Poisoned Alpaca Feed 2003, 100+ die - Judgement 'Win' for the Feed Co. in April 2007
I just found this today, and it made me terribly sad. I'm not a lawyer, but it may set a precedent (and I hope not!) for all the different recalls that have been taking place recently.
Basically, back in 2003 a batch of Alpaca feed was laced with a drug which caused the overnight death of more than a hundred animals, and permanently damaged almost a thousand more (and of these thousand , animals are continuing to die, and the necroptic (autopsy?) reports show significant scarring of the heart from this poisoning).
The results? Land'o'Lakes managed to get the trial held over until early this year. They brought in 'experts' who freely admitted in court that they knew almost nothing about Alpacas and the Alpaca industry. The verdict was handed down this April - less than a month ago. The Jury found LOL guilty, but used their 'experts' to base the awarded damages -- very much under the actual value of the dead animals and no award for the care and treatment of the currently damaged Alpacas.
Currently, LOL no longer has any mention of Alpaca feed on their site, nor do they mention this 'bad press' anywhere on their site. An oportunity to 'make right' by a major corporation for an issue they have clearly caused is again swept under the carpet - sound familiar to the Menu recalls? Don't admit fault of course. :rolleyes: I'm just saddened that these gentle animals were needlessly and horiffically killed because of bad quality control methods.
The backstory - from here (warning - there are graphic images and a graphic movie on this site about the deaths):
http://www.alpacafarm.com/images/LOL/LOL_Flyer.pdf
Quote:
They were just feeding their animals In March of 2003 alpaca farms throughout Ohio fed their animals Land O’Lakes Alpaca feed just like usual, and suddenly almost 1,000 alpacas from dozens of farms died a horrible death or were permanently injured. The poisoned batch of Land O’Lakes feed was laced with a drug called salinomycin that has been proven to be a deadly poison to alpacas, horses, and other livestock.
Land O’Lakes ignored its own Quality Assurance Manual The label on the bag is stamped "guaranteed analysis," but no analysis was done prior to shipping and selling the feed. The Land O’Lakes Corporate Quality Assurance Manual states that salinomycin was never to be in the Massillon, Ohio plant because it is a known poison to certain livestock, but it was in the plant anyway.
Land O’ Lakes is Found Guilty A Jury found Land O’Lakes guilty of killing innocent animals and damaging both Magical Farms and its surviving alpacas.Land O’Lakes admitted to their negligence in producing the poisonous feed.
What constitutes a "win" in corporate eyes? Land O’ Lakes counsel called the result of the recent trial a "clean win for the defense."
• Is it a "win" for a food producer to have been found guilty of producing poisonous food?
• Is it a "win" for a food producer to be guilty of negligence and found liable for a defective product?
• Is it a "win" to have killed and poisoned hundreds of innocent animals?
• Is it a "win" to have been publicly proven to have ignored your own Quality Assurance manual?
No, of course not. But today’s corporate culture considers it a "win" as long as any disaster they cause their customers does not impact their own bottom line.
Finally, a call for accountability It is time that corporations are held accountable for the food, whether animal or human, that they produce. Consider the recent pet food recall by Menu Foods in which potentially thousands of family pets died or were damaged. Congress is now getting involved. U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-Il) announced a hearing and ongoing investigation on the regulation of the pet/animal food industry, to include delays in reporting problems, lack of inspections, and incomplete data and reporting. We would like to see them add Corporate Responsibility for quality assurance.
Visit www.alpacafarm.com for information regarding the death of our alpacas and the subsequent litigation. Visit durbin.senate.gov for a full report on the Senate hearings. We ask that everyone get involved, write or call your representatives, and demand quality control and accountability for the manufacture of animal food products.
Also see the full story and trial details at:
http://www.alpacafarm.com/updates_archive.htm
http://www.alpacafarm.com/updates.htm
http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=...%2Balpaca&meta=
