rants and observations

We’ve been feeding our best buddy Benjamin Waggin Train Jerky Treats for over three years. We’ve lovingly broken the strips into bite size bits and served them with his favourite lamb and rice food, a dollop of flaked tuna and a big bowl of fresh water. But we may have been feeding him poison.

Benjamin has been having a number of issues for the past year or so including whinging, bloated stomach, irregular bowel movements and lethargy which we attributed to his age (we think he’s between 8-10 years old) and his penchant for licking any outdoor body of water including plant pots, ditches, drainage ditches etc. He’s been to the vet a number of times but there’s we’ve never found anything conclusive. Since finding out about Waggin Train’s product issues he’s been in for blood tests and is scheduled for an ultrasound next week. And we feel exceedingly guilty about feeding him something that may have been doing more harm than good.

It’s been reported that the distributor, Waggin Treats, recently offered a Florida woman HALF the cost of her $300 vet bill if she agreed not to discuss the event with anyone, especially the media. That’s a staggering $150!

It seems that Helene Dollinger’s dog became seriously ill after consuming some of the treat with symptoms that included “Blood pouring out of his rectum,”. Dollinger contacted the manufacturer to notify them of the incident but they were more concerned about a possible hit on sales than the health of her dog. Let’s not let everyone know that our product may be poisonous but keep it quiet and hope it all goes away. Waggin Treats has obviously not heard about the Internet.

Here’s a friend’s comment on a recent facebook post on the subject by the fantastic No Bad Days Dog Services (a HIGHLY recomended service!):

How ’bout the company pays her whole vet bill, pulls product from the shelves, issues a press release regarding the product and their intentions to look into manufacturing processes and making the changes necessary, and actually carry out recommended changes. Then, if they can swing it, fund a few rescue organizations. Getting out in front of bad practice and making the changes necessary works way better than being a sneaky slime ball. Just a thought.

So what does Waggin Treats have to say about this? Here’s their comment currently available on their website:

No matter what’s said or done, we’ll never buy their product again. I’m planning to let Costco (our source for the $20 bags we’ve bought over the years) know how pissed we are that they continued to sell a product that is suspected of poisoning our pets. And perhaps an email to Waggin Train with a link to this post may be in order.

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I’m not sure how long this video will last on YouTube so have a look while you can. The CBC reported that this clown drove his motorbike at speeds reaching close to 300 km/h through midday Victoria area highway traffic, weaving around and BETWEEN cars, then posting his/her exploits online for all to view. Everyone. Including the police.

Speed doesn’t matter when you’re being tracked on the internet via your IP address so he/whe will eventually be caught and punished. But what can you do with someone that’s obviously insane? His/her behaviour is obviously that of lunatic. Really! Like, who would post the video online?

UPDATE:

Saanich police have seized the blue Yahama motorcycle seen in a viral YouTube video hitting speeds up to 299 kilometres an hour on the Trans-Canada Highway.

Sgt. Dean Jantzen has called a press conference at Saanich headquarters for Thursday morning and plans to show off the bike.
There is no word on whether the driver has been charged.

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