60 million cans of dog food and 95 different brands of dog food are being recalled because they are believed to cause kidney failure and slow, painful death to animals, according to Andrew Bridges of the Associated Press and Brettbart.com.
This has been in the news for days, but what you haven’t heard, but will have now is the rest of the story :
Hosts of brokenhearted pet owners are participating in class action suits against Menu Foods, whose subsidiary plant operates in Emporia, Kansas. Menu Foods is the company believed to be the focal point of this controversy. Some believe that this is the point where the poison entered the contaminated pet food. No one seems to be able to explain where or how the poison entered the food chain causing aging, bone loss and kidney failure.
For several months the American Trail Foundation has been investigating this crisis and the American Trail Foundation believes that the answers to this enigma have revealed themselves in response to intense investigation.
As a foundation to what has happened up to the present, investigators of The American Trail Foundation turn to Associated Press writer Mark Johnson’s quote of March 23, 1907. Johnson stated, " I don’t know where we’ll go from here."
Let us begin with the situation involving cattle. Cattle are fed on open range. From open range they go to feed lots in order to be fattened up before slaughter. During this second stage of growth much investigation is being conducted.
At these feed yards cattle are given many chemicals and by products. For example, much of the food you leave on your plate at the restaurant eventually finds its way into waste containers which are, in the final analysis, delivered to the feed lots. Many waste materials and preservatives are being used in cattle feed.
According to Andrew Bridges of the Associated press, the FDA is focusing their investigation of feedlot wheat gluten. Elizabeth Weise, of USA Today quotes Larry Hollis, an extension veterinarian at Kansas State University as saying, " A total ban keeping all mammal by-products out of animal feed might be the only way to protect consumers, (from contaminated food)."
The focus of the investigation is targeted toward the feedlots. Rodent poison has been cited as a cause for contaminated pet food. Where would one find rodent poison, which would enter the cattle fed on the feedlots? Basically, rodent poison is found where there are rodents. The American trail Foundation with its limited financial resources has been a voice crying in the wilderness with this message.
The poison is entering the cattle from the pastures and prairie where no one would suspect good old Mother Earth as the harbinger of death. The American Trail has taken a strong, unpopular stand here in a large farming, ranching community against poisoning of prairie dogs. We are strong supporters for the banning of these poisons. Now we see these poisons leeching out of the grasses and into the cattle. The poisons lodge in the cattle’s kidneys and liver, the very organs that are eventually, often ground into pet food.
The practice of poisoning prairie dogs by contaminating the pastures and grasses of Kansas all started when Kansas, like other states passed a law in 1909. (KSA 80-1202). This law gives the counties of Kansas the power to force the farmers and ranchers to poison prairie dogs that live on the farmland and ranch pastures. If the ranchers choose to refuse to spread poison over their pastures contaminating their grasses and fouling their water table, the county will do the job for them. The county will poison prairie dogs at a cost of $20 to $30 per acre and the rancher will be required to pay this cost.
Logan County has 357,000 acres. At present, there is a suit pending concerning this issue. The particulars surrounding this case are as follows:
One of the county commissioner’s sons is a prairie dog poisoning contractor. The commissioners are suing Larry Haverfield and handful of other die-hard environmentalists. The American Trail Foundation has entered the Logan County suit on the side of the environmentalists. We do not understand why the EPA has not intervened since the eagles, hawks, and other endangered specie are poisoned right along with the prairie dogs.
Let us return to Logan County Kansas and investigate how the rodent poison enters the food chain. Remember, this scenario is being repeated in multiple counties in several surrounding states, over millions of acres over what is now called the short grass prairies of the US.
Logan County could not keep up with their campaign to poison the prairie dogs so they hired Black Diamond of Buffalo Wyoming to poison the prairie dogs for them. Someone from Black Diamond paid the state $140 in fees. Then Black Diamond took a few tests, received a license and proceeded to poison prairie dogs.
They hired group of local people, gave them four wheelers and these recruits dumped the poison in and around the prairie dog holes and anywhere else they thought prairie dogs might be lurking.
Thanks to Larry Haverfield, who filed a pesticide damage complaint report with the state, Black Diamond was sent back to Wyoming to muck up some other state’s food chain.
