[ORIJEN]

To the UK cat community, given the negative posting concerning our company, I thought it may be appropriate to provide a quick posting from Champion. As is often the case in circumstances like these, facts often give way to misinformation.
I would like begin by telling you that we are a family-owned and family oriented, award-winning pet food maker here in Alberta, Canada. We have a long and proud tradition of producing innovative foods from fresh regional ingredients since 1985.
Like most of you on this site, we are pet lovers too. Every member of the Champion family shares their home with dogs and cats (dachshunds for me) and that’s why we make the kind of foods that we do. Just like you, we are shocked and terribly saddened at the situation that unfolded in Australia.
As there are some errors regarding the situation in Australia, I’d like to clarify on a few points.
First, the recall is limited to Australia and results from the high level of irradiation (61kGY) that our foods were exposed to when entering the country. This irradiation process is unique to Australia and our foods in other markets are not affected.
Australia does not irradiate all pet foods – only those made with fresh ingredients (like ORIJEN) and/or cooked at low temperatures (like ORIJEN) are irradiated.
The unique nutritional make-up of ORIJEN foods (including high levels of long chain DHA and EPA omega-3 fatty acids from fresh fish) make ORIJEN highly susceptible to the effects of irradiation treatment. Delicate long chain fatty acids are easily compromised by high irradiation, which in turn causes the formation and release of toxic oxidative by-products.
When consumed by cats, these oxidative by products have a profound effect on the nervous system. Unfortunately, due to the obscure nature of this problem, no one in the industry – including Champion - was aware of the potential danger irradiation posed to our cat foods. Indeed, even after we discovered our foods were to be irradiated, we were assured by government authorities that the process was safe.
When we began to receive strange reports of cats falling ill in Australia, we subjected all foods shipped to Australia to a complete battery of tests. These tests included every known toxin and a complete chemical screening to identify any possibility that our food may have contributed to the reported illnesses. All tests showed the foods to be fine.
Enquiries into all other markets (50 countries) where ORIJEN is sold revealed there were no reports or problems with the foods anywhere else – including foods from the very same productions that were sold in Australia. As the symptoms reported from Australia are indicative of a wide number of possible health problems, we decided to put a stop sale on our cat foods in Australia and send a staff member to Australia to investigate first hand.
Realizing the problem was unique to Australia, we started to investigate for local factors ranging from water supply, gardening chemicals, spider bites… a vast number of possibilities.
It wasn’t until we began running tests on ORIJEN cat foods irradiation chambers here in Canada that we began to strongly suspect the high levels of irradiation were causing the problems. Indeed, like everyone else we had assumed that irradiation process was safe.
We began to research irradiation and cat food and found one single published study linking irradiated foods to the same problems that were reported among cats in Australia. Since then, one more study has been published that draws the same conclusions in the dangers of irradiated dry cat foods.
These studies are available on-line and can be accessed through our website at championpetfoods.com (click on the Australia icon)
We understand the criticism directed at us for the events that occurred in Australia. We have also done our best to be open, honest and transparent. All of our actions, investigations and subsequent findings were (and still are) posted on our website.
Our mistake was trusting that the irradiation process was safe. Our sales in Australia were a very, very, small fraction of our sales worldwide, and our exports to Australia were and are not “greed motivated”.
In retrospect, we wish we would have known more about the process, and how our food in particular would be affected by irradiation.
To support cat owners in Australia, we established the ORIJEN COMPASSION FUND to provide financial assistance to offset medical and related costs up to $2000 for each affected cat, announced a $10,000 donation to support homeless cats in the Sydney area, and will publish the research we have compiled in the hopes that others can learn from this tragic event.
We have since changed our export policy and will never again ship to a destination requiring irradiation, or any other unnatural process, as a precondition to market entry.
To set the record straight, we made 2 shipments to Australia. A third shipment was made but stopped before it entered the irradiation chamber and returned. In total, less than 3 pallets of ORIJEN cat food were sold in Australia between November 20, 2007 and the recall date of November 2008. This compares with thousands of pallets of the very same food shipped worldwide during that same period.
Champion Petfoods and my family personally are very sorry for all of the families in Australia who have been affected by this terrible circumstance. We hope that of this tragedy a new awareness and understanding of the potential effects irradiation has upon cat foods. We pledge never again to allow our foods to be compromised.
Sincerely,

Peter A. Muhlenfeld
Champion Petfoods Ltd.

