WARNING: STAINLESS DOG BOWLS

Stainless Steel  DOG BOWL 

RECALL:

Petco has determined that one of its foreign suppliers used stainless steel mistakenly containing small quantities of Cobalt-60 when fabricating certain orders of certain SKUs/models of stainless steel pet food bowls. Cobalt-60 is a radioactive material commonly used in industrial gauging equipment and other uses.

We don’t know for certain how it got into our product, but we believe it came from scrap metal that had some Cobalt-60 accidentally mixed in. The affected products were found to emit low levels of radiation.

The Cobalt-60 levels in the affected products are far below State and Federal regulatory limits. All of the expert testing conducted on these products to date indicates that there is no health risk to the public, to our associates or to pets.

The affected products were limited to two cargo containers that entered the United States in late May and early June. We’ve also determined that the affected products pose no health risk, and were and are safe to be handled by our associates.

The issue was discovered by Customs and Border Protection agents during a routine import screening of one of the containers. That container was held at the port and never reached Petco. The second container had previously cleared Customs and reached Petco’s distribution network.

Upon learning of this issue following the delivery of the affected products to distribution centers, we promptly retained experts to examine the potentially affected products, and those experts determined that the SKUs examined were safe for handling.

SKU numbers can be found on labels inside and on the bottom of the bowls.

SKU 1047493
PETC-3.75C DEEP TWO TONE NOTIP
9.25” diameter; 3.75 cup capacity

SKU 1386956
PETC-3.5C NO-TIP SS HAMMRD BWL

9” diameter; 3.5 cup capacity

                          SKU 1047477
             PETC-7C TWO TONE NONTIP BOWL
                     9” diameter; 7 cup capacity

                      SPOT

                  ANY DIFFERENCES 

                     BETWEEN 

                     THE LAMB

                     AND THE DOG?

YOU'D be forgiven for thinking someone was trying to pull the wool over your eyes.

Barossa Valley dalmatian breeder Julie Bolton found this lamb on Monday afternoon sitting in the sunshine, having been abandoned by its mother.

"I saw it was white with black spots and I just burst out laughing because it was so unusual looking," she said.

"I've put a photo up on the Facebook site for a dalmatian owners group and one of the users asked me 'do you think one of the dogs got in with the ewes?'," she said.

She said while you could get sheep with black and white patches, the lamb's spotted markings were rare.

"Both the mother and father are white, so there's no coloring in the parents so it's just a genetic throwback," she said.

The lamb follows one of Ms Bolton's prize-winning dalmatians around and Ms Bolton said she was going to hold a naming competition for it.

"At the moment we just call it Lamby," she said. "It will be raised and she'll become a mother when the time is right."

Ms Bolton said she had been inundated with calls and it was strange to think her lamb was becoming a celebrity.

"It's spreading like wildfire and media from interstate have been calling and someone is even coming to do a story for a UK magazine," she said.

"It's unique and it's a good thing and a happy thing."

What a unique story indeed, for many to learn and question about.  Here on Maui we have not come across such unusual circumstances..........well not too many lambs about!

DOG fur?

        CAN YOU BUY DOG  FUR 
        IN NEW YORK?

We recently got word that Unique Product Enterprises -- a Rego Park, Queens-based biz -- advertised and sold "numerous" items containing DOG fur, according to an investigation conducted by the Humane Society of the United States.

Of course, selling fur from man's best friend is kinda illegal, as per the The Dog and Cat Protection Act of 2000. That law bars the import, interstate advertisement, and sale of items with dog or cat fur, according to the Society. (And, to be perfectly clear, dog fur is different than dog hair -- it requires the removal of the animal's pelt, meaning they were skinned.)

So what exactly went down with Unique? And is the company still hawking these items?

Pierre Grzybowski, who investigated Unique's offerings, explained what went down.

He told the Voice that the Society got a tip from a Russian-reading New York supporter, who saw the print ad in a magazine and reached out.

The Society then went onto Unique's website, documenting and time-stamping all of the advertisements, eventually purchasing four items advertised as "dog fur" -- including a belt, a vest, a blanket, and gloves -- and then sent them to the lab for testing.

Analysis proved that they were, in fact, made of dog fur.

With the results and ad evidence, the Society passed along the info to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which has since required the company to remove the ads.

Also, Unique might face a $10,000 fine per violation according to the Queens TimesLedger, which seems to have first reported the investigation. (Note: The Humane Society released this info a few days ago, but we haven't seen anything else on it besides the Ledger story and this. Anyway, timing issues aside, we're writing about it because we figure you'd like to know if a business sells dog fur, etc.)

We reached out to Unique to see what's up, but we have not heard back.

We also checked with the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York to see whether prosecutors plan on pressing charges against Unique.

A spokesman would neither confirm nor deny potential plans, as it's the office's policy not to comment on investigations.

In case you're interested, here's a pic of the dog fur belt, taken by the Humane Society. See more photos here.

DOG OLYMPIC GAMES 2012

             DOG  OLYMPIC  GAMES

The second edition of the Dog Olympic Games will be held in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy from the 19th to the 23rd September 2012 , 5 days of competitions. The program not only provides competitions of all competitive sports for dogs, but also cultural and scientific events of great interest.The dog sports of the DOG 2012 are: Agility , Swimming activities , Disc Dog , Dog Dance , Dog - Orienteering, MobilityDog , Obedience ,Natural Competitions , Rally-Obedience! This year, at the DOG you will find also Workshops with professional trainers (more news coming soon)

 

You will find more informations about the sports on this link 

 

The 1st deadline for the registration is set on the 15th August.

The 2nd deadline will be from the 16th August to the 1st September.