Would you like to sign an online petition calling for better regulation of pet food? Then visit the newly established Petitionz site! Here’s the proposition of their newest petition:

I support effective regulation of the manufacturing, testing, labeling and marketing of all pet food. I call upon all governments to act on all aspects of this issue IMMEDIATELY and to keep the public informed.”

There’s more than just petitions on the site. They also run short pet polls (completely unscientific before anyone jumps in and points that out).

Here’s a recent press release for Petitionz.org.

PETITIONZ.ORG FINDS BIGGER QUESTIONS & SMALLER ANSWERS
THE TOP 6 QUESTIONS SO FAR ABOUT THE PET FOOD RECALL

April 4, 2007 (NA) With only 4 full days of activity, PETitionz.org has begun to see some thoughtful and far reaching reactions from the thousands of visitors that have already visited the web site.

The Top 6 thoughtful questions from our visitors are:

1. Humans eating pet food. Is this an urban myth? Would an impoverished patient even tell a doctor that they had been eating pet food? What about babies at the crawling and anything goes in the mouth stage?

2. Where did the rest of the wheat gluten go? An article in the New York Times on April 3rd stated that the FDA is fairly certain that the wheat gluten did not find its way into the human food supply. What are the guarantees that this did not happen? The queries widen the pet food issue into many areas of the economy and current issues. Even the gender of the majority of respondents may have far reaching results. The majority to date are women; the consumer group that makes 85% of household buying decisions and has 90% of buying veto power. They feel betrayed. Several have thought for the first time about the companies behind the popular brands of pet food who also make so many of the everyday human products used by their families.

3. Whats happening with all of the recalled food? Where will it go? Is there any chance it could be relabeled and resold?

4. Can the manufacturers not affected by the recall meet the demand? Will there be shortages if this problem continues to widen with pet owners dependent on just a few companies? The issue highlights the possible dangers of a near monopoly in segments of our economy.

5. Some Canadian visitors were upset at the nasty blog comments about evil Canada” from some Americans. Plus media articles are still blaming Menu Foods in Ontario when the product was actually traced to the Menu Foods facility in Emporia, Kansas. The wheat gluten had been purchased from a U.S. supplier. What, if any, are the effects on U.S. / Canada trade from this myth information”?

6. One web visitor from Japan made us aware of the large export trade in North American produced pet food to Japanese pet owners via the web. What about the pet food exported to world markets? Have they been notified? Whos in charge here?

7. According to media sources, Menu Foods began testing the tainted food on 40 to 50 animals on February 27th killing at least 7 animals. People want to know where this company got animals for testing” purposes and what happened to any sick animals that did not die?

Here are 2 of our latest (as of yesterday) non-scientific polling results:

Q: Should pet food be randomly tested regularly?

52.9% – An independent arms-length testing organization should handle it.

34.1% – Federal Governments should do it.

8% – State / Provincial Governments should do it.

0% – We can trust the industry to do the necessary testing.

Q: How likely are you to buy Certified” pet food (even if it is more expensive)?

68.9% – Definitely

14.8% – Very likely

11.5% – Likely

3.3% – Not Likely

1.6% – Always buy lower priced food