 

[alek0]

Dear Mr. Muhlenfeld,

I would like to ask a few questions, and I would really appreciate an answer.
representatives of your company (Clark on Itchmo and Michelle on catWorld) were giving some contradictory answers an then Clark disappeared and Itchmo was down so there were no more answers to the questions.

1. What is the progress, if any, on establishing exact cause for the problems in irradiated food? Any additional information would be of great help for treatment of affected cats, and last information was that Champion has been talking to one of top toxicologists as well as other scientists.

2. Would you consider covering fully veterinary expenses of affected cats? There aren't that many of them, and you have a moral and ethical obligation. Considering previous cases of other pet foods, if matter comes to court you will likely have a legal obligation as well, and by postponing o do what is right until you have to, you will just be losing trust and customers.

3. Are you going to publish test results for Orijen? Your info releases do not actually contain any numbers. Can you comment on the fact that Clark claimed that Al levels in Orijen are below 50 ppm, my own testing result was a bit over 60 ppm. Although Al i generally considered nontoxic, there are some concerns about Al in cats and its role as a vaccine adjuvant in vaccine associated sarcoma, and 60 ppm is a bit high.

4. Can you comment on issue of BHA and BHT traces in your food (mentioned by your representative Clark Stride on Itchmo)?

5. Do you regularly test your ingredients shipments? If yes, what do you test for? Is every shipment tested, or random samples are selected?

6. Do you clean equipment between running different foods through your production line and if so, how?

 

[rosella]

Orijen replies from Itchmo, Remember Orijen you killed Australian cats and many more are ill with a debilitating long term paralysis.
How could you, Champion be unaware of the documentation needed,import permits,signed the paperwork to allow the irradiation to occur,payment for the treatment and arrangement for the goods to be taken to and picked up from the irradiation treatment plant. How can anyone be sure you aware of the quality control of your suppliers because you certainly didn't bother when you sold your contaminated food in Australia. Why didn't you label the food it was irradiated.
To see the beautiful loved, Hunter a stunning Bengal, who died because of Orijen. Go to Facebook, join our group and search for
YES! We want our petfood labeled correctly



Re: Problems with Orijen in Australia
« Reply #332 on: December 04, 2008, 07:54:15 AM »

Hello Sandi

ORIJEN is high in long-chain Omega-3 fatty acids (DHA, EPA) which are particularly susceptible to breakdown
under the irradiation process, which in turn causes the release of the free radicals thought to cause the symptoms
seen in the Australian cats.
Champion did not know our food had been irradiated until after it was on the market.

Re: Problems with Orijen in Australia
« Reply #333 on: December 04, 2008, 07:57:04 AM »

Thanks for answering that Clark, I appreciate it. But its still confusing how Orijen didnt know the food would need to be irradiated when there are some pretty clear procedures outlined at AQIS's website. Could you tell us why Michelle which is another Champion rep, is saying over at CatWorld, that Orijen did know in advance about this procedure? Thank you in advance.
Re: Problems with Orijen in Australia
« Reply #269 on: December 01, 2008, 06:34:56 AM »

Quote from: carolo on November 30, 2008, 09:45:30 PM
Clark, thank you so much for complete, detailed answers to all my questions. BTW, is the Orijen sold in Australia labeled to show it has been irradiated? Would that be done after the irradiation process or would you have to have it on the bags as they leave your plant?

Our bags were not labeled with an irradiation sticker when they left our facility. We did not find out this was done to our product until after it was on the market.

 

[rosella]

Peter, what is negative is your negligence as a company for killing and inflicting this illness upon my cats.
What is negative is your contempt for Australia's quarantine regulations
What is negative - ignorance is no excuse
What is negative - what is the next illness, organ breakdown to happen to the Orijen affected cats. This is early days. What cancer will be multiplying in my cats body.
That is negative
Rosella

 

[Perseus]

Peter, I have been following this tragedy since the beginning so I'm fully aware of the number of kitties affected and the personal lives destroyed as a result of your company's negligence. Apart from all the reasons you state as to how, why, where and whom, and to jump to the bottom line, it is your company's negligence.

It is not just admitting you made a mistake, it's taking appropriate measures to fully compensate the pet parents for their losses. This is how a moral society works. A moral society provides you with the good life you live, has laws and regulations protecting it for you, and reasonable assurance you will remain safe.

