Best Yahoo! Yodel Give us your best yodel and win! Yahoo! TV The Apprentice Get exclusive clips, Recaps & photos. Share Ideas Publish your own blog with Yahoo Web Hosting. . __,_._,___ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://nfbcal.org/pipermail/cagdu/attachments/20070401/b1ef51cc/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: _AVG certification_.txt Url: http://nfbcal.org/pipermail/cagdu/attachments/20070401/b1ef51cc/attachment.txt From tinadt at sbcglobal.net Sun Apr 1 12:39:49 2007 From: tinadt at sbcglobal.net (Tina Thomas) Date: Sun, 1 Apr 2007 12:39:49 -0700 Subject: [Cagdu] FW: Fw: Trainer is a guiding light Message-ID: <200704011940.l31Je1qr012507@lothlorien.nfbcal.org> t: [GDUI-Friends] Fw: Trainer is a guiding light The Wilmslow Express, Cheshire (UK) Wednesday, March 14, 2007 Trainer is a guiding light By Ria Nortcliffe Caption: DAMIEN Riley with one of his pupils! TRAINING a pet pooch is enough to send some people barking mad - but not Damien Riley. That's because Guide Dog mobility instructor Damien knows how valuable these four legged friends can be to human life. And he should know - for he turns playful pups into man's best friend. AdvertisementMany are destined to give blind or partially sighted people back some freedom and independence. Damien, an instructor with the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association for 10 years said: "They can change people's lives and give them the confidence to go out and get jobs or take their children to school. The dogs are their link to the outside world." Although basic training begins when the dogs are just six weeks old, they come to Damien after 15 months. His job is to build on the guiding principles the dogs have learned and fine tune their training as well as teaching their new owners how to handle them. Damien, 29, of Cumber Lane, Wilmslow is now based in the town and trains guide dogs and their new owners across the district from Runcorn to Crewe. He uses the Holiday Inn Hotel as a base for training before taking the dogs out into the town centre where they can practice walking with their new owners. Damien, who is back at the hotel all this week training three more dogs and their owners, said: "I used to be situated in Bolton where the main training centre is but Guide Dogs decided to put instructors in local areas and cover a certain patch. I now cover this part of Cheshire. "My job is to take on people who are receiving a new dog because their old one has retired or people who have never had a guide dog before and need to start training from scratch. "During a three week period I teach them how to handle their dogs in social situations such as town centres and shops and then I go into the owner's homes to teach about the welfare of the dog and such things as grooming and obedience. This also allows me to train the dogs on specific routes the owner makes daily to the local shops or doctors for example. We gear all training around the owner's needs." Golden retrievers, Labradors or German shepherds are seen as the best breeds for the task due to their temperament, intelligence and capacity for learning quickly. They are bred at a centre in Warwickshire and go on to be handled by volunteer puppy walkers from six weeks old for the first year of their life to enable them to be house trained. They are then introduced to street life, going into shops or on public transport. At 12 months old the dog then goes to a kennel to begin its serious training before going on to train with a mobility instructor. The charity, now more than 70 years old, commits to every dog for life which is why the cost of looking after and training each dog costs around ?35,000. "Guide Dogs doesn't receive any government funding and there are around 5,000 guide dogs out there which need veterinary treatment, food, and training," said Damien. "That is why we need as many volunteers and donations as possible. In the Wilmslow area for example we're quite short of volunteer puppy walkers who are essential in the first stages of the dogs' training." And for those trying to teach their old dogs new tricks, Damien is also starting up his own business on spare evenings and weekends. He said: "Increasingly people in the town have been asking me if I would do any one to one training with their pet dogs so I decided to start up my own business doing private behavioural work - but it's still in its infancy." For more information about becoming a volunteer for the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association or Damien's one-to-one behavioural sessions can contact him on 07798701619. http://www.thewilmslowexpress.co.uk/news/s/224/224611_trainer_is_a_guiding_l ight.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- -- BlindNews mailing list To contact a list moderator about a problem or to make a request, send a message to BlindNews-Owner at BlindProgramming.com The BlindNews list is archived at: http://GeoffAndWen.com/blind/ To address a message to all members of the list, send mail to: BlindNews at blindprogramming.com Access your subscription info at: http://blindprogramming.com/mailman/listinfo/blindnews_blindprogramming.com To unsubscribe via e-mail: send a message to BlindNews-Request at BlindProgramming.com with the word unsubscribe in either the subject or body of the message ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- No virus found in this incoming message. 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Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 268.18.15/728 - Release Date: 3/20/2007 8:07 AM From tinadt at sbcglobal.net Sun Apr 1 12:34:11 2007 From: tinadt at sbcglobal.net (Tina Thomas) Date: Sun, 1 Apr 2007 12:34:11 -0700 Subject: [Cagdu] FW: USA: Clicker Training and Guide Dogs Message-ID: <200704011934.l31JYP14014656@lothlorien.nfbcal.org> Subject: USA: Clicker Training and Guide Dogs Posted with permission: This article appeared in the Spring, 2007 issue of Alumni News, produced by Guide Dogs for the Blind, Inc. "Click On This!" By Michele Pouliot, Director of Research and Development A huge buzz this year surrounding GDB is the exciting addition of an extraordinary training tool into our formal training program. This powerful tool is the training method called "Clicker training." Many of our clients and staff have already been involved with these contemporary training techniques and are very excited about our results so far. For those of you either not familiar with "Clicker training" or those of you who have heard the term but do not understand much about it, here is a quick overview. Karen Pryor is one of the leading experts in the development of clicker training methods and responsible for providing an enormous amount of educational materials about clicker training. The following is an excerpt from Karen Pryor's website, www.clickertraining.com. "Clicker training is the popular term for the training or teaching method based on what we know about how living organisms learn. Research has shown that any creature-whether a dog, cat, dolphin, parrot, fish, horse, llama, or person-is more likely to learn and repeat actions that result in consequences it desires and enjoys. So clicker trainers provide consequences desired by their animal in exchange for actions or behaviors desired by their trainers. We call these consequences 'rewards' and the process is called 'reinforcement.' Clicker training, therefore, is a positive-reinforcement-based system of training. The essential difference between clicker training and other reward-based training is that the animal is told exactly which behavior earned it a reward. This information is communicated with a distinct and unique sound, a click, which occurs at the same time as the desired behavior. The reward follows." How does this apply to guide dog training? Clicker training techniques allow us to very precisely communicate to the dogs what behaviors we want them to do and gain enthusiastic responses from them when they perform those behaviors. Traditional guide dog training utilizes praise to inform the dog of what behavior we want them to continue to perform. It relies on using a verbal word or phrase ("Good dog!", "Atta boy") immediately when the dog performs in order to tell the dog it has done well. Although this clearly works, it is not nearly as precise as communicating with an audible event marker like a clicker. The clicker's sound has meaning to the dog because the trainer first conditions the dog to expect high value reward following the sound of the click. So the first advantage is the preciseness the clicker's brief sound has in marking the moment the dog does a behavior. The second huge advantage is the immediate emotion the dog feels upon hearing