What happened is that the farm involved used some of the returned dog food collected during the recall; 100 hogs ate it and got sent to the slaughter house. At least that is what I read this past weekend.
When I worked in a large animal shelter; I was told to feed any hogs/swine we got in the cheaper brands of donated dog foods and save the premium foods for the shelter dogs.
Other farmers do feed dog food to swine/hogs also. We used the premium foods in the kennel as we found that that the cheap foods caused more loose stools. Plus the nutrition was thought to be better in the premium foods (but now who knows what to think.) When you have a large almost 60 run kennel for dogs and tons of kitties; you certainly don't want loose stools all over the place.... especially when the kennel is open to the public to come in and adopt pets.
This hogs / melamine incident just is another shoe to drop. The hogs went into the human food chain. Some of the hogs were sold to individuals (for private parties like BBQ's and weddings etc. I worry if any family takes home a significant portion of one of those hogs and stores the meat in the freezer; to be regularly eaten over a course of time.
I had two cats who died in late January/ early Febuary very suddenly. One was twenty and it was assumed at the time to be old age when she collapsed with her head in her water bowl.
The vet wanted almost 2000 bucks to maybe save her; but she was very critical so I made the decision to put her to sleep. She likely would not have made it even if we paid so much money to the vet--- her kidneys were probably shot.
The other was an 8 1/2 yr old cat who suddenly got dehydrated and was having problems with breathing. We did the tests and what was found was her marrow stopped producing white blood cells (that cancer drug found by that college can do this). She also developed jaundice. Her kidneys weren't thought by my vet to be the source of the problem, her marrow was the probable cause sez the vet.
But now I suspect otherwise because of all the vomiting (even during force feeding she vomitted it right back up), and the dehydration. She was extremely lethargic and her blood pressure so low that when I held her during the euthanasia my home vet had to use a back leg vein instead.*
* I hold all my pets and even assisted a vet tech do PTS my GSD with spleen cancer when my vet was in surgery; my background in shelter animal care often comes in handy during such times.
Having two cats suddenly go critical within weeks of each other is awfully suspect. After the second cat died I threw the food out thinking we had a bad bag of food (I now wish I hadn't thrown out but saved the labels and food) but who knew then what we know now). I never dreamed my animals could possibly die from something like tainted pet food that should have been recalled to save pets lives.
Dang food makers sat on it and didn't tell folks about complaints of pets falling seriously ill/dying after eating their foods. Some pets died because of that wait. That wait benefited the dog food manufacturers as many pet owners whose pets got sick already threw the cans and bags of food away. Had I known the food could have been tainted I would have tested the first cats ( 20 yrs old) blood and maybe saved the second cats life.
I only have one cat now, the 8 1/2 yr old sister who has had 50% kidney function since she was young due to Eosinophilic Complex (a white blood cell disorder). *My guess is because she usually drinks more water than most cats, and eats less to begin with that she probably didn't take in as much of the food. But during the same period of my two cat dying; her eosinophilic complex flared up and she had a rash all over her body which we gave steroids for.
I am fed up with the dog food scandal. I switched my dog over to DVP Natural Balance thinking my Costco food could be unsafe; and she ate some of the Venison dry and wet formulas. You can't win for trying. So far she seems all right but I am really watching her. Everything within normal limits so far. It's at the point I trust no food manufacturers including the human foods.
The goverment needs to do more regulating of our food supplies for both humans and animals. Better labeling needs to be in place so that we the buyers can know where the ingredients have been grown. Who really would choose to buy produce/crop stuffs from foreign countries where the rules are very LAX and chemicals are used that are banned in the US?
More foods need testing. Irridation of fresh produce and meats could help cut down food bourne infections; yet it still isn't commonly done. CA strawberrys are irradiated, why not more fresh produce?
Any death or illness due to food poisoning and food bourne illnesses like E. Coli, Lysteria, Botulisim and Salmonella etc. is a preventable illness. There should be a zero tolerance attitude towards unsafe foods by their manufacturers; and food company CEO's dumping their stocks in their food companies before recalling their products should be considered highly suspect.( I DON'T BELIEVE IN COINCIDENCES LIKE THAT).
I would worry about anything grain related now... but where can we turn to when most of us don't have access to an ample supply of homegrown organic grains like wheat or rice. How many people in the US own their own wheat fields? And rice fields?
I think there will keep being problems until changes are made.
Call or write your local reps about your concerns. Boycott those foods you no longer trust. Speak out as I am doing here; if your pet got sick or died during the recall and you have reason to believe the food could have been a suspect food, speak out. Keep checking the recall lists at the FDA and the food company websites who posted their lists and such for your pets safety.
Caveat Emptor! It is buyer beware. You have to look out for your self and all your loved ones.
Though only dog and cat foods have been recalled, I would think it worth checking the ingredients in all animal feed. The recalls were due to melamine found in wheat, rice and corn glutens imported from China. What alarmed me further is that it was found in pig urine in California which would indicate to me that it must have been in the pig feed!
Check out the FDA site for further info..also there is a seperate article on the pig farm by the CDFA.
www.cdfa.ca.gov/exec/pa/pressreleases.asp?prnum=cdfa07-038 Also, info from the FDA changes on a daily basis, so it is important to sign up for daily updates on their website.
www.fda.gov/apacom/7alerts.html Hope I have posted the links correctly.
Tractor Tire Kicker
The grain is safe!! Apparently it's in the rice (flour, grain, I'm not sure) now and that is why sensible choice is pulling some foods. We thought we were in the clear because we feed wheat free dog food, but guess not. Hmmm, looking into making our own food again 
. It doesn't recognize that you mean someone's name...not slang for something else.