The pet food recall is still at the top of the consumer radar these days, and we've been waiting for the lawsuits to begin. One of the first efforts is now underway, as a man whose dog passed away from kidney failure has filed suit against Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT), Menu Foods (an ingredient supplier blamed for the recall) and Del Monte.This was to be expected, but I am surprised that Wal-Mart was included in the suit. Being a distributor of products, in most cases, should absolve one of liability unless the product is not removed from shelves after notification from vendors and suppliers. Perhaps this was the case with Wal-Mart. If so, the retailer deserves to be included here.
The same argument could be made for Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), which is sued routinely for making certain information available through its search engine. Apparently, being a "distributor" of information means legal liability, which is nonsense. This kind of thinking moves the responsibility from the creator of a service or product into the realm of the middleman. Is this right? Well, it can be -- it's all in the details of each case. In the Wal-Mart case, the charges include language like "failed to prevent the distribution of tainted pet foods after the discovery of contaminated wheat gluten in their ingredients." If true, then Wal-Mart's inclusion makes sense.











Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-27-2008 @ 3:59PM
ann said...
I think that they need to broaden their investigation on what products from China are tainted.. My mom bought a comforter for me and my sister which was on sale at Bed Bath and Beyond for an unbelievable price of 19.99. you can't even find those prices at WalMart. Since I've been sleeping with it I started having a severe cough. 3 days ago, I took it off my bed and started using my old comforter. Let me remind you that both are made of Polyester.. And mysteriously my cough has almost ceased completely.. Don't buy anything from China
2-24-2009 @ 3:16PM
Angie` said...
I have a 9 month old boxer and we bought ol roy dog food for the first time and today we found him having seizures. I am mad and someone should pay for this. If anyonje knows what i should do please let me know. Thank you
5-21-2007 @ 1:46PM
Brad Kirkland said...
I saw tainted cans on the shelves where I shop a week after the recall.My dogs were not affected,but I notified the manager on duty that they best pull them or get sued.I would think Wal-Mart was responsible enough to pull them.Unless he can prove otherwise,his lawsuit vs Wal-Mart is unfounded.he should as you say,be suing the manufacturer not the distributor anyway.
5-22-2007 @ 10:47AM
carolornurse said...
I also saw the tainted dog biscuits on the shelves at wal-mart a week after they had declared them contaminated. i found it strange to still see them on the shelves since they are usually very prudent about these things.
5-22-2007 @ 7:25AM
dana said...
i would suppose there being no more money to be got out of what was the richest PRIVATELY owned tobacco industry that yes the suees will turn to wal-mart wether pet food or another
5-22-2007 @ 4:36PM
William Martin said...
I don't doubt that tainted food stayed on the shelf as has been commented. If they are shareholders of WMT then they should have contacted the main office. I have done this with other problems and it was handled promptly but not until I called!BMartin
5-22-2007 @ 4:54PM
Heather said...
I work at Wal-Mart and happen to know that when recalls like this occur the items are blocked at point of sale, meaning it cannot be rung up through the register. So, he either bought this dog food before the recall,stole it, or is just looking for another way to make Wal-Mart look bad.
7-25-2007 @ 10:21PM
Beau said...
My response is not about recall about how wal-mart's return policy is. I bought a ps3 and when i brought it home i discovered it looked to have been purchased and returned. When I started it up it didn't work. I returned it and the next day I sent a friend to the same wal-mart to purchase a wii and the same ps3 system was back in the case to be purchased long store short they don't seem to care only about $$$
7-25-2007 @ 9:42PM
nana said...
I saw the recall and took 2 bags of the dog biscuits back to the store. Since I no longer had the receipt, I simply stated that I didn't need a refund but also didn't want to dispose of the contaminated food in our local landfill. I returned several days later and the biscuits were still on the shelves. I spoke to the return clerk again, b/c the mgr. was 'unavailable'. I wrote to the company address stating my concern as a loyal customer and never had a response. I am sorely disappointed in this scenario.
7-26-2007 @ 2:43AM
E. said...
After the pet food recall, I saw many stores that still had the pet foods on their shelves. They either don't care or are just plain greedy. Personally I think its time for this nation to stop outsourcing our industries to China. BRING OUR COMPANIES BACK HOME! Its not just the pet foods, its everything. I'm afraid to eat meats, use toothpastes, buy toys for my grandchildren, you name it its dangerous. BRING OUR COMPANIES AND OUR JOBS BACK TO THE USA NOW!
7-25-2007 @ 9:59PM
kimberly reyes said...
I feel that walmart should of pulled it off the shelves.regardless of weather a cashier wasn't soposed to ring it up. I to had a cat whom I loved dearly that died from the bad cat food ,and I went back to walmart to tell them , and it was still on the shelve. I also had another time where I was checking out of walmart and then Iwas leaveing and there was water spilt on the floor and I slipt and hurt my self.I think the walmart that I go to is poorly run.
7-25-2007 @ 11:52PM
Jenna M said...
I'm a walmart associate and I know when we get recall information, we immediately pull the recalls off the shelf. I know because I have had to do it before. About the broken ps3, at are store if anything comes back to us broken or otherwise, it gets sent to our claims dept. and not back on the shelf.
7-26-2007 @ 1:13AM
Mary R. said...
I am thoroughly disgusted with having to buy second-hand products from Wal-mart or any other company. I have 2 german shepherds, registered, and they eat "ole roy" or "Alpo". So far, neither has exhibited any signs of illness but I did return some food when this was first anounced. The contamination is not Wal-mart's fault but is the fault of the manufacturer. Since we purchase a substantial amount of goods, medicine and food included, overseas, who knows what we are buying. They all want to get rid of the U.S., so it doesn't make sense that the products are not examined before leaving the U.S. ports for delivery to consumers or purchasers. That is the fault of the government, as all things are.