The question remains: Why pay $20 or $30 dollars per acre, when the rancher can buy poison in Wynona Kansas, spread the poison himself, and keep the county off his back? Some have initiated the practice of creating bait stations. In order to do this PVC pipe is filled with poison grain. This is totally illegal. This poison is open to any animal that comes across it. Can anyone imagine what can happen to the 200 plus odd species of animals and cattle that might encounter this poison? This has been going on in several states for years.
Enter the pet-poisoning crisis. Prior to December 9, 2006 many pets simply died and their demise was attributed to endemic weaknesses.
December 19 and December 29 are dates that mark the advent of this serious pet –poisoning problem. During this period, Kansas had two it the worst blizzards in its’ history. Because the snow did not melt, the cattle were prohibited by circumstances from grazing for 90 days.
The hungry cattle found some of many bait stations filled with poison grain. Like the prairie dogs they ate and were filled, and consequently fell over dead.
The snow melted and the rendering trucks picked up the frozen cattle and took them to the rendering plants. Products of the rendering plants are sold to Menu Foods of Emporia, Kansas. It is therefore possible to conjecture that products from these rendering plants, which were sold to Menu Foods, might certainly have been contaminated by the poisons abounding across the snow covered grasslands, in PVC pipes, and it is not illogical to further conjecture that this contaminated meat might have found itself in over 95 different pet foods. We know 60 million cans of pet food have been recalled while hosts of American citizens are busy burying beloved family pets that have fallen victim to these pet foods.
The American Trail Foundation has filed a pesticide complaint report with Jerry Wilson of the Kansas Department of Agriculture on at least eight different bait stations. Jerry Wilson personally told me that unless a complaint is personally signed, no investigation would be done by the Department of Agriculture.
It might be suggested that out here on the Western prairie, there are still a few cowboys who might take umbrage with anyone reporting their neighbor’s bait station, and these zealous frontiersmen might retaliate by shooting up their offending neighbor’s mailbox or introducing sugar to their neighbor’s pickup. In any event, even people who know that the practice of creating bait stations is wrong are hesitant to report their knowledge of it to the authorities for fear of creating bad feelings between neighbors or initiating a controversy. Therefore, there is no way of knowing how many of these bait stations go undetected.
Another way the poison enters the food chain has to do with the water table. Without prairie dogs and their massive tunnel structures, rain and snow does not enter the ground water as efficiently. This water supplies drinking wells and lakes and streams.
Lake Ogallala in Nebraska is not receiving any new ground water and is at an all time low. New wells are being drilled because the old ones are drying up. Black Diamond was dumping their poison in and around prairie dog tunnels that were over the Smokey Hills water shed. The water table there was only around 15 feet deep. Smokey Hills water shed flows through Colby, Oakley, Hays, Salina, and all the towns in between. Water wells pump water up to the cattle to drink. Many of the cattle drink or eat just enough poison to make them sick.
The cattle are treated for their illnesses with antibiotics. This meat goes from the slaughterhouse to the supermarket meat section. One might wonder if we are making a down payment on a kidney transplant every time we purchase a package of meat at the supermarket.
There are many rodent poisons on the market. Some are legal for prairie dogs and some are not. Lipha Tech makes Pozol, Boot Hill and Gunslinger. More information may be found by contacting Colorado District Manager Kim Knuth. Another resource would be WWW.scimetricsltd.com that would link the reader to Scimetrics Ltd., maker of Kaput and others.
Many broken-hearted pet owners, numbering now in the thousands are joining in a class action suit against Menu Foods of Emporia, Kansas, a company believed by many to be the source of contamination of an estimated 95 different dog foods. Sixty million cans of pet food are being recalled.
But Menu Foods is not the culprit, but rather, just a cog in a multi-billion dollar industry which has convinced the American people that only pet food should be fed to pets, thus opening the door to a horrific consequence if that pet food should happen to be contaminated with poison.
The class action suit would be better served if it were directed toward the real culprits, the poisons that are produced, disseminated indiscriminately, and allowed to enter the food chain of the American people and their pets alike.
It would be interesting to discover whether research would uncover a link between the chemical producers and the 650 billion dollar a year medical pharmaceutical business.
