As the pet food recall expands and government agencies play catch up, many are asking how it was allowed that dog and cat food were tainted and pets were poisoned. As always, a call for action follows as pet owners are furious and confused and seeking answers. Over one hundred separate brands have now been recalled and last week, Menu Foods added over 200 items to the recall list when it was pointed out that cross contamination may have occurred.

Pet Food Recall: Decline in Cat & Dog Food Safety Called Alarming

Reports claim that a huge number of pets, probably between 2,000 and 7,000, have died as a result of eating contaminated food since roughly December 2006. Some additional number of pets, probably around 40,000, have been injured by the same cause over the same period.

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The Chicago Sun-Times runs an editorial today that says in part - "The confidence Americans have in the food supply -- or more to the point, in the people who inspect the foods we eat -- is breaking down…The best the FDA could do following the revelation that thousands of cats and dogs likely were killed by commercial pet food containing poisoned wheat gluten and rice protein -- two Chinese companies had spiked the meals with melamine, an industrial chemical, to increase their profits -- was to create the underwhelming post of assistant commissioner for food protection."

The column notes that Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin "was successful in pushing through a food safety amendment to an FDA drug funding bill. It includes measures to tighten safety restrictions on pet food and levy fines on food producers that fail to report product problems in a timely fashion. None of these measures will amount to much if the funds to carry them out aren't approved. We can only hope Congress follows through in this manner. It has been bad enough worrying about dangerous cargo coming into our ports. Worrying about dangerous food products, and medicines, will raise anxiety levels into the red zone."

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Few pet owners will argue. But how do you get countries like China to cooperate?