The pets had eaten a dog food called Hunk of Beef Au Jus, the best-selling offering from Evanger, an Illinois-based pet food company. The company quickly launched an investigation. After a month-long testing process, Evanger has zeroed in on the cause: the presence of pentobarbital -- a chemical that's used to put down pets.<\/p>\n
For the first time in its 82-year manufacturing history, the company issued a recall. It affects all Hunk of Beef products produced the same week as the tainted can.<\/p>\n
The recall affects 15 states: Washington, California, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.<\/p>\n
The lot numbers of the affected products are: 1816E03HB, 1816E04HB, 1816E06HB, 1816E07HB, and 1816E13HB. The cans were manufactured in June 2016, with an expiration date of June 2020. <\/p>\n
Mael said she fed her four pugs Tito, Talula, Tinkerbell and Tank the canned wet food. <\/p>\n
In a news release, Evanger's described the four-week investigation into the Mael pug's death. <\/p>\n
Pentobarbital is very tightly controlled and, if an animal is euthanized, it's done so by a veterinarian. <\/p>\n
But there's no regulation that says a vet then needs to put any kind of marker on the animal indicating it's been euthanized. Such a marker would ensure that product from euthanized animals didn't enter the food chain. <\/p>\n
\"We continue to investigate how this substance entered our raw material supply,\" the company said. <\/p>\n
Evanger said it's ended its 40-year relationship with the meat supplier that sold them the contaminated meat. <\/p>\n
\"All Evanger's suppliers of meat products are USDA approved,\" the company said. \"This beef supplier provides us with beef chunks from cows that are slaughtered in a USDA facility.\" <\/p>\n
The company is paying for Mael's veterinary bills. It also made a donation to a local shelter in honor of the pug who died. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
More here:<\/p>\n
Dog food recalled after euthanasia drug found in it - CNN<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The pets had eaten a dog food called Hunk of Beef Au Jus, the best-selling offering from Evanger, an Illinois-based pet food company. The company quickly launched an investigation Continue reading