Why can't Champion be part of the moral society it abounds in, take full responsibility for their actions and compensate the pet parents for all of their vets bills, treatments, supplements, etc for the duration of their kitties' illnesses? Why should their kitties suffer physically from your negligence, yet there is not enough monetary support to aid them in their recoveries?

I would appreciate a response as to why you feel you are not morally obligated to pay for all of the expenses for the medical care of these affected kitties.

 

[Number 1]

Damn, just ordered 7kgs of the stuff from zooplus, not sure I can bring myself to feed it to mine anymore

 

[Janee]

Damn, just ordered 7kgs of the stuff from zooplus, not sure I can bring myself to feed it to mine anymore

This is to do with Australian import practices. Shouldn't affect Origen brought into the UK

 

[Toby & Darwin]

Damn, just ordered 7kgs of the stuff from zooplus, not sure I can bring myself to feed it to mine anymore

I just wanted to add here.
I felt the same when I first heard about this months ago. I exchanged all my bags for another brand - which completely disagreed with my cats and made them very ill for a few days.
I researched the issue and satisfied myself that it was only Australia which was affected by these issues so have now put mine all back onto Orijen and they are fine.

I feel dreadfully sorry for all the poor people whose cats have been affected by the irradiation of this product and know that no amount of compensation will ever make up for the loss which you have suffered.

 

[animalia]

Mine are fed Orijen and are all fine. good luck Peter. Accidents happen and no one can be in control of the world. It's good to see you trying to come on here and explain yourself and make yourself available for those that are in worry or morning. It was a terrible tragedy and no one could have seen it happen before it did.

 

[raggiesrule]

To Peter A Muhlenfeld,

Regardless of what you claim your company did or didn't do and knew or didn't know the fact remains that Orijen Cat food was marketed in Australia, as it appears to be in other countries, as a biologically appropriate food of high quality. For cat owners in Australia it was anything but! It was in fact death, paralysis & destruction of quality of life in a very, very expensive bag.

This for many owners could have been avoided if you had given us the right to make an informed decision about your food by labelling it as irradiated & containing BHA & BHT. By doing so most if not all cat owners who purchased it would not have done so since they were looking for a high quality, safe product and those things are immediately precluded by the use of synthetic antioxidants and irradiation in the majority of informed pet owners minds.

In my opinion if you cared at all for the cats that are affected in Australia, as you claim, you would have made the results of all your testing, including toxicolgy reports, available to our vets and owners to assist them in providing adequate treatment for our cats. Because your company has failed to release these results owners, who are already up for significant costs, and the vets who are working with them have had to pay for testing of samples of Orijen cat & dog food (since some cats have been affected by the consumption of small amounts of dog kibble) in an endeavour to try and work out what is happening to their cats.

Jo
(from Australia - my husband and I started Feb 08, pre Orijen, with 6 healthy cats and 1 cat with auto-immune issues that were well controlled. My darling Rob is dead; Hali, Evie, Uly, Aub & Quoi are still suffering the effects of having consumed Orijen - please be aware we stopped feeding it late Sept and it was never more than a very small proportion of our cats diet. Av is the only cat still healthy - she is the only one of our cats that didn't eat Orijen due to a food allergy)

 

[Perseus]

Accidents can happen? If Champion were a baby food company, and there were sick and dead babies, would you have the same response? Are poisoned pets considered a lesser value of life than poisoned babies?

Okay, let's say it is an *accident*. And let's talk about democratic societies then. In a democratic society, if you have a car *accident* and injur or kill someone, you must pay the damages caused by the *accident*. You don't get to decide how much to pay, like Champion feels they have the right to. You must pay for all the damages caused by your *accident*.

Cross posted from one of the affected pet parent who's cat is paralyzed regarding the amount offered by Champion as compensation for their *accident*:

"I think the main issue we need to clearly get across to our overseas friends on the blogs/sites is that you don't automatically qualify for $2000. (this is Australian dollars).
If you only saw your vet twice say, at $50 each time that's $100.

Then if you spent $900 on a cage, incontinence sheets, acupuncture treatments from an animal chinese medicine practitioner that wasn't a vet, some physiotherapy sessions with a physiotherapist who was a practitioner for animals as well as humans that wasn't a vet, the most you would get is another $100

Then if you spent over 6 months say, $500 on supplements - MethylB12, antioxidants, the most you would get is another $100

So you could have spent $1500 and only be entitled to receive $300 under this pathetic fund.