7-26-2007 @ 2:35AM
connie paugh said...
At my local Walmart the recalled pet food was still being sold more than a week after the recall. I think they should be included in the law suit.They do put returned broken merchandise back on the shelves to sell it has happened to me several times. all they do is apoligize and say they do not know why it was put back on the shelves. they also sell rotten produce.they do not know why it was not pulled off the shelves.I think Walmart stinks!!!
7-26-2007 @ 3:14AM
JOHN said...
YOU ARE RIGHT WAL- MART DID REFUSE TO REMOVE THE DOG FOOD AFTER THE RECALL IN WAVELAND MISSISSIPPI, WAL MART MADE MONEY OFF THE PRODUCT SO THEY SHOULD BE IN THE LAW SUITE! MY DOG WAS AFFECTED ALSO AND WAS SICK FOR WEEKS WHO TELLS MY DOG SORRY FOR POISOINING YOU !!!
7-26-2007 @ 4:45AM
KP said...
I will "never" forget in spring of 2005 at the Lake Zurich Ill, WalMart. I bought a beautiful king size comforter and sheets, when I got hopme to put it on my bed there were "fresh" stains all over it and it smelled of body order. This really upset me because it touched my bed where I sleep and God only knows what those stains were but one thing was for sure it was bought by someone, used, returned and then put back on the shelve for me to buy.I love WalMart but will never buy bedding there ever again!
7-26-2007 @ 4:49AM
kp said...
Correction: "body oder" not "order! oops
7-31-2007 @ 5:37AM
peanut said...
I think that it is totally appropriate that WalMart be included in the law suit. Although they did not manufacture or produce the recalled products, they are the distributor (middle man) who sells these products to the unknowing public.
It is no different than an individual who sells merchandise on ebay...Should that merchandise prove to be defective in any way...the purchaser looks to the person or company that sold it online...NOT just the manufacturer.
Of course, if WalMart was responsible to the point of immediately removing the products from the shelf (once notified of the recall), that's a different scenario...BUT too many of us KNOW for sure that many of the tainted Pet Food products at WalMart were NOT removed from the shelves like they should have been.
As far as them reselling USED products, there is no excuse for this...Supposedly, any returns that have been opened are supposed to be inspected before returning them to the shelves for resale....
Again, a company, store, corporation can only be as good as its employees. A strict company policy MUST be enforced locally within the individual stores.....and with the POOR management we see these days, it leaves much room for these kinds of problems.
But it isn't just WalMart....we are picking on them because they happen to be the largest retailer in the country. If you pay attention, this same problem is occuring in most every type company whether it be a retailer or of a service nature.
I now know what my elderly father has meant all these years when he said the whole country was going to hell in a handbasket! What a shame!
8-01-2007 @ 10:53PM
regipoo said...
I think it is appropriate for Walmart to be included in the law suit if for no other reason than for selling crappy pet food in the first place. Shame on them! They have enough billions not to have to cut cost on what animals are fed as their sole diet, in some circumstances due to owner finances, in others just plain ignorance and neglect.
10-07-2007 @ 11:16PM
Gene Reed said...
Wal-Mat should be sued for more than one recall and here is why I say that. They should stop buying anything from China, it will kill you, your family or your pets.
My name is Donna, and Gene and I just lost our 9 year old female Akita Meiko. She was murdered. Murdered by Wal-Mart who continued to sell the Bestro Chicken Jerky made in China even though they knew it was tainted with Melamine. She became ill June 15, 2007. She began vomiting everything we fed her. The vet came to the house to draw blood and take urine to see if he could determine what was causing her illness. She was in renal failure. Her creatine had gone from 3 to 14. We started an IV on her. We had IV poles and pumps on every floor in our home. We ran 54 liters of ringers through her in 72 hours. They retested her blood and her creatine had gone back down to 3, but her kidneys were permanently damaged and she would be on an expensive K-D diet the rest of her life. But we were still at a loss as to how Meiko came down with acute Kidney Failure. Within a couple of days of bringing her back to some level of normality a chief executive from Tyson Foods who spends a great deal of time at our home called to see if we were still feeding our pets chicken jerky from Wal-Mart. We said yes it is their favorite treat. He said to stop immediately that it was tainted with melamine and that was what was killing her. We thought we had her on the mend when she began vomiting again in September. The vet once again came and drew blood and took a urine sample. Her creatine was 15 this time. The damage that was done from continuing to feed her the chicken jerky was too great, we were not able to save her life, but we are still desperately trying to save the lives of our other 2 pets Yoshi and Chopper because they all ate the same damn jerky and the other two are both peeing whole blood. Had they pulled the jerky from the shelves and made a public recall, Meiko would still be alive today.
Our beautiful baby daughter is buried in our garden. Beware of what Wal-Mart sells and what they import and the country it is imported from. Not only do they import tainted pet food and pet treats, but they also sell the toys painted with lead paint and the baby bibs, etc. They do not care about you, your family or your pets, they only care about the almighty dollar and their bottom line. When we contacted Wal-Mart about Meiko, they sent us a letter stating that “Claims Management, Inc. manages claims on behalf of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and that they were very sorry to hear of the incident which involved chicken jerky. At this time we would like to share some information with you regarding the claims handling process. Upon reviewing your claim, CMI tendered the claim to the product supplier; Shanghai Bestro Trading. If you do not hear from the supplier in the next 10 days, please feel from to contact them directly 011-86-21-5848-6661. This is an overseas phone number.
This is your great Wal-Mart at its best, they don’t want to take responsibility for what they imported and sold at their stores. It may cost us more, but we no longer shop at Wal-Mart or any of its subsidiaries.