After almost three years, the owners of Chemnutra, Inc., the company responsible for importing and distributing a tainted ingredient used in pet food and responsible for thousands of pet deaths, were sentenced in federal court. On Friday, February 5, 2010, the Office Of The United States Attorney Western District Of Missouri issued this press release:
Sally Qing Miller, 43, a Chinese national, and her husband, Stephen S. Miller, 57, both of Las Vegas, Nev., were sentenced by U.S. Magistrate Judge John T. Maughmer this morning to three years of probation. The court also ordered their company, Chemnutra, Inc., to pay a $25,000 fine. Sally Miller and Stephen Miller were each ordered to pay a $5,000 fine.
The court ruled that no further restitution would be imposed in light of a $24 million settlement in the related civil suit reached in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. Read full press release
Depth and scope of the 2007 pet food recalls
I vividly remember reading the paper on a sunny Saturday in March of 2007 - St. Patrick's Day, learning about the beginnings of the 2007 pet food recall. At least the beginning of what was to published. Case reports of animals becoming ill or dying from pet foods actually began quietly in late 2006. The pet food recall timeline spanned many months.
At first, the cause of kidney problems and death in dogs and cats were a mystery. Officials suspected aminopterin as a toxic component to the foods. That was later ruled out and determined to be melamine, an agent high in nitrogen that was used to falsely boost protein levels in the wheat gluten used in pet foods.
Probation and a (relatively small) fine. Is that all?
According to the press release, "consumer reports received by the FDA suggest that approximately 1,950 cats and 2,200 dogs died after eating pet food contaminated with melamine." Those numbers are best guestimates, since not all cases were reported, not all cases were diagnosed as being related to toxic food ingestion, and... sad to say, not all cases made it to the vet before dying. Conservatively speaking, according to the FDA, this translates to 4,150 pets who were unintentionally killed by the foods they ate. Foods that their caretakers spent good money on, fed in food faith to keep their beloved pets healthy.
Now, after almost 3 years, the ones who started this massive recall receive a 3 year probation from importing pet food ingredients and fined a total of $35,000? The Millers have pleaded guilty to importing a melamine-tainted ingredient. They have pleaded guilty to false labeling.
Something is missing here
I wish it was the melamine. This does not feel like much of a sentence for causing the biggest pet food recall in history. Because of a previous $24 million settlement reached in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey with pet food manufacturers, distributors and retailers, no further fines or punishment would be imposed on Chemnutra Inc. Learn more here: www.petfoodsettlement.com. What are your opinions on this case? Please add in your comments below.
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Photo: Pet food dish © Janet Tobiassen Crosby DVM
Comments
I don’t think it is safe to state my opinion as it would definitely be NSFW, as they say. If we substituted humans in the equation, for that of small companion animals, I am sure the sentencing would have been different.
Until society has come to understand and appreciate the true and quite important place that our beloved furry companions have within the family, will they treat such transgressions any differently.
It’s clearly not nearly enough. This was a tragedy that should not have happened. Animals continue to get the short end of the stick in so many ways, and a slap on the wrist for these people is adding insult to tremendous injury. The laws need to be changed so that those responsible for abuse, neglect, and in cases like this, outright greed-based killing are truly punished.
Since I, and many others, have been serving a three year sentence of caring for my sick pets, watching them suffer, spending thousands on vet bills and cremation expenses and the Millers actions did that to me, along with sentencing my pets to death, no, it was not justice.
The “alleged” settlement is a joke, I hear rumors but still have not been reimbursed for the pets who died in 2007, there was NEVER any settlement for the pets who struggle today, the pet owners who have been sruggling to pay these bills for three years! I believe the interest ALONE on the vet bills may be over 24 million so that is really not going to cover it.
The statements made by the US attorney and Homeland Security were a dircect and deliberate insult to pet people .
By imposing no penalty on ChemNutra and its owners, the
government virtually handed tacit approval to all growers,
processors, importers, and retailers in the pet and human
food industries to continue using untested cheap-as-possible and possibly deadly contaminated food ingredients. The message is there is no penalty for sickening or killing pets or people with a food product. That’s a major tragedy for all U.S. consumers.
The Millers made $850,000 in profit, got fined $35,000, and are back in the food business as EOSDirect – not a comforting thought. A total sell out by our food safety
authorities and the justice system in my opinion.
At the first report of a fatal episode, we began making our own dog food. Not easy since we have 5 highly active big dogs. Ingredients are the same as we eat. Whole organic foods we produce, nothing processed, and definately NOTHING imported. We bake 60 lb batches. It’s work, but we’re spared having to worry about paying $60 a bag to poison our dogs.
There IS good news for people who lost pets to the poison!
And those who have pets suffering still.
Susan Thixton will be making a VERY exciting announcement.
The civil suit should have absolutely no bearing on the criminal case.
They should be banned from ever working with a pet food company or importing goods ever again. Everything they own should be auctioned off and awarded to the people that owned these animals.
I would also bann them from every owning a pet as well.