NOT GOOD ENOUGH CHAMPION"

Gee, I hope this attitude doesn't catch on. I can just see criminals standing up in front of a judge saying "but it was an accident and I shouldn't be held responsible".

 

[Cats Slave]

Ignorance is no defense for negligence and Champion must know this.
If they ought to have reasonably known that the food would have been irradiated and that such a process would result in what we've seen then they have been negligent (and certainly in the UK liable for ALL costs resulting from their actions).
If they've been as careless as they appear in Australia not researching the processes and not ensuring that the food reaching their customers is safe how can we in the UK trust them?
How do we know that somewhere along the line a problem isn't going to crop up with the new fish because they've not done appropriate testing etc....

I feel so desperately sorry for those in Australia whose kitties have been affected, they were only trying to give their cats what they believed to be the best only to be let down so badly.

I had fed orijen but was beginning to move away from dry food and the breaking of this story was the catalyst to remove it totally from my cats diets.

 

[Leah100]

What does 'up to $2000' mean?

What if people have a record of vets bills and receipts related to their cats ill health that far excede this figure? What are you offer ing these poor owners in way of compensation not only for death and damage to their beloved cats but possible YEARS and years of bills related to the damage that has been caused?
There shouldn't be any cap on damages. If owners can submit receipts that prove they are still paying out for their cats' welfare and recovery subsequent to this contaminated food then Champion should still be reimbursing them, no matter how long for, or how much for.
Do you as a company not have liability insurance that cover for you for exactly this sort of claim?
Do you not have a moral responsibility to every owner of a cat that has survived?

 

[animalia]

Gee, I hope this attitude doesn't catch on. I can just see criminals standing up in front of a judge saying "but it was an accident and I shouldn't be held responsible".

I think you are placing words in my mouth. I never said any of this was ok, I said it was good that Orijen were trying to speak to the public and that they didn't do this all on purpose!

Not sure if you remember or know, but this is not the first time this has happened with pet food, or with any food or human used product. Do you remember the baby milk scare? Or the issues with Iams food years ago?

My saying accidents happen was not to give one an excuse to not do anything. It was more for you to hang on and tell them what you want and understand they did not do this all on purpose. No one is perfect and accidents will happen, it's how we deal with them that can change. I do agree setting a limit on the amount the affected receive for treatment is cheeky, but at the same time they are limited on how much they can pay out and be sure is actually caused from their food and not just an extension of a pets already acknowledged illness. They can only try, but I imagine with all the paper work and details of it all it will take time for all to be reimbursed. By saying they will pay so much who's to say that someone won't just write in and say their pets have been eating this food just to get their bills paid??

I am in no way saying any of this is OK! as it's not, but no one could have predicted it. What's done is do and obviously has happened for a reason, that we may be more cautious with our pet foods and that pet food companies should explore all possibilities or outcomes of their products and their entry into different countries quality control. Austrialia may also want to re think their entry requirements. If this has done this to pet food. What the hell has it done to the human food!!

 

[Perseus]

I think you are placing words in my mouth. I never said any of this was ok, I said it was good that Orijen were trying to speak to the public and that they didn't do this all on purpose!

Not sure if you remember or know, but this is not the first time this has happened with pet food, or with any food or human used product. Do you remember the baby milk scare? Or the issues with Iams food years ago?

My saying accidents happen was not to give one an excuse to not do anything. It was more for you to hang on and tell them what you want and understand they did not do this all on purpose. No one is perfect and accidents will happen, it's how we deal with them that can change. I do agree setting a limit on the amount the affected receive for treatment is cheeky, but at the same time they are limited on how much they can pay out and be sure is actually caused from their food and not just an extension of a pets already acknowledged illness. They can only try, but I imagine with all the paper work and details of it all it will take time for all to be reimbursed. By saying they will pay so much who's to say that someone won't just write in and say their pets have been eating this food just to get their bills paid??

I am in no way saying any of this is OK! as it's not, but no one could have predicted it. What's done is do and obviously has happened for a reason, that we may be more cautious with our pet foods and that pet food companies should explore all possibilities or outcomes of their products and their entry into different countries quality control. Austrialia may also want to re think their entry requirements. If this has done this to pet food. What the hell has it done to the human food!!

I'm glad to see you further explained your original post. Yes, I remember the baby milk and Iams *scare*. Actually, it was poisoned foods that killed babies and pets, so much more than a scare. Do you remember or know of the pet food poisonings in the States in 2007? Estimates are between 100,000 and 250,000 dogs and cats killed by poisoned foods. My cat was one of the ones killed by the poisoned foods.