the click. Because the dog has been conditioned that high value reward follows every "click", the dog is very happy when it hears the click and will initiate performing in order to get the handler to click. Think of it as empowering the dog to take part in its education, teaching it to try harder and harder to cause the handler to click. Could you use a verbal word, like "Yes", as an event marker? Sure you could, but it would not be as precise as the clicker. Besides not being as brief a sound, how many times in a day do you say the word "Yes" in conversation? How many different inflections of "Yes" are there in your voice? The clicker is simply a very effective "audible marker" tool. It is a very brief, distinct sound that always sounds the same. Food reward training without using a clicker is also very effective and motivating to dogs. It certainly adds a high value to the dog in hearing praise and then receiving a food reward. The essential difference between clicker training and reward training without the clicker is that the dog is precisely told which behavior earned a reward. The exact moment in time the behavior happened is communicated with the distinct 'click'. Think of a 'click' like taking a still photo of a moment in time. That frozen moment is captured in the dogs mind and they remember that moment as the reason they are getting the food reward. Although the actual food reward follows the click a couple of seconds later, the dog fully understands what exact behavior is being rewarded. In more scientific terms, the audible click connects the behavior to its reward, and is called both a "bridging signal" and an "event marker". Guide Dogs for the Blind began experimenting and researching clicker training techniques in 2000, by using the methods to problem solve negative behaviors in particular dogs. In 2001, we began to apply some use of general food reward in our formal training program and with our graduates. Most everyone is aware of the historical reluctance to use food rewards in guide dog work due to the fact that guide dogs have to constantly work around food in the environment. Although we were not yet using clicker methods, the experience we gained in developing effective ways to use food rewards, without creating problem behaviors around environmental food, was invaluable. The methods we designed for using food reward in a guide dog program were successful and prevented any of the problems that skeptics predicted. After 4 years of successfully using general food rewards, in 2005 the training department took another giant leap in adopting clicker training techniques into the formal training program of all dogs. This has been a huge project over the past 2 years that continues to expand and be modified. The first task was to educate and coach over 70 instructor staff at two campuses in new training techniques that were totally foreign to most of them. Although we had a few capable clicker trainers on staff, we hired a professional expert as our ongoing consultant. We could not have chosen a more skilled and motivational consultant than Kathy Sdao (pronounced Sa De O), who is located close to our campus. Kathy continues to work with us each year in modifying and expanding our use of clicker techniques to ensure we gain the best results possible for our program. We could not be happier with the results in our formal training program and certainly attribute our impressive success rates, in part, to adopting clicker training. Two years into our clicker training program, we are now expanding instruction into client programs. The fact that all graduating guide dogs are now clickerwise, opens the ability for our graduates to make use of this powerful tool. This year's main clicker project for clients is to provide clicker training instruction during class training. This project has been in development for over a year as the techniques must be modified for use by a blind handler. Clicker training is very reliant on the trainer's observation of the dogs' behavior, which demanded modifications to enable visually impaired handlers to effectively clicker train their guides. What types of behaviors would a client train their guide dog to perform? Targeting specific locations like finding empty chairs, pedestrian crossing buttons, bus stops, specific doorways, to mention just a few. The first GDB student clicker workshop took place during one of our February classes and was very well received by a very enthusiastic group of students. Although the workshop was optional, every student in class attended and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. This past July, Lori Brown and Michele Pouliot gave an in depth presentation on our clicker training program at the International Guide Dog Federation Seminar in New York City. The majority of guide dog schools around the world, including within the USA, have paid little attention to this method of training. The room was standing room only for the GDB clicker presentation, with over a dozen people poking their heads in from the hallways trying to see the video screen. Most of the audience was guide dog trainers from around the world with a few guide dog users present. The room was a mix of those just curious, those very interested, and several genuine skeptics. The response to the presentation was phenomenal. Two overseas guide dog schools voiced immediately wanting to adopt clicker techniques and requested our assistance. Over 12 other guide dog schools requested copies of our presentation with the intent of sharing it with their staff for possible implementation. Even a few of the skeptics commended GDB for our innovation and devotion to excellence in guide dog work. Since the July presentation, we have responded to a total of 18 requests from other guide dog schools for information on our clicker training program. Needless to say, we are very proud. Here is another notable experience to share with you about recognition over our clicker program. Each year, Karen Pryor puts on educational conferences across the US to teach and improve trainers' skills with clicker training. These events are called Clicker Expos and are attended largely by trainers of pet dogs and instructors of clients with pets. An incredible faculty of clicker experts give presentations and demonstrations over a full 3-day conference, including our own consultant Kathy Sdao. Six GDB staff attended the recent Clicker Expo in Los Angeles to learn more from these skilled clicker experts. During the final general session, Kathy Sdao shared some video footage of GDB's clicker program to the audience and the other faculty members, and spoke of our adoption of clicker. We are proud to report the reactions to these video clips were nothing short of fantastic. Following the general session, we were overwhelmed with flattering remarks over what we have accomplished in our guide dog program. Several of the Clicker Expo faculty members commented on how impressed and how inspired they were to see clicker training being used in such a noble field of dog work. We are also very pleased to report that Karen Pryor has invited Michele Pouliot to present on guide dog training at the 2008 Clicker Expos. To quote Karen, "I think people would be VERY interested in clicker training guide dogs. Lots of people have misconceptions and the behaviors in general are quite a challenge. You are doing some extremely innovative things." These are true compliments to the work Guide Dogs for the Blind has accomplished through openness to change while maintaining the highest quality. We continue to learn more about this remarkable training method called clicker training and will be researching other ways it can enrich any of our programs. One thing you can count on, you have not hear the last "click". Want to learn more about clicker training? Visit Karen Pryor's website at www.clickertraining.com where you will find an abundance of information. __________________________________________________________ No need to miss a message. Get email on-the-go with Yahoo! Mail for Mobile. Get started. http://mobile. yahoo.com/mail __._,_.