Rodent poison enters the food chair where the rodents are. Why has this information not been brought to light? The American Trail Foundation is trying to shed light on these controversial issues by suggesting a possible source of poisoning which begins with the poisoning of rodents in the field, progresses to poisoning cattle who eat the contaminated grasses, (not to mention the bait traps!), and this poisoning of cattle then leads to using the contaminated meat, and especially using the contaminated by- products to manufacture food products, specifically pet food products. It is a proven fact that some poisons cannot be eradicated from the kidneys and it is further suggested that a large portion of damaged kidney meat is used in pet foods. One can only wonder whether beef liver has been totally tested to ascertain whether or not there are any residual trace elements of poisons heretofore undetected.
The conviction of the American Trail Foundation is that we seek the truth and the truth will set America free, free of medical side effects, free of diseases caused by the side effects of these poisons, and free of the heart ache of losing loved ones, people and animals that have fallen victim of the contaminated food chain.
What are some of the medical side effects of these rodent poisons? In the pet food scandal a multitude of animals have fallen victim to kidney disorders and in hundreds of cases, kidney failure. Weakened kidneys prevent the elimination of wastes and toxins. The blood becomes contaminated. Blood flow to the kidneys is increased in an attempt to filter the toxins. Heart problems ensue. The oxygen levels in the blood may drop. A low level of oxygen has been linked to cancer.
Due to the decrease of efficiency of the kidney filtering system, there is an increase of phosphorus in the blood. The phosphorus and calcium ration in the blood must remain at approximately a 2:1 level. If this level is not maintained the parathyroid gland must go into action, pulling calcium out of the bones to supply the amount need to maintain the 2:1 level.
Kidney problems lead to back pain. Young men between 20 and 30 years of age are having back surgery and spinal fusion in an attempt to treat back pain that could very well be caused by kidney problems.
A person might go into surgery for one operation, for example, knee surgery, and due to the infusion of anesthetics into the system to facilitate the surgery, that person’s already weakened kidneys might not be able to support the strain, and the kidneys shut down.
Evidence certainly suggests the possibility that the business community as well as the food processing community has ignored the possibility of poisons entering the food chain due to the indiscriminate poisoning of the grasslands and prairie over the last six or seven decades. This has a very serious cumulative effect that can only adversely affect not only animal health, but also the health of all of consume animal meat as food. The medical bills which result strip the family of its financial resources while lining the coffers of the pharmaceutical community. Sickness and death are big business in America and the poisoning of our natural habitats is contributing to that business.
The December blizzards of 2006 may have been providential if they had a role in causing the current pet scandal, by forcing cattle off the range and causing them to rely on anything they could find, i.e. bait traps, etc. The American Trail Foundation is committed to the search for truth, and will not be silenced by threats, persecution, or attempts to sweep this issue into cyber-space, light years away. The truth will cry out to be heard and the truth will set us free.
By Jeffrey J. Harsh .
Executive Director of The American Trail Foundation
499 US 83 Oakley Ks. 67748
theanimalphilosopher@yahoo.com
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Written to a friend who is being sued by logan county for having prairie dogs on their property
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Donald and Lillian Becker
1720 Seneca
Winona KS 67764
Hello Donald and Lillian
As your friend I pledge my support and foundation to helping you.
The mission of the American Trail Foundation is the creation of a shortgrass prairie reserve network that enables native plant and animal communities to naturally thrive.
The American Trail Foundation, a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization, takes great pride in embarking on a serious endeavor for the protection of indigenous populations. In order to preserve the fragile prairie biome, northwest Kansas only needs to assist the basic physiological requirements of our indigenous animals and address the actions required to prevent them from extinction.
Together we have taken a position which is not popular to our friends and neighbors concerning Prairie Dog Preservation. But it is the right position for the children of our grandchildren to be able to enjoy the indigenous animals we have today.
When this battle is over our Foundation wants to give you a plaque for your ability to stand up in spite of reputation and making an extra Buck. For this we salute you and thank you for the future generations to come.
Even though not legally required, we would like your blessing on our Foundation presenting information as a friend of the court, to the court.
This is a very important battle you are in because it will set legal precedents that will have ripple effects in many court cases in the future as a constitutional issue.
Our goal is to have the State of Kansas Legislature remove this statute from the KSA statutes.
We will respect your attorneys’ actions and pleadings and will not stand in the way. Rather, we seek to guarantee your rights, under the Bill of Rights, and to help see your constitutional rights respected. Please call me.
Sincerely
Jeffrey Harsh (785) 672-5503