POISON PET FOOD
CLASS ACTION

Update

COURT GRANTS PRELIMINARY APPROVAL OF SETTLEMENT OF CONTAMINATED PET FOOD CLASS ACTION CASES.

On May 30, 2008, Judge Noel L. Hillman of the United States District Court for the District Court for the District of New Jersey granted preliminary approval of a class-wide settlement of claims relating to contaminated pet food.

The Court appointed the firm of Heffler, Radetich & Saitta LLP to be the Claims Administrator for the class wide settlement.  The terms of the Settlement are contained in the Notice, which is available at the following website:  http://www.petfoodsettlement.com

The Claims Administrator has set up a website that contains information regarding the claims procedures, including, the Notice to Class Members, the Claim Form, the preliminary settlement agreement and the Court's order granting preliminary approval of the settlement.  The website also contains an extensive FAQ section. Please visit http://www.petfoodsettlement.com

If you wish to participate in the class wide settlement, you must submit your claim by November 24, 2008.  The claim form is available at http://www.petfoodsettlement.com

Anyone who wishes to opt out of the class wide settlement is required to provide the Claims Administrator with written notice to be received by the Claims Administrator by August 15, 2008.  For information about "opting out" please visit http://www.petfoodsettlement.com

Further, anyone who wishes to object to the proposed settlement must file an objection with the court  by September 12, 2008 and serve copies of the objection on the appropriate parties. The procedure for filing objections is set forth in the Court's May 30, 2008 order and is contained at www.petfoodsettlement.com

The Court will conduct a hearing regarding the fairness of the proposed settlement on October 14, 2008 at 9:30 a.m. The hearing will be held before Judge Hillman at the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, Mitchell H. Cohen Building & U.S. Courthouse, 4th and Cooper Streets, Room 1050, Camden, New Jersey, 08101.

If you have any questions concerning the proposed settlement, please contact the Claims Administrator, Heffler, Radetich & Saitta LLP, 1515 Market Street, Suite 1700, Philadelphia, PA 19102, 1-800-392-7785  or visit the website http://www.petfoodsettlement.com

March 27, 2007, Los Angeles, California - Helmer Friedman LLP and Schonbrun DeSimone Seplow Harris & Hoffman LLP filed a class action lawsuit against Menu Foods, Nutro Products, Inc., and PETCO— the manufacturers, distributors, and sellers of the pet food linked to the deaths and severe kidney problems of numerous cats and dogs.

Here are the Press Release announcing the lawsuit, the Complaint For Damages (the lawsuit itself), and a News Article from the Los Angeles Daily Journal about the lawsuit.

UPDATE: PET FOOD CASES TRANSFERED TO NEW JERSEY DISTRICT COURT

In addition to our class action lawsuit (Grady, et al v Menu Foods et al), approximately 120 other class action lawsuits have been filed around the Country as a result of the contaminated pet food. On May 31, 2007, a Multi-District Litigation ("MDL") hearing took place in Las Vegas, Nevada to determine what form these lawsuits should take (e.g., whether they should be consolidated into one large lawsuit) and, if so, in what court they should proceed. We had asked the MDL panel of judges to consolidate all of these related lawsuits into a single action in federal court in Los Angeles, California.

On June 19, 2007, the MDL panel issued its order transferring our case and all related pet food cases to the U.S. District Court in New Jersey. A copy of the MDL panel's order can be viewed here. Although we would have preferred that these actions be consolidated in California, the MDL panel of judges decided to transfer the case to New Jersey federal court for pre-trial proceedings. Nonetheless, our firms will continue to prosecute this action on behalf of all persons whose pets either died or became ill from ingesting contaminated pet food.

In a related development, the federal district court Judge in New Jersey (to whom all cases have been assigned) ordered Menu Foods to stop the contacting the plaintiffs and class members directly. For more information about this development, go to Law.com http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1180688733567) which has an in-depth article about the Judge's ruling.

Here are lists of pet food brands recalled so far (on manufacturer or agency sites):
FDA Summary Page — most complete recall info, with updated links to manufacturer lists
American Veterinary Medical Association — another very comprehensive source
Menu Foods, Inc. — listing dozens of private-label brands
Hill's Prescription Diet
Nestle Purina PetCare Company — including Alpo
Del Monte — including Jerkey Treats, Pounce, Gravy Train, Ol' Roy, Dollar Geneal, Happy Trails
Eight In One, Inc. — including Dingo Chicken Jerkey
Sunshine Mills Dog Biscuits — including Companion, Stater Bros., Champion, Perfect Pal, and Ol'Roy

In total, more than 95 brands of dog and cat food have been identified as possibly being contaminated with high levels of either melamine, a raw ingredient of many plastics, and/or aminopterin, a highly toxic rat poison.

If your pets have suffered symptoms of contaminated pet food, immediately take them to a veterinarian. Do not discard the unused pet food; instead mark it in indelible ink with the words 'Do Not Eat,' ‘Poisoned,’ or 'Contaminated' and make certain to store it in a safe place that is beyond the reach of pets and children. Later, the pet food can be tested for the presence of melamine, aminopterin and other contaminants. In addition, pet owners should save their receipts from where they purchased their pet food, save any veterinary bills and burial bills, locate photographs of their pets while it was alive, take a photograph of their deceased pets, and journal the loss of their pets to establish pain and suffering from the death of the pet.

Please be aware that giving us information does not, in itself, create an attorney-client relationship.

This is an Attorney Solicitation from the partners of Helmer Friedman LLP and Schonbrun DeSimone Seplow Harris & Hoffman LLP. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.