This is more than an accident with Champion, negligence is not an accident. Champion was advised by the Australian government to have their foods tested after the irradiation and they choose not to.

Why do think Champion is limited on how much they can pay out? Most certainly they have product liability insurance. If they can't afford to pay for the damages they caused, then they shouldn't be allowed to conduct business.

Why do you think people would fraudulently submit vet bills for reimbursement? The vet bills clearly have to indicate the cat was treated for specific symptoms, i.e, completely paralyzed. I don't think any vet is going to falsify documents so a patient can be reimbursed.

Unless we take to task every single pet food company (and human food company) that acts negligently by poisoning the food supply chain, there will never be any changes made.

 

[Mongo]

ORIJEN - a food that truly puts the optimal nourishment of dogs and cats above all else - from Champion website

We believed that - we believed we'd found a cat food that was more biologically appropriate than any other kibble. We trusted Orijen and bought their product.

Five whole months of sleepless nights caring for a very sick cat later I feel like my cat has been in a hit and run accident and Peter is virtually throwing a few bucks out of his fancy car and driving away.

Our cat improved for almost a month around January and then, heartbreakingly, the wobbly hind legs have returned - now with added incontinence. Our house, despite our best efforts, stinks and caring for a sick cat for this length of time is exhausting physically and mentally. And yet we have no idea if after five months our cat is still to decline further or improve. Even if she improves we have no way of knowing whether she won't relapse or if she will suffer long term from this poisoning or what the associated costs of that may be.

And for all this, the stress, the tears (check out the Youtube videos of Aussie Orijen cats if you want your heart broken for a while - but we have to live with this day to day) hours of lost work, the repeated trips to vets, the incontinence pads and towels - hey the list goes on.

For this we are offered an extremely conditional limit of $2000 and a cut off point in May.

Obviously Peter is a clairvoyant and knows our cats will all be better by then and our related expenses at an end.

Phew - that's a relief.

I don't wish to appear facetious or like I'm just whinging but if the fact we were trying to feed our cats the best possible food is the perfect dictionary definition of irony - then the above is a great example of how there ain't no justice in this world.

 

[Shmitty!]

That's so sad and you are so right to be angry, I would be livid, and I would not rest until i had sought some revenge.
I wish you all the luck in the world at making WHOEVER is responsible for so many cat deaths and illnesses pay for what they have done.

 

[raggiesrule]

That's so sad and you are so right to be angry, I would be livid, and I would not rest until i had sought some revenge.
I wish you all the luck in the world at making WHOEVER is responsible for so many cat deaths and illnesses pay for what they have done.

Another irony we don't want revenge - we want to be treated fairly - we want fair compensation not a very limited compassion fund that in no way covers the costs we have incurred due to Champion failing to allow us to make an informed decision about their "biologically appropriate" food, ingestion of which caused significant health issues with our cats including paralysis and death.

Champion has set May as the limit for their "compassion" fund because no doubt they want this to be over and done with. How nice for them we live with this nightmare caused by their food day in day out and have done so since July 2008 and see no signs of it being over by May 2009. I don't know what Champion wants but we (affected cat owners) don't want cat owners being forced to PTS their loved companions because they can no longer afford the vet bills and ancilillary cost (and these may well be more than the vet bills for some owners) that seem endless and ongoing.

And it should be noted as is the case with Mongo's beautiful girl Melody these cats can start to get better and then relapse - we have had it happen too in a very extreme case with young Hali who nearly died when she relapsed - thank god for a wonderful vet who made herself available out of hours. And in the case of Hunter, a beautiful young Bengal, he did die. So don't go thinking because these cats are starting to get better this will soon be over it is certainly not something an affected cat owner can let themselves think.

The other thing we want from Champion is accurate information - they haven't even released their toxicology reports to owners and treating vets so we can be aware of what we are actually battling and potential issues with our cats in the future.

We have company representatives saying that Orijen foods have tested free to all toxins? From Clark Stride on 11/12/08 Itchmo "After testing for more than 180 toxins and chemical compounds, Michigan State University’s Veterinary Toxicologist has confirmed that ORIJEN cat foods sold in Australia are free of toxins. NO KNOWN TOXIC COMPOUNDS WERE FOUND."

