Timi Talks

Posted By Timi on July 31, 2009

We all remember the fear and horror as thousands of canine family members suffered and/or died at the hands of dog food put out under the responsibility of Canadian based company, “Menu Foods”. The complete loss of trust in commercial companies is what prompted me to dive in to the research of ALL ingredients of dog food, and work with a canine nutritionalist and vets to have an educated idea of what I feed my own boys…and my rescues. (This is when I learned vets have NO real nutritional education taught in their veterinary schooling and I’ll speak more on that topic in a future post.) So why are we so naive and trusting that a company who’s number one goal is to make money (and if they are not a non-profit organization, making money off you IS their number one goal - I don’t care what BS comes from their mouths)…anyway, why are we so naive to think that just because the label clarifies that a food meets (current) government standards means the food is actually healthy, or safe, for our four-legged family members - or even ourselves? Since when is the government not motivated by money themselves? While the 2007 Pet Food Recall was due to “tainted” ingredients, and not necessarily the quality of the “recipe”, it still provided major food for thought. [Please see my recent posts: "Fresh Food - homemade wet food", and "Kibble: Ingredients to Avoid".] But back on topic…WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH THE SETTLEMENT AND PAYMENT TO VICTIMS TO DATE? I had the pleasure of speaking with a member of the legal team of the representing firm today.

Victims are encouraged to visit the firm’s website (petfoodsettlement.com) for updates - the last update prominently placed on the page is dated May 28, 2009, but I was more interested in what a real, live person had to say. I’m a hard audience and I can honestly state that I was impressed by Mr. Russell Paul (Berger & Montague, P.C.), and appreciative of his time. He successfully diminished the fire that I had roaring in my wake on this subject. After being frustrated by not receiving detailed updates on the matter, and not receiving email responses that satisfied my inquiries and concerns, I decided that I would allow my anger to fuel a few communication attempts in recent weeks. To my delight, I received a respectful phone call and email from Mr. Paul today. He was polite, professional and honest (to my knowledge). I have no reason to doubt any information that he provided me - after all we’re not exactly talking about a “deep throat” type cover-up. The following isn’t exactly new news, but it never hit mainstream media and most victims are still in the dark. In layman’s terms, here is what I thought that you’d be interested in:

• How many USA claims were filed? 23,390
  
  
• How many Canadian claims were filed? 1,780
  (So a total of 25,170 claims - aka: victims awaiting relief and closure)
  
  
• Why hasn’t any restitution been paid to victims? The defendant (aka: Menu Foods) agreed to establish a twenty-four million dollar ($24,000,000.00) settlement fund for victims. That money is currently held up in the fund due to appeals taken out on the judgment/case. No parities (neither victims nor legal teams) have received any relief or compensation from this settlement fund. I’m told that the reason is because two (count them folks - I said TWO [2]!) independent parties - alleged victims themselves), have appealed certain aspects of the settlement…including VERBAGE used. I find these appeals to be frivolous and SELFISH! Mr Paul is hopeful that maybe the APPELLATE COURT will make a decision in September or October of this year (2009), but of course NO ONE can predict, or control, the court’s calendar.

So over 25,000 victims continue to SUFFER in this economical climate because of TWO selfish and greedy parties!!! THAT’S RIGHT. I SAID YOU ARE SELFISH AND GREEDY!!!!!! It is my opinion, one I’m sure is shared by millions, and I’m entitled to speak it - so HEAR ME! According to VIN News Service: “The plaintiffs who are appealing the settlement are Margaret Picus and Daniel Kaffer in one case and Jim W. Johnson and Dustin Turner in the second case“. LISTEN UP Picus, Kaffer, Johnson and Turner - no victim is ever completely happy with settlements in class actions suits. In the history I am privy to, victims are never 100% satsified in the end result but hello “objectors” - TAKE YOUR (alleged) DOLLAR SIGN EYES AND LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE — tens of thousands of people suffered, not just YOU folks — and now YOUR (alleged) SELF-SERVING actions are postponing EVERYONE’s relief and closure and for what? Your own PERSONAL GAIN or NARCISSISTIC IDEAL? There is no validation that I see for this delay or for the above named parties’ actions and (grasping) choices. There is no “fight for the masses” or “standing up for what’s fair” here. The settlement (including the language used) is what it is and SOME relief has been allotted for victims. Now the only thing NOT “fair” are these (perceived) - say it with me - SELFISH and GREEDY appeals allowing over 25,000 people to continue to suffer in this recession - unnecessarily - when reimbursements could begin to be distributed! SHAME SHAME ON YOU!! How sad that these two independent parties apparently feel that they are above and more important than 25,000+ other victims. Way to pick your battles…at the expense of others. Greed and/or narcissism disgust me.

To add to the aggravation, the APPELLATE COURT seems to be taking it’s sweet ol’ time putting this nonsense on the calendar. Never mind the struggles Americans are going through at this time financially, let’s delay payment of owed money even further just to add the crisis (aka: recession). People are loosing their homes, an owed reimbursement/compensation of $500 or $1,000 or $5,000 could very well make the difference of another family in foreclosure or not. From my understanding, the court isn’t even making an effort known to the fund’s representatives.

Johnson and Turner’s (one party who’s appeal is holding up the fund for over 25,000 victims) are represented by:

• Robert E. Marguleies
  Margulies Wind - tele: 201-333-0400 | fax: 201-333-1110
  Harborside Plaza 10
  3 Second Street #1201
  Jersey City, NJ 07311
  
• Jeffrey L. Weinstein - tele: 903-677-5333 | fax: 903-677-3657
  518 East Tyler Street
  Athens, TX 75751

Categories: General | Msc., Nutrition
Tags: 2009 update, menu foods, pet food recall, settlement