___ Messages in this topic (0) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic Messages Yahoo! Groups Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Recent Activity * 1 New Members Visit Your Group SPONSORED LINKS * Dog school * Dog trainer school * Dog world * Dog world magazine * Dog world subscription Got Yodel? Best Yahoo! Yodel Give us your best yodel and win! Yahoo! TV American Idol See the newest show pics! Y! GeoCities Share Your Resume Show off your talent and skills. . __,_._,___ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://nfbcal.org/pipermail/cagdu/attachments/20070401/152db4db/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: _AVG certification_.txt Url: http://nfbcal.org/pipermail/cagdu/attachments/20070401/152db4db/attachment.txt From tinadt at sbcglobal.net Mon Apr 2 14:14:54 2007 From: tinadt at sbcglobal.net (Tina Thomas) Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2007 14:14:54 -0700 Subject: [Cagdu] FW: [GDUI-Friends] Recall has expanded to treats for dogs and cats Message-ID: <200704022115.l32LF9W3006196@lothlorien.nfbcal.org> Subject: Recall has expanded to treats for dogs and cats Importance: High The recall has expanded to treats for dogs and cats. This is long and extremely detailed. See below. FYI, for those of you who use Pounce moist treats when clicker training... March 31, 2007 07:14 PM Eastern Daylight Time Del Monte Pet Products Voluntarily Withdraws Specific Product Codes of Pet Treats and Wet Dog Food Products SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As a precautionary measure, Del Monte Pet Products is voluntarily recalling select product codes of its pet treat products sold under the Jerky TreatsR, Gravy TrainR Beef Sticks and Pounce Meaty MorselsR brands as well as select dog snack and wet dog food products sold under private label brands. A complete list of affected brands and products is below. The Company took this voluntary recall action immediately after learning this morning from the FDA that wheat gluten supplied to Del Monte Pet Products from a specific manufacturing facility in China contained melamine. Melamine is a substance not approved for use in food. The FDA made this finding as part of its ongoing investigation into the recent pet food recall. The adulteration occurred in a limited production quantity on select product codes of the brands below. This recall removes all Del Monte pet products with wheat gluten procured from this manufacturing facility from retail shelves. No other Del Monte Pet Products treats, biscuits or wet dog food products are impacted by this recall, and no Del Monte dry cat food, dry dog food, wet cat food or pouched pet foods are subject to this voluntary recall. The affected products comprise less than one-tenth of one percent of Del Monte Pet Products' annual pet food and pet treat production. Del Monte Pet Products has proactively engaged and fully cooperated with the FDA since the start of its investigation. The adulterated ingredients were used in limited production over the last three months for those items identified by specific product codes. Del Monte Pet Products has not used wheat gluten from this manufacturing facility in China in any other pet products except those described below. Consumers should discontinue feeding the products with the Product Codes detailed below to their pets. Del Monte Pet Products are 100% guaranteed and all returned product will be refunded. Del Monte Pet Products customers can visit our website (www.delmonte.com) or contact our Consumer Hotline at (800) 949-3799 for further information about the recall and for instructions on obtaining a product refund. Following is a list of the Products and Best Buy Dates that have been voluntarily recalled: Production Code/Best By Date BRANDED Jerky Treats Beef Flavor Code: TP7C05 TP7B07 TP7B08 TP7B09 TP6B10 Dog Snacks Best By: Aug 05 08 Aug 07 08 Aug 08 08 Aug 09 08 Aug 10 08 Code: TP7B15 TP7C05 TP7C06 Best By: Aug 15 08 Sep 02 08 Sep 03 08 Gravy Train Beef Sticks Code: TP7B19 TP7B20 TP7B21 Dog Snacks Best By: Aug 19 08 Aug 20 08 Aug 21 08 Pounce Meaty Morsels Moist Code: TP7C07 TP7C12 Chicken Flavor Cat Treats Best By: Sep 04 08 Sep 09 08 PRIVATE LABEL Ol' Roy Beef Flavor Jerky Strips Code: TP7B06 TP7B07 TP7C05 TP7C06 TP7C07 Dog Treats Best By: Aug 06 08 Aug 07 08 Sep 02 08 Sep 03 08 Sep 04 08 Code: TP7C08 Best By: Sep 05 08 Ol' Roy Beef Flavor Snack Code: TP7B19 TP7B20 TP7B21 TP7C08 TP7C09 Sticks Dog Treats Best By: Aug 19 08 Aug 20 08 Aug 21 08 Sep 05 08 Sep 06 08 Ol' Roy Bark'n Bac'n Beef & Code: TP7C14 Bacon Flavor Dog Treats Best By: Sep 11 08 Ol' Roy with Beef Hearty Cuts Code: BC6M21 in Gravy Dog Food Best By: Dec 21 09 Ol' Roy with Beef Hearty Strips Code: BC7A19 in Gravy Dog Food Best By: Jan 19 10 Ol' Roy Country Stew Hearty Code: BC6M15 Cuts in Gravy Dog Food Best By: Dec 15 09 Dollar General Beef Flavored Code: TP7C06 Jerky Strips Dog Treats Best By: Sep 03 08 Dollar General Beef Flavored Code: TP7B20 TP7B21 Beef Sticks Dog Treats Best By: Aug 20 08 Aug 21 08 Happy Tails Beef Flavor Code: TPY7B08 TP7B09 Jerky Strips Best By: Aug 08 08 Aug 09 08 Happy Tails Meaty Cuts with Beef Code: BC7A29 in Gravy Dog Food Best By: Jan 29 10 As part of the pet community, we value the health and well-being of pets, and we deeply regret this unfortunate situation. We will continue to take any and all actions necessary to ensure the quality and safety of our products. Contacts Del Monte Foods Mary Sestric, 412-222-8091 Or Melissa Murphy-Brown, 412-222-8713 Eight In One Announces Nationwide Recall of All Lots of Dingo(R) CHICK'N JERKY Treats for Dogs, Cats and Ferrets Saturday March 31, 11:30 am ET CINCINNATI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Eight In One, Inc., a division of United Pet Group, Inc., is voluntarily recalling nationally all lots of DingoR CHICK'N JERKY treats due to Company concerns that the jerky treats have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella, which can cause serious infections in dogs and cats, and, if there is cross contamination, in people, especially children, the aged, and people with compromised immune systems. The Food and Drug Administration is aware of this recall. ADVERTISEMENT The products affected were sold at Target, PetSmart and other retailers. The products subject to this voluntary recall are Dingo CHICK'N JERKY 3.5 oz. and 8 oz. for dogs and Dingo Kitty CHICKEN JERKY 1.5 oz. for cats and Dingo Ferret CHICKEN JERKY 1.5 oz for ferrets. Laboratory testing has shown that some samples of these chicken jerky treats were contaminated with Salmonella. The company is recalling all these products out of an abundance of caution. Salmonella can potentially be transferred to people handling these pet treats, especially if they have not thoroughly washed their hands after having contact with the products or any surfaces exposed to these products. Healthy people infected with Salmonella can have some or all of 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 be lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever, and vomiting. Some pets will have only decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain. Apparently well animals can be a carrier and infect other animals or humans. If your pet has consumed the recalled product and has these symptoms, please contact your veterinarian. The company has received one report of Salmonellosis in a dog. There are no reports of human illness. These products are being removed from retail stores. Consumers should immediately stop feeding these treats to their pets. Consumers who purchased any of the above-identified CHICK'N JERKY TREATS should discontinue use of the products and should discard the unused portion. Consumer can obtain information on receiving refunds by contacting the Eight In One consumer affairs department at 1-888-232-9889. Retailer and other inquiries into this recall should also be directed to the Eight In One consumer affairs department at 1-800-645-5154 x 3. Contact: For Eight In One, Inc. Jamie Tully Victoria Hofstad Matt Benson 212-687-8080, ext. 293 Source: Eight In One, Inc. Vanessa, Griffin (AKA "Child", and Kitkat the cat Walk softly and wear a big grin, for today is the first day of the rest of your life. :-) val4dogs at bcpl. net __._,_.___ Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic Messages | Files | Photos | Links | Database | Members | Calendar Yahoo! Groups Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Recent Activity * 2 New Members Visit Your Group Got Yodel? Best Yahoo! Yodel Give us your best yodel and win! Yahoo! TV American Idol Rank your favorites now! Y! GeoCities Share More Create a blog, web site, and more. . __,_._,___ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://nfbcal.org/pipermail/cagdu/attachments/20070402/2ea9c36d/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: _AVG certification_.txt Url: http://nfbcal.org/pipermail/cagdu/attachments/20070402/2ea9c36d/attachment.txt From tinadt at sbcglobal.net Mon Apr 2 14:16:04 2007 From: tinadt at sbcglobal.net (Tina Thomas) Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2007 14:16:04 -0700 Subject: [Cagdu] FW: FYINorth Carolina Senate approves penalties for harming service dogs Message-ID: <200704022116.l32LGJLo024408@lothlorien.nfbcal.org> Subject: FYINorth Carolina Senate approves penalties for harming service dogs Subject: [K9Scoop] North Carolina, USA: State Senate Approves Bill To Increase Penalties For Harming Service Dogs. Rocky Mount, North Carolina: Senate Okays police and Service dog legislation By J. Eric Eckard Rocky Mount Telegram Friday, March 30, 2007 Rocky Mount police Cpl. Chris Hicks is at the center of a bill that's passing through the N.C. General Assembly, but he shuns the publicity. The N.C. Senate unanimously passed a bill a few weeks ago that would make killing a police dog or an assistance animal, such as a Seeing Eye dog, a Class H felony. At present, committing such a crime would be considered a Class I felony. If the N.C. House passes the same bill and the governor signs it into law, anyone convicted of this crime in the future would receive a harsher penalty than 26-year-old Marcus Henderson would have faced if his case had gone to trial. "I see it as something positive but not just for me or Danny, for all K-9 handlers in North Carolina," Hicks said. "I think it's a positive change for everybody." Henderson was accused of shooting and killing Hicks' K-9 partner, Danny, during a shootout in July. But because the U.S. attorney's office decided to prosecute Henderson under federal weapons and drug laws, the state charges were dismissed, authorities said. That hasn't stopped N.C. Sen. A.B. Swindell, D-Nash, from pushing the bill through the legislature. "We passed it in the Senate, and that's wonderful," Swindell, the bill's sponsor, said of the 47-0 vote on March 14. "And I have not heard one peep of opposition." The bill now sits in the House, Swindell said, and he expects it to pass there pretty quickly. "I'm glad it had in there not only police animals, but assistance animals, too," he said. "I think people want this. "Anyone who willfully (kills) a police animal or an assistance animal shouldn't get just a slap on the wrist." The proposed law wouldn't guarantee prison time for those convicted, but it doubles the punishment allowed for those with extensive criminal backgrounds. And the new law also would differentiate between assaulting a police dog and killing one. "We're halfway there," said Hicks, who now patrols with a new dog, Chance. "And I don't see it as a problem getting it passed." Find this article at: http://www.rockymou nttelegram.com/local/content/news/stories/2007/03/31/newdoglaw.html [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] __._,_.___ Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic Messages | Polls Yahoo! Groups Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Visit Your Group Got Yodel? Best Yahoo! Yodel Give us your best yodel and win! Yahoo! TV You're fired A new season of The Apprentice begins. Y! GeoCities Share Interests Connect with others on the web. . __,_._,___ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://nfbcal.org/pipermail/cagdu/attachments/20070402/b8acaf55/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: _AVG certification_.txt Url: http://nfbcal.org/pipermail/cagdu/attachments/20070402/b8acaf55/attachment.txt From tinadt at sbcglobal.net Mon Apr 2 14:19:30 2007 From: tinadt at sbcglobal.net (Tina Thomas) Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2007 14:19:30 -0700 Subject: [Cagdu] FW: Leader Dogs gets $25,000 AT&T grant Message-ID: <200704022119.l32LJjDR009668@lothlorien.nfbcal.org> Subject: Leader Dogs gets $25,000 AT&T grant Detroit Free Press, MI, USA Friday, March 16, 2007 Leader Dogs gets $25,000 AT&T grant Leader Dogs for the Blind has won a $25,000 grant from the AT&T Foundation to train visually impaired and blind people to use handheld global positioning devices and pocket personal computers. It's part of the organization's new program, called Work Counts, which is aimed at teaching its clients computer skills and how to use the Internet. Leader Dogs for the Blind is best known for its core business, which is training dogs to help visually impaired and blind people. http://www.freep. com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070316/NEWS03/703160382/1001/NEWS -- BlindNews mailing list To contact a list moderator about a problem or to make a request, send a message to BlindNews-Owner@ BlindProgramming.com The BlindNews list is archived at: http://GeoffAndWen. com/blind/ To address a message to all members of the list, send mail to: BlindNews at blindprog ramming.com Access your subscription info at: http://blindprogram ming.com/mailman/listinfo/blindnews_blindprogramming.com To unsubscribe via e-mail: send a message to BlindNews-Request@ BlindProgramming.com with the word unsubscribe in either the subject or body of the message -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 268.18.14/727 - Release Date: 3/19/2007 11:49 AM __._,_.___ Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic Messages | Files | Photos | Links | Database | Members | Calendar Yahoo! Groups Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Recent Activity * 2 New Members Visit Your Group Got Yodel? Best Yahoo! Yodel Give us your best yodel and win! Yahoo! TV The Apprentice Watch a new season in Los Angeles Market Online Drive customers to your web site with Sponsored Search. . __,_._,___ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://nfbcal.org/pipermail/cagdu/attachments/20070402/57a75247/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: _AVG certification_.txt Url: http://nfbcal.org/pipermail/cagdu/attachments/20070402/57a75247/attachment.txt From tinadt at sbcglobal.net Mon Apr 2 17:34:45 2007 From: tinadt at sbcglobal.net (Tina Thomas) Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2007 17:34:45 -0700 Subject: [Cagdu] FW: dog food recall list updated Message-ID: <200704030035.l330Yxor021346@lothlorien.nfbcal.org> Subject: dog food recall list updated As you may know, the current pet food recall has expanded to include several more products from three different companies since our last communication with you. What follows is the latest information from each. So that you are not deluged with constant email notifications from us, we suggest you check the Food and Drug Administration's website for up-to-the-minute updates. You can visit the FDA site at http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/rssRecalls.xml to get the latest news or subscribe to receive automatic updates. These are the products most recently added to the recall list: >From Del Monte Jerky Treats Beef Flavor Dog Snacks Gravy Train Beef Sticks Dog Snacks Pounce Meaty Morsels Moist Chicken Flavor Cat Treats Ol' Roy Beef Flavor Jerky Strips Dog Treats Ol' Roy Beef Flavor Snack Sticks Dog Treats Ol' Roy Bark'n Bac'n Beef & Bacon Flavor Dog Treats Ol' Roy with Beef Hearty Cuts in Gravy Dog Food Ol' Roy with Beef Hearty Strips in Gravy Dog Food Ol' Roy Country Stew Hearty Cuts in Gravy Dog Food Dollar General Beef Flavored Jerky Strips Dog Treats Dollar General Beef Flavored Beef Sticks Dog Treats Happy Tails Beef Flavor Jerky Strips >From Nestl? Purina PetCare Company All sizes and varieties of ALPO Prime Cuts in Gravy wet dog food with specific date codes. Please check the Purina website for specific dates. No Purina brand dry pet foods are affected by the recall - including ALPO Prime Cuts dry. In addition, no other Purina dog food products, no Purina cat food products, Purina treat products or Purina Veterinary Diet products are included in this recall >From Hill's Science Diet Hill's Prescription Diet m/d Feline Dry Food. This is the only product Hill's currently sells in the United States and Canada that contains wheat gluten from any supplier. No other Hill's Prescription Diet or Science Diet products are affected by this voluntary recall. Sincerely, The Seeing Eye Canine Health Department -- Shepherds are the best beasts! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://nfbcal.org/pipermail/cagdu/attachments/20070402/cdacc3f8/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: _AVG certification_.txt Url: http://nfbcal.org/pipermail/cagdu/attachments/20070402/cdacc3f8/attachment.txt From tinadt at sbcglobal.net Thu Apr 5 15:01:33 2007 From: tinadt at sbcglobal.net (Tina Thomas) Date: Thu, 5 Apr 2007 15:01:33 -0700 Subject: [Cagdu] FW: The MAC public hearing? Message-ID: <200704052201.l35M1pdD025199@lothlorien.nfbcal.org> Subject: The MAC public hearing? This is a new or modified article about the cabbies in Minneapolis, MN. Minnesota Muslims to Offer Free Cab Rides for the Blind MINNEAPOLIS, Minn., > March 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN) today announced that Muslim employees of the Twin Cities Airport Taxi, Viking Airport Taxi and Bloomington City Taxi will offer free cab rides to blind individuals (and their guide dogs) attending a one-day semiannual convention of the National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota. The convention will take place on April 21, 2007, in Minneapolis. The Muslim drivers are also willing to provide each convention member with his or her personal driver for the day, free of charge. CAIR-MN facilitated the offer after inaccurate reports surfaced of cab drivers refusing to serve passengers with guide dogs. "As Muslims, we believe that we must do all we can to assist those who have physical challenges and special needs," said CAIR-MN Communications Director Valerie Shirley. Shirley quoted Islam's Prophet Muhammad, who said: "There are many doors to goodness. . listening to the deaf (until you understand them), leading the blind, guiding someone to the object of his need, hurrying with the strength of one's legs to one in sorrow who is asking for help, and supporting the weak with the strength of one's arms -- all of these are (forms of) charity prescribed for you." (Fiqh-us-Sunnah, 3:98) Muslim taxi drivers claim that they have been misunderstood and misrepresented in the media. "This has never been an issue for us," said Abdinoor Ahmed Dolal, owner of Twin Cities Airport Taxi. "Islam forbids us to turn away a blind passenger, whether they have a guide dog or not. Their rights come first." CAIR-MN and the Muslim taxi drivers intend to extend this same offer to members attending the American Council of the Blind Convention to be > held in Minneapolis in late June of this year. CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, has 32 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding. CONTACT: CAIR-MN Communications > Director Valerie Shirley, Tel: 763-226- 5866, E-Mail: valerie.shirley@ gmail.com SOURCE Council on American-Islamic Relations www.technorati.com ========. From: "Arthur Nolden" < To: < Sent: Tuesday, April 03, 2007 3:08 PM Subject: Re: The MAC public hearing? I understand that the N F B Con is coming up in a couple of weeks in Minneapolis, MN. Well, who has information about whatever happened at the public MAC meeting that was scheduled about two months ago? The article is re-circulating about the Muslem cab drivers who are offering free rides to blind or v/i people with guide dogs,and even being > their personal driver for the day. Incidentally, who is Valerie Shirley -- who is named and quoted in the article? The article, which now does not touch on the alcohol part of the matter, states that there were "inaccurate reports" that the cabbies had refused > to give rides to people with guide dogs. What is the name of the person who is going to speak at the NFB Con on behalf of the Muslem cabbies, or on behalf of that group? Art =========. -- I am using the free version of SPAMfighter for private users. It has removed 700 spam emails to date. Paying users do not have this message in their emails. Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfigh ter.com/len [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] __._,_.___ Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic Messages | Files | Photos | Links | Database | Members | Calendar Yahoo! Groups Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Recent Activity * 2 New Members Visit Your Group Got Yodel? Best Yahoo! Yodel Give us your best yodel and win! Yahoo! TV Sign up for alerts Stay tuned in for The Apprentice. Y! GeoCities Share More Create a blog, web site, and more. . __,_._,___ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://nfbcal.org/pipermail/cagdu/attachments/20070405/74dbdf16/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: _AVG certification_.txt Url: http://nfbcal.org/pipermail/cagdu/attachments/20070405/74dbdf16/attachment.txt From kenvolonte at comcast.net Sat Apr 21 11:20:48 2007 From: kenvolonte at comcast.net (Ken Volonte) Date: Sat, 21 Apr 2007 11:20:48 -0700 Subject: [Cagdu] Sign up for list serve Message-ID: <000d01c78441$c95a0890$b445b643@ken5f734aa928e> Please sign Ken Volonte back onto the list serve. Thankyou kenvolonte at comcast.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://nfbcal.org/pipermail/cagdu/attachments/20070421/98875f55/attachment.html From tinadt at sbcglobal.net Sat Apr 21 19:52:52 2007 From: tinadt at sbcglobal.net (Tina Thomas) Date: Sat, 21 Apr 2007 19:52:52 -0700 Subject: [Cagdu] FW: [G-Dogs] Pet Foods May Have Been Intentionally Poisoned Message-ID: <200704220253.l3M2r1V6017895@lothlorien.nfbcal.org> Pet Foods May Have Been Intentionally Poisoned Pet Foods May Have Been Intentionally Poisoned Food And Drug Administration Seeks Reasons Why So Many Pets Were Affected (CBS) WASHINGTON Imported ingredients used in recalled pet food may have been intentionally spiked with an industrial chemical to boost their apparent protein content, federal officials said Thursday. That's one theory being pursued by the Food and Drug Administration as it investigates how the chemical, melamine, contaminated at least two ingredients used to make more than 100 brands of dog and cat foods. In California, state agriculture officials placed a hog farm under quarantine after melamine was found in pig urine there. Additional testing is under way to determine whether the chemical was present in the meat produced by American Hog Farm in Ceres since April 3, the state Department of Food and Agriculture said. So far, melamine's been found in both wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate imported from China. Media reports from South Africa suggest a third pet food ingredient, corn gluten, used in that country also was contaminated with melamine. That tainted ingredient has not been found in the United States, according to the FDA, which is maintaining a pet food recall website with advice for worried pet owners. FDA investigators are awaiting visas that will allow them to visit the Chinese plants where the vegetable protein ingredients were produced. "Melamine was found in all three of those - it would certainly lend credibility to the theory that it may be intentional. That will be one of the theories we will pursue when we get into the plants in China," Stephen Sundlof, the FDA's chief veterinarian, told reporters. Chinese authorities have told the FDA that the wheat gluten was an industrial product not meant for pet food, Sundlof said. Still, melamine can skew test results to make a product appear more protein-rich than it really is, he added. That raises the possibility the contamination was deliberate. "What we expect to do with our inspections in China will answer some of those questions," said Michael Rogers, director of the division of field investigations within the FDA's office of regulatory affairs. Wilbur-Ellis Co., the U.S. importer of the tainted rice protein, said Thursday it was recalling all the ingredient it had distributed to five U.S. pet food manufacturers. The San Francisco company in turn urged its customers to recall any products that may be on store shelves. So far, just two of those companies have done so: Natural Balance Pet Foods and Blue Buffalo Co. Natural Balance, of Pacoima, Calif., announced a limited recall Monday of its Venison and Brown Rice canned and bagged dog foods, Venison and Brown Rice dog treats and Venison and Green Pea dry cat food. Blue Buffalo, of Wilton, Conn., followed Thursday by recalling 5,044 bags of its Spa Select Kitten dry food. The company intercepted most of the kitten food before it reached distribution centers, company co-founder Billy Bishop said. FDA officials would not release the names of the other two manufacturers that Wilbur-Ellis supplied, citing its ongoing investigation. The huge scale of the recall has alarmed public and animal advocacy groups alike. "This has exposed that the safety standards for pet foods are not in place in any significant way and the kind of drumbeat, day after day, of recalls has shaken consumers' confidence in the pet food industry's adherence to food safety standards," said Wayne Pacelle, president and chief executive officer of the Humane Society of the United States. The FDA could not provide updated numbers of pet deaths or injuries due to the contaminated pet food. The agency has received more than 15,000 calls since the first recall was announced more than a month ago. The FDA and Agriculture Department also were investigating whether some pet food made by one of the five companies supplied by Wilbur-Ellis was diverted for use as hog feed after it was found unsuitable for pet consumption. "We understand it did make it into some hog feed and we are following up on that as well," Sundlof said. Later Thursday, California officials said they believe the melamine at the quarantined hog farm came from rice protein concentrate imported from China by Diamond Pet Food's Lathrop facility, which produces products