Federal task force to tackle animal abuse

It should start with animal “shelters“ where systematic neglect and abuse is rampant

In other news: Another week, another tainted pet food. Do you have what it takes to save lives? Communities are looking for someone to run or help run their animal shelters. The E.U. wants you to eat more veggie burgers. Pounds routinely neglect and abuse animals.

These are some of the stories making headlines in animal protection:

Another week, another tainted pet food

A cat in San Francisco died after eating raw pet food. The cat suffered from complications of “H5N1 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza,” commonly known as bird flu. The Food & Drug Administration tested samples of RAWR raw pet food and found them to be contaminated with the same strain of H5N1 that resulted in the cat’s death.

Symptoms of H5N1 include fever, lethargy, low appetite, reddened or inflamed eyes, discharge from the eyes and nose, difficulty breathing, and neurologic signs, like tremors, seizures, incoordination, or blindness.

Local health departments throughout the country have warned people not to feed pets raw food after the death of cats and numerous recalls. Unfortunately, skepticism about public health measures has led some to dismiss these warnings, and the products are gaining popularity more than ever, with cats paying the price. But so do dogs.