By: Edie Lau for The VIN News Service

At least nine class-action lawsuits are pending against makers of topical flea and tick products in the wake of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) investigation into safety of the pesticides used on dogs and cats.

One law firm in New Jersey has filed seven of the suits — one each against Merial Ltd., and its parent companies Merck & Co., Inc. and Sanofi-Aventis U.S., Inc., maker of Frontline; Summit VetPharm LLC and its parent company, Sumitomo Corp. of America, maker of Vectra; The Hartz Mountain Corp. and its parent, Sumitomo, maker of UltraGuard; Bayer Healthcare LLC, maker of Advantage and K9 Advantix; Sergeant’s Pet Care Products, Inc., maker of SentryPro; Farnam Companies, Inc., maker of Bio Spot and Adams; and Wellmark International, Inc., maker of Zodiac.

An eighth suit filed by a lawyer in California working with another New Jersey firm targets Hartz, Sergeant’s and Summit VetPharm.

A ninth suit filed by lawyers in Chicago and New York names Central Garden & Pet Co., Farnam, Hartz, Sergeant’s and Sumitomo as defendants.

The lawyers involved said more suits may be coming.

The burst of litigation represents increasing public awareness of potential problems with the popular parasite-control treatments, especially since an announcement by the EPA on March 17 that safety concerns are real and that tighter regulation and oversight are justified.

Jacqueline Mottek, a class-action and consumer advocacy attorney in Sausalito, Calif., said she has been “absolutely inundated” with calls from pet owners as a result of the EPA action and subsequent news reports.

She said the proliferation of suits reflects the fact that victims number in the thousands. The lawyers, she said, want “to make sure that people are represented. We also want to make sure that the courts understand the gravity and extent of this problem.”

The EPA’s investigation began about a year ago when it saw that the number of reported adverse events in pets exposed to topical flea and tick products topped 44,000 in 2008, an increase of 53 percent compared with the previous year.

The rate of incidents was 16 per 100,000 doses sold.  Story continues at the VIN News website.

We’re reprinting this post for the fourth year in a row since so many of you loved the dog pumpkin-carving stencils.  Please send in any photos of the pumpkins you carve and we’ll post them to share with everyone.

(9/27/09)  So you love dogs and live in the Land of Dogs.  Being as dogmatic as you are, you want to carve your pumpkin to look like your dog but you’re not sure how to do it.   We’ve solved that problem for you.  Now you can get  free dog stencils that make carving pumpkins much easier.   And please send in pictures of any of  your  dog pumpkin masterpieces and we’ll share them with the group.

The stencils were designed by Diane Starkey and are from the Good Housekeeping website in an article entitled “Free Pumpkin-Carving Stencils of Favorite Dog Breeds.”

Jon Gosselin gives back his dogs.

Stupid people get to be on TV all the time.   We watch these shows with the stupid people because we can’t believe that anyone would do such stupid stuff and then go on TV and tell everyone about it.   And I’m generally OK about that as long as everyone involved is a consenting adult.  That means that any animal or child who can’t choose to be there shouldn’t be there.  That means that there shouldn’t be any dogs used in reality TV shows or wild animals brought on talk shows or invasive nature shows where animals in their own habitat get heckled and poked by a man with a stick.   So when I read about evil Jon Gosselin, who has not one quality that should make him a celebrity, giving his dogs back to the breeder he got them from because he couldn’t take care of them anymore, I became very cross.  The German Shepherds never agreed to be on that show and now they don’t have homes.  And of course Jon blames Kate for this.  Go to radaronline.com to read the whole story so you can be cross about too.

There are three important ways you can help solve the dog over-population crisis:

1.  Adopt your next dog from a shelter

2.  Spay or neuter your dog

3.  Commit to keeping your dog for their whole lives

I don’t know if Jon’s dogs were spayed or neutered but he broke at least two of these rules.  Enough is enough.  Make him go pluck his eyebrows in the privacy of his own apartment and never come out again.  We’re really sick of him now.

Gracie

I took the big leap this summer and am using only natural flea control on Gracie, my wonderful dog, instead of the horrible spot-on pesticides that the EPA is investigating.  Every summer I start out using natural products until July hits and the fleas here in the South get out of control.  Then, reluctantly, I would put Frontline on my dogs because it was the only thing that worked.  But not this summer.  I’ll never use those products again.  Ever.

Using only natural products for flea control, Gracie does have a few fleas and does itch more than she used to on Frontline.  And it’s a lot more time-consuming for me to flea comb and spray everyday but I truly believe it’s worth the effort.  To me, it’s really not even a choice.  Gracie is going through chemotherapy right now for a growth on her tongue and in her brain.  She’s already gone through surgery and radiation and there is no way that I would put any pesticide on her when her immune system is already being pushed to the max.  Why I thought it was ever OK to put poison on my dogs is a question I keep asking myself.

According to Jan Rasmusen on her  blog, Dogs4Dogs.com ,  “46% of dogs and 39% of cats dying of disease will die of cancer. Pesticides are proven to increase your dog’s (or cats) chance of getting cancer.  A University of Pennsylvania vet school study showed topical insecticides (aka preventatives) “significantly increased” bladder cancer risk, especially in overweight dogs. Other studies have shown cancer risks from herbicides. Some products meant for pets can even increase the chance you and your children will become ill.”

