By now, most of you have heard about the Menu Foods pet food recall. There has been a lot of confusion as to what foods are on the list and what aren’t. We have received press releases that Mars foods (PEDIGREE, CESAR, THE GOODLIFE RECIPE, WHISKAS and SHEBA) are not involved. Additionally, the group from Purina Rally to Rescue notified us that there is a recall only on Mighty Dog products. With all the name brands that have been involved, numerous rumors are circulating around the Internet that other brands not previously listed have also been recalled. Many of the brands have released their own press releases, so you can visit their websites if you have more questions. For people feeding dry and wet (canned) foods, only wet foods have been recalled; we have not received any notices regarding any dry foods. In our local area, we have heard reports of one cat dying and other cats having been affected; we have yet to hear of any dogs, and hope that the cases remain very few.

For pet owners that have pet insurance through Pet Health Inc. (which Coastal Pet Rescue provides with each adoption), they have announced that they will cover costs associated for care related to the Menu Foods. While this group will cover costs, pet owners in Seattle and Chicago have started on lawsuits against Menu Foods. Expect more, especially class action, suits to follow.

Too often people don’t get involved with our organization because they think they don’t have the time or they can’t do enough. The truth is that every little bit makes a huge difference. Maybe you can only volunteer for an hour at an event, or if you don’t have time, pick up an extra bag of puppy or kitten food or a chew toy or two when you’re doing your monthly shopping. You can even just dedicate an email a week to forward information about one of our pets for adoption to your friends and family. It may only take a few minutes, but you could make a huge change for that pet’s life. Want more suggestions of things to do? Take a look at Lisa’s blog for other ideas.

Coastal Pet Rescue was founded February 5, 2003, the 24th birthday of Lisa Scarbrough, our president and founder. Lisa has spent her life in rescue, taking the lead from her father. In addition to serving as our president, Lisa works full-time as a web programmer for local company eMarketSouth, holds a part-time internship at Savannah Chatham Animal Control, and is enrolled fulltime through Duquesne University to obtain a bachelor of science in humane leadership. Now you can get to know more about Lisa’s work with CPR and animal welfare through her rescue blog, Pet Rescue Barbie.

Hello and welcome! SavannahPets.org is Coastal Pet Rescue’s Interactive Web Site. Here, you can read the blogs of our rescuers and volunteers, download podcasts, and post feedback. We’ll have more features in the coming weeks, so check back again soon!