‘Mad Cow’ Risk Leads to Recall of Dog Food

WASHINGTON —  A U.S. company is asking customers to return dog food that may have been made from a Canadian cow found to have “mad cow” disease, the Food and Drug Administration said Monday.

Pet Pantry International of Carson City, Nev., said customers should search for two products: “Maintenance Diet” with a “use by” date of “17FEB04” and “Beef with Barley” with a date of “05MAR04.” If found, the food should be held for pickup. The company’s products are purchased by phone or e-mail and delivered by franchises to consumers’ homes.

There is no known risk to dogs and no evidence that dogs could transmit the disease to humans, the FDA said. The voluntary return is a precaution to prevent discarded dog food from getting mixed with feed for cattle, goats or sheep.

Customers who purchased dog food since February should check their supplies and, if the recalled products are found, should call the company at (800) 381-7387. Pet Pantry is also using sales records to contact consumers.

The suspect food, in 50-pound bags, was produced in Canada by Champion Pet Food of Morinville, Alberta.

The Canadian government already has prevented meat from the diseased cow from being processed for human food.