So this summer, I’ve been experimenting with different formulas and methods to naturally control fleas and have not settled on which one works the best. Along with daily flea combing, I’ve been trying four different things:

1.  Lemon Spray Repellent: Add a lemon that’s been sliced thin to boiling water and then let it steep overnight.  Spray your dog in the morning.

2. Apple Cider Vinegar Spray: Put half water/half vinegar in a spray bottle and spray away.  Be prepared for the smell of vinegar to take over your whole house.

3.  Rosemary Flea Dip: Steep two cups of fresh rosemary in boiling water for 30 minutes.  Once it cools, you can use it as a dip or spray. So far, this has been the most effective spray.

4. Diatomaceous earth: comb it into your dogs coat  and the fleas who come into contact with the razor-sharp silica in the DE , become dehydrated and die within a day.   When applying DE, you should wear a mask and keep your dog’s face protected with a towel because the silica can be inhaled and can irritate the throat and lungs.  I use this once a week.

Please let me know how you’re controlling fleas this summer because we can’t do it the old way anymore.  I’ll keep you posted on which of my methods is working.  We all know too much to go backwards.

Flea combs and the Ticked Off Tick Remover and now available at happydogsplay.com.

Photo of Gracie by Sisters Pet Pics.

On Tuesday, July 22nd, little Gidget, the Chihuahua that Taco Bell made famous, died at 15 of a stroke  and people all over the world are mourning her passing.  And I feel that same sadness.  But what about the animals that were killed to make the Taco Bell food that Gidget was made to help sell?  Do we mourn for them?  Well of course not.  Apparently “farm animals” don’t count as real animals with souls and personalities so it’s OK to eat them.  And the fact that many companies use animals to help sell other animals that are to be eaten as food is just plain wrong.  When I see billboards of  cows trying to sell chickens as a more desirable food, I get so angry.

But what about feeding meat to our dogs?  Is it really necessary?  I think about this question frequently especially since there’s now raw meat involved when I feed my dogs.  I see blood and ground up organs and I am so aware that an animal died so I could feed this food to my dog.   I know there are people who feed their dogs a vegetarian diet and there’s vegetarian dog food that I could switch to.    In a study of vegan and vegetarian dogs, these dogs were healthier and had less chronic health problems than they did when they were fed meat.  Also, the dogs who were on a vegan diet did better than the ones on a vegetarian diet.

Making the decision to switch is a big one and I need to do more research to make sure I can provide healthy vegan food to my dogs.  What do you think we should be feeding our dogs?

On a lighter note, these two Taco Bell toys are available to buy at happydogsplay.com.

$5.99 at happydogsplay.com

$12.99 at happydogsplay.com

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A  Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) follow-up investigation has found that Petland stores are still supporting puppy mills, including some of the largest and most notorious in the country. The documented problems of puppy mills include: overbreeding, inbreeding, minimal veterinary care, poor quality of food and shelter, lack of human socialization, overcrowded cages and the killing of unwanted animals. The new intensive study analyzed thousands of pages of public interstate health documents in multiple states, revealing that almost every Petland store in the country is buying from puppy mills, either directly from commercial breeding facilities or indirectly through middleman brokers.

The new investigation of Petland’s puppy sources also traced shipments of puppies from out of state brokers to more than 95 percent of Petland’s domestic stores, revealing once again that the chain is supporting puppy mills.  More than 80 stores were linked directly to the Hunte Corporation alone, a massive Missouri broker that resells about 80,000 puppies a year and has documented Animal Welfare Act violations.

If you want to know where your local Petland stores get their puppies, find out here.

To learn more about HSUS’s investigation and what you can do, visit HSUS Stop Puppy Mills.

To stop Petland from profiting on the suffering of dogs, don’t shop there.

I am so excited to report that I had a new person in my life today.  Usually, my daily human contact consists of talking with my sister about her day at the preschool where she works, going to the grocery store and chatting at the checkout if they're not too busy or going to the UPS Store where I have my happydogsplay.com mailbox and saying something inane about the weather or how heavy the package I'm picking up is.  Anyway, the new person in my life today was a Census Taker.  She had an official looking badge and unfortunately, we only got to chat for a few minutes even though I really feel like we connected.  She fell down a couple of days ago and her ankle still hurts but she's working anyway.  I said I knew how that was but it's not really true.  When my foot was hurt, I stayed in bed or on the couch.

So between all these visitors, I'm working on my "Grand Opening" email for happydogsplay.com and I'm afraid that what I've written so far (well, what I would write if I were actually writing it) is going to be too personal once again.  I want to have a picture of the big fancy door at Tribune Tower and then right next to it, a picture of a bigger door with 1,000 happy dogs and me looking out.  When my job was eliminated at Tribune, about 27 people told me that when one door closes, another one opens.  So even if I don't put this in my email announcing my business, I do want everyone to know that this other door is now open.  And you'll get an email announcement from me very soon.  I just wish I had gotten my Census Takers email address because I could tell she loves dogs too.

I usually keep all the dog brushes and combs in the house but for one reason or another, I left this one comb out on my screened back porch.  When I went to use it on Gracie today, I picked the comb up and saw the perfect copy of it that the wonderful Atlanta pollen had created.  I just had to take this picture. Anyone who has ever lived in Atlanta knows about this green pollen that gets on everything for about three weeks each spring. This is the first time I really appreciated all the possibilities of allergy artwork.