under the Natural Balance brand and sold salvage pet food to the farm for pig feed. "Although all animals appear healthy, we are taking this action out of an abundance of caution," State Veterinarian Richard Breitmeyer said in a statement. "It is unknown if the chemical will be detected in meat." Officials are investigating American Hog Farm's sales records to determine who may be affected by the quarantine, said Steve Lyle, a spokesman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture. The 1,500-animal farm operates as a "custom slaughterhouse," which means it generally does not supply meat to commercial outlets. "Mostly it is not so-called mainstream pork. This is an operation that sells to folks who come in and want a whole pig," said Lyle said. Officials urged those who purchased pigs from American Hog Farm since April 3 to not consume the product until further notice. Dr. Mark Horton, state public health officer, said so far "evidence suggests a minimal health risk to persons who may have consumed pork" from the farm. A man who answered the phone for American Hog Farm late Thursday declined to comment and referred calls to state officials. Phone calls to Diamond Pet Food's Lathrop facility and Meta, Mo., headquarters were not immediately returned. ((c) 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. ) __._,_.___ Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic Messages | Calendar Yahoo! Groups Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Recent Activity * 3 New Members Visit Your Group SPONSORED LINKS * Dog world * Dog world magazine * Dog world subscription * Dog world mag * Guide Got Yodel? Best Yahoo! Yodel Give us your best yodel and win! Yahoo! TV Sign up for alerts Stay tuned in for The Apprentice. Sitebuilder Over 380 Templates Build and custo- mize your web site . __,_._,___ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://nfbcal.org/pipermail/cagdu/attachments/20070421/42c06f72/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: _AVG certification_.txt Url: http://nfbcal.org/pipermail/cagdu/attachments/20070421/42c06f72/attachment.txt From tinadt at sbcglobal.net Sat Apr 21 19:54:43 2007 From: tinadt at sbcglobal.net (Tina Thomas) Date: Sat, 21 Apr 2007 19:54:43 -0700 Subject: [Cagdu] FW: [G-Dogs] Warning about injection used for heartworm prevention in dogs Message-ID: <200704220354.l3M3spg3015973@lothlorien.nfbcal.org> Subject: Warning about injection used for heartworm prevention in dogs Proheart 6, an injected drug to prevent heartworm, the common parasite in dogs, has been temporarily withheld in the US but is still currently available in Canada and in Europe, according to the following article. This article tells of an FDA employee and her work to have the above-mentioned veterinary drug banned., as well as her reasons for doing so --- AP IMPACT: Sounding Alarm Over Pet Drug - New York Times The New York Times http://www.nytimes. com/aponline/us/AP-When-the-Watchdog-Barked.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted =print April 21, 2007 AP IMPACT: Sounding Alarm Over Pet Drug By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 12:40 p.m. ET BETHESDA, Md. (AP) -- The first hints of trouble came with vague warnings from the outer reaches of the bureaucracy. She was ''pushing too hard.'' She was ''alarmist.'' But it was something else -- a clumsy bid to call her off the scent of the dangerous veterinary drug she was tracking -- that really galled her. Maybe that was her last possible moment to keep soundless and safe. ''When enough dogs die, this product will take care of itself,'' a colleague said. Her reply tumbled out like a boulder that, once rolling, will no longer stop. Victoria Hampshire heard herself say: ''I don't know what I'm doing here then.'' What she was doing -- trying to do, at least -- was her job: She kept count of side effects from animal drugs for the Food and Drug Administration. She made tallies, analyzed numbers, and alerted supervisors when something seemed amiss. And something seemed amiss that spring of 2004. A big drug maker had crafted what seemed a star performer in Proheart 6, a three-year-old injected drug to prevent heartworm, the common parasite in dogs. Hampshire's numbers showed, though, that dogs were dying at alarming rates. What happened next -- and the price she paid for speaking up -- have spurred a U.S. Senate inquiry and shined a spotlight on the complex topography of drug safety, where interests collide like tectonic plates and squeeze decisions from all sides. On this landscape, the government's watchdogs come in disparate breeds too. Some whimper at approaching trouble; others bark gamely. And some, like Hampshire, won't give an inch. ------ While dogs were dying, her dad's heart was failing. Gifford Hampshire was an FDA press officer in the 1960s, when the agency firmly held the public trust. There was no Vioxx scare, little fuss about taking money from industry. His daughter Victoria -- everyone called her Tory -- now worked as a veterinarian at the same agency. She grew up on a Virginia horse farm, where her mother raised basset hounds, and learned to treat animals with compassion. She once crafted little sleeping bags from cloth to help mice recover from surgery. Her dad was so proud of her. She'd worked hard on her government career. Then age 44, she was smart and upstanding in everyday life too, someone who points out undercharges and never speeds. But she wasn't timid. When she'd stare over reading glasses, it wasn't always fun to be her focal point. ''I could feel like I'd get an honest opinion from her, without brownnosing,'' says Dr. Judith Davis, her former supervisor at the National Institutes of Health. That meant Hampshire was not always ''a real subtle person,'' says Dr. Linda Tollefson, who was deputy head of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine. In summer 2004, Hampshire was analyzing Proheart 6 side effects for a fast-approaching showdown with drug maker Wyeth. Evenings, she'd visit her dad at the hospital. Then she'd work into the night. She asked her dad if he wished she'd done anything differently in her life. Be less intense and have more fun, he suggested. That evening, she noticed an old Jaguar for sale on the roadside. She wrote a $1,000 check on the spot and drove it back to the hospital. She made a martini for her dad and pointed to the car parked outside. It would be her last moment of comfort for a long, long time. ------ Two days after his death, setting aside her grief, Hampshire went toe-to-toe with Wyeth. She and Tollefson clearly remember the confrontation in a conference room at FDA headquarters. As adverse events coordinator, Hampshire was anxious about thousands of reported autoimmune, allergic, liver and other reactions. Almost 500 dogs had died after taking Proheart 6-- surpassing all competitors combined. But Wyeth was known for strongly defending its drugs from claims of harm. It had rallied for its estrogen replacement and for its half of the fen-phen diet combo. Its veterinary subsidiary, Fort Dodge Animal Health, had sold 18 million doses of Proheart 6, worth tens of millions of dollars. It surely wouldn't give up without a fight. Many vets also liked replacing pills with the twice-a-year shot, which put heartworm prevention back into their hands. One vet with ties to Wyeth lectured colleagues about seizing on Proheart 6 as a ''hook'' to pull in healthy pets for profitable regular exams. As the FDA meeting unfolded, the company said Hampshire was inflating her side-effect numbers. Things turned nastier when Hampshire said Fort Dodge had previously expressed its own concerns over tumors. Fort Dodge said it hadn't. ''Either you're lying, or I'm imagining it,'' Hampshire erupted. Dr. Stephen Sundlof, FDA's veterinary chief, grabbed her hand under the table, silencing her, Hampshire says. (He didn't answer messages seeking comment for this story.) ''Tory did not have experience dealing with animal pharmaceutical community people, who are not different than the human pharmaceutical people. They make a lot of money on this stuff. They will never ever admit there's something wrong,'' says Tollefson, who is now FDA's assistant commissioner for science. On Sept. 4, 2004, in the face of Hampshire's damning data, Wyeth ordered all Proheart 6 back from vets -- without conceding it was dangerous. It was perhaps the largest recall ever of a pet drug. ------ Two months later, Wyeth's chief executive officer went to FDA offices for a personal meeting with then-FDA Commissioner Lester Crawford. The CEO, Robert Essner, wanted to work out a big problem: Victoria Hampshire. His company had uncovered a Web site that gave Hampshire a cut of its drug sales. Though Proheart 