News Article
BSE concerns cut off U.S. pet food imports
CTV.ca News Staff
Canadian pet owners are the latest to be caught in the North American mad cow crossfire, as they discover the borders have been closed to many popular pet foods.
Pet store owner Andy Hughes told CTV's Atlantic affiliate he hasn't seen a new shipment of pet food since Christmas Eve, leaving him worried his shelves could soon be bare.
"Just all of a sudden December 24th they shut the borders down. Nothing in the newspaper. Nothing on the radio. If there was going to be a border closing, I would have stocked up and rented some trailers to get me by," Hughes told ATV News.
What he didn't know was that on Christmas Day, Canada instituted interim restrictions that prohibit some American beef products from crossing the Canadian border.
The ban includes pet food, which sometimes contains nerve and brain tissues that can easily transmit bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), otherwise known as mad cow disease.
Dog owner Bob Turcotte didn't know about the ban either when he purchased dog food in Maine over the weekend. He only found out as he tried to bring it back into Canada.
"And they specifically asked if we had any beef products of any kind. We didn't happen to have any beef products this time but... we did have 20 cans of pet food for our dog."
With more than half of the pet food sold in Canada imported from the U.S., the ban has store and pet owners alike worried about a shortage developing.
Hughes says it could be a significant blow to his livelihood.
"If I can't sell 60 per cent of my business to the public, then we are going to suffer. There will be a huge economic impact on us as well as the rest of Canada -- with all the pet food stores, the groceries and the vets."
"I don't think there's a single person in the (pet food) industry who's not concerned," said Jeff McFarlane, owner of Aardvark Pets in Winnipeg.
"If they're not concerned, they should be."
The Globe and Mail reporter Patrick Brethour told CTV Newsnet that concern is already evident among some pet owners who he has witnessed "panic buying" food for their pets.
"Therapeutic pet foods, particularly," Brethour said, adding that some stores have responded by rationing sales to one or two food products per customer.
During a mad cow outbreak in Britain several years ago, as many as 100 cats became infected with the feline equivalent of BSE.
People are going crazy here. I was in Wal-Mart and the shelves were bare! I've heard of people going to 4 different stores before they could find their food. Also stores are putting signs on the door saying 2 bags per person. The ban did affect all foods regardless of it's protein source, which is kinda dumb IMO as the only foods I know of that contain beef are the lesser quality ones and the canned foods.
I did hear though that the ban had been lifted.
All I know is that I'm not running out to buy food.
Another article:
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/.../bsefaqe.shtml
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