When this was challenged by me on the Ichmo forums on the 19th Dec 2008this was clarified to:
"In the study at MSU done on our foods, there were a few compounds discovered. The summary from the veterinary toxicologist at MSU was that they did not find any chemical compounds that are known to cause neurotoxicity." by Clark Stride, a Champion rep, on Dec 22.

For those interested the Itchmo thread can be found here http://itchmoforums.com/news-recall-related/problems-with-orijen-in-australia-t6985.465.html . Be warned it is 45 pages long currently - the references referred to and CLark Strides comments about BHA & BHT being "found" in the food are between pages 32 & 35.

It should also be noted that the "communication error" that caused owners to be notified by an "assessor" that the closing date for the fund was brought forward by 3mths to 28th Feb caused a huge amount of stress to owners. How could this error have occurred surely the assessor would have had to receive instructions in writing not by chinese whispers. And the timing could not have been better - our country was undergoing a huge National disaster with bushfires killing large numbers of people and destroying homes. One of the affected cat owners vet lost her home, her animals, her husband. Seriously Champion what are you people thinking????

And some one said this was an accident which bit - the failure to read an import permit and know what was going to happen to product as a condition of importation? the failure to investigate what irradiation meant for cats? the failure to label product as treated? the failure to ensure ingredient suppliers met standards when it came to what they fed animals that are going into product? the failure to have adequate inline testing to know there were BHA and BHT (and what else) in a biologically appropriate product? the failure to label bags as containing these products? the failure to release information that could potentially assist affected cats? affected cat owners having to inform retailers of the recall as they had not been notified? the "communication error" that brought forward the date for close of the compensation fund? Exactly which bit was the accident?

Jo

 

[maxymia]

This is what Orijen pet food has done to our cats in Australia

Three cats have died of seizures, one of a spinal tumor. Fifteen have been euthanised and approximately 80 others have symptoms ranging from hind limb ataxia to full paralysis, spinal cord damage, brain damage and spasticity.

Upon entry into Australia, Orijen pet food was gamma irradiated. Amongst the mounds of paperwork needed to be signed in order to release a new product on the Australian market (import permit, export documentation, signed authorities to irradiate, accounts for irradiation treatment and arrangement of transportation of the goods to and from the irradiation facility) is the AQIS Authority to Treat Goods Document. This document states the amount of gamma irradiation that will be used, renders the goods safe for quarantine purposes ONLY and states that the owner/agent should make their own enquiries as to the suitability of this or other treatments for the end use of their goods. This form NEEDS to be signed prior to any treatment despite Champion petfoods (Manufacturers of Orijen and Acana) constantly claiming they knew nothing of this procedure and that the irradiation went ahead without anyones knowledge. We have enquired about this and find their claims to be untrue.

It is Champions responsibility to work with their importer to ensure the safety of their food, not just send it out and collect the cash. Peter Muhlenfeld (Champion Petfoods) said they made a mistake, indeed they did. According to AQIS they had the option of heat treatment or irradiation. Why would you choose irradiation over heat treatment when claiming to be a company who has our pets best interest at heart.

Champion appears to have done the right thing in carrying out testing on their food, but all we have found out from one of Champions representatives, Clark Stride on the Itchmo forum, is that BHA & BHT (preservatives) were found in Orijen kibble during the testing. We were told it came from a dried chicken product added to Orijen petfood. Quote from Champion's website "…..world-class ingredients fished or raised within our region and delivered to our factory FRESH- never frozen and without preservatives- each day." Another untrue claim it seems from Champion

Champion and their Nutritionist, who they refer to on many occasions, may not have found the studies linking irradiated pet food to neurological damage in cats, but given their specialty would or should have known about Vitamin depletion which results from gamma irradiation. A very well known fact. Champion claims to have researched once they apparently found out the petfood was being irradiated, yet Champion still insisted on selling their 'Biologically appropriate' food to the Australian market. Obviously more driven by money than for the welfare of our beloved animals. If our cats did not suffer from neurological damage, the long term effects of a diet depleted in Vitamins would have been catastrophic

Champion keeps trying to blame someone else. This is their third recall. The first to do with mad cow disease, the second was very large and sharp salmon bones in Orijen kibble and now us. When are they going to step up their quality control? Our pets lives are at stake.

We have also had two Champion representatives Clark Stride and Michelle contradict each other on forums about weather they new about the irradiation, how many shipments there were, test results, and announcements. Once we started questioning these contradictions they disappeared, we were ignored and our questions were left unanswered.