6 was sold there, Wyeth focused on competing drugs. ''We felt Dr. Hampshire had a conflict of interest in regard to her evaluation of this product, and we wanted the agency to be aware of it,'' says Wyeth spokesman Doug Petkus. FDA policy banned agency vets who moonlight from taking payments by pharmacies independent of their own practices. But so many staffers unknowingly violated the rule that it was rewritten the next year. Hampshire acknowledges using the Web site, mainly to prescribe drugs for pets of old clients and friends, without needing to warehouse medicines at her Bethesda home. She says she meant to drop the site and hadn't bothered to disclose it as an outside activity that year -- a bad decision, she now acknowledges. But an invoice shows her earnings were a mere $160 over 2 1/2 years. Wyeth also accused her of inciting complaints from dog owners like Jean Brudd, of Thornton, Colo., who had contacted the FDA about the deaths of her two dogs. In one e-mail to Brudd, Hampshire had written that ''autoimmune disease is being reported in growing numbers'' and laid out how Brudd's friends could submit side-effect reports. Hampshire says it was her duty to check complaints and help people navigate the FDA. Wyeth wanted Hampshire reassigned and threatened to sue her, says agency manager Tollefson, though Wyeth denies it. In the end, Crawford ''thought it best ... to protect Tory to get her out of it completely,'' explains Tollefson, who was briefed after the top-level meeting. She says she and Sundlof, the center head, agreed to transfer Hampshire. Tollefson says they also wanted to keep her from being a ''distraction'' when the recall was reviewed, because they too were troubled by the drug's safety record. Crawford didn't respond to interview requests for this story. In 2005, he abruptly quit the FDA and later admitted hiding stocks he owned in medical and food companies it regulated. He was fined about $90,000. But former FDA lawyer Daniel Troy, also at the Essner-Crawford meeting, defends how it was handled. ''At the same time the FDA is actually getting smashed and bashed by the news media on conflicts of interest, here there was an allegation of conflict of interest, and the FDA took it seriously,'' he says. ------ One morning two months later, Hampshire was working on Proheart 6 data when she was called in to the veterinary director's office without explanation. There, in a bright office decorated with a folksy painting of dairy cows, Tollefson waited with an FDA manager of market reviews. Hampshire figured they needed help as the FDA prepared to reconsider the Proheart 6 recall. But Tollefson inhaled sharply, as if steeling herself. Then she wiped a tear from her eye. Hampshire had known Tollefson since working at the health institutes; they were friendly, but she'd never seen anything like this. ''Wyeth has pulled all the plugs at the level of commissioner,'' Tollefson told a stunned Hampshire. They were transferring her to the vaccines building to care for the rats and monkeys. She pleaded for her job. They refused to give details but reassured her that this would all blow over. She was likened to a cop who'd shot somebody in the line of duty. ''I haven't shot anybody,'' she protested. ''I've done my job.'' She left the office in tears. Her shame deepened when a committee of FDA advisers took up the Proheart 6 recall three weeks later in January 2005. She wasn't allowed to talk to them, and they voted just barely, 8-7, to keep the drug off the market for the time being. The next month, an agency inspector from Internal Affairs asked to see Hampshire. He told her she was under investigation over Wyeth objections to her outside activities. He referred obscurely to a ''sinister plot.'' A prosecutor had already ruled out most criminal charges. But the inspector made her sign a statement saying she could be fired and, if she lied, charged with perjury. He reminded her about the jailing of domestic guru Martha Stewart over a financial conflict. ------ Hampshire dragged herself through the next several months, feeling she'd been cast, weak and worthless, into a hole. A colleague worried she was headed for a breakdown. She was sent to an interim FDA office job within the capability of ''anybody with half a brain,'' she says. She didn't know where the investigation would lead. She didn't know who might be bent on ruining her career, but she looked for a better job somewhere. She saw -- or imagined -- warning signs and potential enemies everywhere. She hoped for protection from members of Congress she contacted. She fretted at home. ''To take this much stress home and not to sleep for weeks is not worth it,'' she says. Even her two children noticed changes in her. Then, out of the blue, there was a flicker of light. In April 2005, she landed a better job in the FDA itself, at a separate office that evaluates devices for the human heart. ''It sounded to me like she really hadn't done anything wrong,'' explains her new supervisor, Dave Buckles. That July, more relief came: Hampshire was told she was cleared by agency investigators. ''A valued employee'' is how FDA spokeswoman Julie Zawisza now describes her, but she won't discuss the transfer and investigation. Tollefson now believes the affair was mishandled. ''Everybody saw that we reassigned Tory, no explanation was ever given -- not a good one -- so the message to me was very clear: If you do your job right and you're questioned, you lose your job.'' Although Wyeth has been sued on behalf of dozens of people whose pets took Proheart 6, the company hopes to be vindicated too. It has kept selling the drug in Canada, Europe and elsewhere, and it has approached the FDA with more data for a possible U.S. comeback. In June 2005, a Wyeth manager made a sales call at an Alabama veterinary practice, where he openly blamed Hampshire for the Proheart 6 recall, according to a confidential letter written by a vet there to the FDA. The Wyeth employee boasted that the company had her investigated by private detectives, and she had been ''taken care of,'' according to the letter obtained by The Associated Press. He then predicted the drug's swift return to market. That Wyeth manager, Glen Kimmorley, did not answer AP messages left at a home phone in his name. The Wyeth spokesman said Kimmorley ''was expressing his own opinion and was not authorized to speak on behalf of the company.'' However, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who has been investigating Hampshire's case, says Wyeth ''tried to destroy a reputation.'' He added: ''Her own agency sold her down the river.'' ------ Hampshire still feels edgy, less trusting, shamefully naive about corporate influence on government. Her husband, Bob Balaban -- himself a senior scientist at the National Institutes of Health -- says she's ''not the same person.'' They hope for more answers from Senate investigators. Others have reached their own conclusions. Last year, Hampshire was sitting in a big conference room in Denver at a veterinary meeting of the U.S. Public Health Service. The agency was announcing its veterinarian of the year. She grabbed her camera to photograph the winner. And then, as if scripted by Hollywood, her own name was announced. She heard a health officer say she had ''raised the bar in every category of professional and personal integrity, passion, and commitment.'' People rushed over to hug her. For the first time in years, she let down her guard. Copyright 2007 The Associated Press __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail. yahoo.com __._,_.___ Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic Messages | Calendar Yahoo! Groups Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Recent Activity * 3 New Members Visit Your Group SPONSORED LINKS * Dog world * Dog world magazine * Dog world subscription * Dog world mag * Guide Got Yodel? Best Yahoo! Yodel Give us your best yodel and win! Yahoo! TV Read Ivanka's Blog Stay updated on The Apprentice. Y! GeoCities Create a Web Site Easy-to-use tools. Get started now. . __,_._,___ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://nfbcal.org/pipermail/cagdu/attachments/20070421/c87016e3/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: _AVG certification_.txt Url: http://nfbcal.org/pipermail/cagdu/attachments/20070421/c87016e3/attachment.txt From tinadt at sbcglobal.net Sun Apr 22 14:04:03 2007 From: tinadt at sbcglobal.net (Tina Thomas) Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2007 14:04:03 -0700 Subject: [Cagdu] FW: article Message-ID: <200704222104.l3ML4DjT010660@lothlorien.nfbcal.org> Subject: [G-Dogs] article > The Enumclaw Courier Herald > / STPNS > April 19, 2007 > HUMAN INTEREST > > Trainer saw future vision > > Janine Prindle poses with Brassy, a Nova Scotia Duck > Tolling Retriever she trains for agility. > Photo by Brenda Sexton > for The Enumclaw Courier Herald > > By Brenda Sexton > ENUMCLAW, Washington (STPNS) -- > When Janine Prindle's family started training Guide > Dogs for the Blind through Enumclaw's Future Vision > club she knew this day would come. > > At the time her vision was pretty clear, but she could > see into the future. She knew the eye disease she had > would, over time, make it harder for her to > get around. She knew one day she would have to rely on > the very dogs she was training. > > That day is coming. > > Recently, the Enumclaw dog trainer packed up her bags > and headed to the Oregon campus of Guide Dogs for the > Blind for a four-week stay. While there she > will learn how to work with a specially-selected dog > and the dog will learn to work with Prindle and her > special needs. > > "This is a huge deal in the sense that she started her > family doing this 39 dogs ago," said Future Vision > leader Jana Decker, who has been taking over the > leash of the Enumclaw Guide Dog for the Blind feeder > program since Prindle has stepped away. "To have had a > hand in it for so long is an amazing feat, > then to have it come full circle is a big deal." > > The irony isn't lost on Prindle. She's a bit nervous > and excited to be on the receiving end this time. > > "I'm really excited about getting the dog, a working > dog, and hope it will enhance my mobility," she said. > > Prindle has participated with the Future Vision club, > which is open to 4H and non-4H raisers, since it > started in 1985. > > Prindle was diagnosed with an eye disease in 1980 and > knew there might be a time when a guide dog would be > needed. About the same time, Prindle's son wanted > a pet. Prindle and her husband Jack were looking for a > "trial run" to see if the young man could handle the responsibility. > The compromise was a guide dog. > > That boy went on to raise 10 more dogs and his younger brother raised > nine. > > Even with her sons grown and moved away, Prindle > continued to raise guide dogs. According to Decker, > Prindle has in big and small ways had a hand in more > than 180 dogs that have gone through the Enumclaw > program in the past couple decades. > > Even until recently, Prindle thought her vision was > too good to qualify her for a guide dog, but someone > close to her and the program pointed out it was > time. > > Legally blind, Prindle has no peripheral vision, but > her central vision is good. She said her view of the > world is like looking through a hole made by a > standard paper punch or a key hole. Low light and > darkness are more challenging. > > Prindle's dog will enhance her mobility - alert her to objects in the > way and help lead her at night, which she's been using a cane for > lately. > > "If the dog helps me as much as the cane, I'll see it > as a real success," Prindle said. > > Prindle could, although it is not likely, receive a > Future Vision guide dog. There are a number, she said, > in the program outside Portland preparing for > graduation. > > "I like all breeds. I just want a great match," she > said. "I want a dog that will work well with me; fit > into my lifestyle and likes kids. > > "This one will be a bit more than a pet." > > Prindle's dog will be a working dog and that's why > Prindle, an instructional paraeducator at Elk Ridge Elementary School > in the White River School District, sent an e-mail and met with > students to explain proper etiquette when meeting and seeing a guide > dog. > > She said she doesn't anticipate using the dog much at > school, but wanted students and staff to be prepared. > > Students, staff, and community members in general, > should not interfere with a working dog when they see > it, whether at school or out in the community. > People should not try to pet it, talk to it, make > noises toward it, call it's name, stick their hand in > it's face, feed it or do anything that might distract > the dog from performing its job. Distractions can be > harmful to the dog and its owner. > > There's a lot of information about guide dogs Prindle > said people would be amazed to learn, that's why she's > also invited friends, family, students and > staff to graduation May 5 in Oregon. > > "I think people will be impressed by the quality of > training the dogs get and the dogs themselves," > Prindle said. > > Prindle said the graduation ceremonies are usually > emotional, so bring a couple of extra tissues. > Following the graduation will be a reception and you > will > have a chance to see a working dog demonstration and > take a tour of the campus. More information is > available at the Web site at www.guidedogs.com. > > According to information from Guide Dogs for the > Blind, attending a graduation ceremony at Guide Dogs > for the Blind is one of the best ways to really get acquainted with > our program. They too advise guests to bring their tissues for the > moving event which commemorates the efforts of students and their > dogs. This is also the time puppy raisers say good-bye to > their graduating dogs, and the graduating class > members, like Prindle, bid farewell to return to their > homes and families with new partners by their sides. > > Prindle believes she has a leg up on other students in > the Oregon program - she's been to graduation before. > > "This time I'll be on the other side of the podium. > Actually, the same side of the podium, the other side > of the dog," Prindle smiled. > > When she returns with her new partner, the two will be celebrated with > a reception May 19 at Calvary Presbyterian Church, hosted by Future > Vision. > > Prindle said she feels honored, not only to receive a > guide dog, but that the guide-dog raising community is rallying to her > support. > > The welcome home celebration will also include > information about Future Vision and a new batch of > puppies for raising to continue the cycle of giving. > C 2007 > The Enumclaw Courier Herald > Enumclaw, Washington. > Copyright C 2007 SmallTownPapers, Inc. > http://www.stpns. net/view_article.html?articleId=43541051089814109 > Sarah and Guide Dog Ricky To read my live journal and see my thought for the day, go to: www.livejournal.com/users/imafarmgirl/ __._,_.___ Messages in this topic (0) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic Messages | Calendar Yahoo! Groups Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Recent Activity * 2 New Members Visit Your Group SPONSORED LINKS * Dog world * Dog world magazine * Dog world subscription * Dog world mag * Guide Got Yodel? Best Yahoo! Yodel Give us your best yodel and win! Yahoo! TV A new season in L. A. Watch The Apprentice. Y! GeoCities Share More Create a blog, web site, and more. . __,_._,___ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://nfbcal.org/pipermail/cagdu/attachments/20070422/b2bbf9b4/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: _AVG certification_.txt Url: http://nfbcal.org/pipermail/cagdu/attachments/20070422/b2bbf9b4/attachment.txt From tmanosh at sbcglobal.net Sat Apr 28 15:42:35 2007 From: tmanosh at sbcglobal.net (Tiffany Manosh) Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2007 15:42:35 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Cagdu] Seminar Message-ID: <208809.54964.qm@web83508.mail.sp1.yahoo.com> Hi Everyone, The Community Center is not available on August 17th. I would like eveyone to take a look at the dates below and tell me what works so we can pick a date that works for everyone. The dates that are available with the Community Center are: June 2nd or 23rd July 7th or 21st August 4th or 11th Please respond ASAP so we can book the Community Center for our seminar. Thanks JC and Tiffany -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://nfbcal.org/pipermail/cagdu/attachments/20070428/68da3041/attachment.html From rstigile at sbcglobal.net Sun Apr 29 11:12:48 2007 From: rstigile at sbcglobal.net (robert stigile) Date: Sun, 29 Apr 2007 11:12:48 -0700 Subject: [Cagdu] test Message-ID: <200704291910.l3TJALVD022265@lothlorien.nfbcal.org> Hello All, I am just testing to see if my e-mail makes it to the list. Thanks, Robert Stigile From ecwogan at aol.com Mon Apr 30 19:07:01 2007 From: ecwogan at aol.com (ecwogan at aol.com) Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2007 22:07:01 -0400 Subject: [Cagdu] test Message-ID: <8C959AC8A3E0E5F-1BF0-17231@WEBMAIL-MA06.sysops.aol.com> Robert, How do I get on the list for Cagdu? I am having a hard time getting on. Please tell me how? Talk to you later. Eilleen ________________________________________________________________________ AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at AOL.com.