It took Champion 2 months after Australian vets had found the link to pull their product from our shelves. If they had acted promptly the number of cats suffering this horrid syndrome would have been far less as would the severity. Some pet suppliers were not told what the issue was and not all were told about the recall straight away and were still selling Orijen. How hard is it for Champion to contact all of their suppliers (given that there weren't many) and let them know exactly what is going on. Because of Champions lack of urgency with announcing this recall people were still feeding this food for weeks after their announcement.

Champion have offered all affected cat owners a 'Compassion Fund' A limit of $2000AU per affected cat. This covers Veterinary bills only. We have sent champion many emails outlining what is involved to care for and treat our cats. We have broken it down to list most items with explanations of why these are needed. Items like antioxidants, supplements, laxatives, vitamins, animal pens, incontinence pads, soft bedding, larger & lower litter trays, kitty litter, shampoos/soaps, physio balls/slings, heavier water & food bowls, drinking fountains, barricades/plastic trellis, boarding costs, carpet shampoos, uric acid cleaners, acupuncture, physiotherapy, herbal remedies. The list goes on.
One such example from one of many emails to Champion.

I am sure you are aware that there are cats whose owners were left with no choice but to place them in animal pens to keep them safe while on their own. People work which means they can be out of their house for at least 8 hrs at a time. I do not understand why you feel it would be fine to leave these sick, disabled cats in their pens with no food or water for this period of time. Hence the need for heavier food and water bowls. I know of one owner who reported coming home from work to find that her beloved cat had not only knocked over both food and water bowls in the animal pen but had also defecated and urinated. There was an absolute mess as this poor cat was dragging herself around the pen. I am sure you can imagine that the food and water was now contaminated

Would you like to feed your pets food contaminated with their own faeces and urine? I am sure you wouldn't.

Another owner reported hearing a crash during the night and found that her cat had collapsed into her water bowl and broken it. So for hygiene and safety reasons reconsidering the need for heavier bowls is more appropriate in this situation.

There are many other explanations like the one above that have just been ignored by Champion. They came back with their pathetic offer of $1800AU for veterinary bills, $100AU for Supplements listed on their website and $100AU for animal pens, incontinence sheets and plastic syringes. All they have done is reduced the Veterinary bills by $200AU. The vets, although extremely helpful and doing the best they can, cannot offer a lot. The advice is feed them a high quality raw diet and give them time. So vet bills for most are not too high. What is costing an arm and a leg is all the other costs (not covered by Champions Compassion Fund). An animal pen is more than $100, incontinence sheets are costing up to $50/week and this can go on for months, but all they are allowing us to claim is $100AU. Basically you can spend $2000AU but only be able to claim $300AU. I am now hearing of owners struggling financially and wondering if they should make the decision to PTS because they can't afford treatments that Champion will not cover.
Our emails are ignored, our questions go unanswered but Champion finds the time day after day to reach out to other countries to say how they regret the circumstances in Australia and really feel for us. They claim to care for animals and all have pets of their own but will not pay for what their negligence has caused.

There are also a few claims outside of Australia of people seeing the same symptoms with their cats. Champion has contacted 2 that I know of and have told them to retract their comments without making the moral decision to check if their claims are viable. That's what I call putting animals first, sorry did I say animals, oops, I meant money.

Pet food companies need to take responsibility for their products and if nothing is done, we will see another recall like that of the 2007 menu foods recall that killed thousands of cats and dogs in US. I am not going to ask people to boycott this company but ask you to make an informed decision as to weather you would want to support a company that has in our case been negligent, rude and ignored us. Several statements from Champion regarding the Australian recalls do not match what our research has uncovered together with the misconceptions from Champion I have pointed out above. As the owner of two affected cats, I have experienced first hand the lack of consideration Champion is giving us and how looking after these poor affected cats totally takes over your life.

Lastly, Peter, I am asking you one last time to make the moral and humane decision to cover ALL of our costs incurred whilst nursing our sick and disabled cats hopefully back to health. Our beloved cats are in this situation due to your company's negligence despite what you say. Your importer represents your product. Your product, your problem

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[Number 1]

I have been doing some research to try and avenge my own personal concerns (I feed mine Orijen) and found out that irradiated food can be found in the UK, and it can be done as part of importation. From reading various sites it seemed to state this.

For Orijen - how many crates have been sent to the UK over what period of time?
How have you ensured these are not being irridiated.