This is an alert to anyone who purchases dog food from Walmart. While we probably all know about the great peanut butter scare, what you may not know and what I just found out is that the salmonella scare is present in dog food and cat food as well.

I happened to notice a recall on the Petsmart dog food biscuit Grreat Foods and looked to see if this was perhaps the biscuit I fed my dogs.  While it was not, this lead me to search Walmart to see if the dog biscuits I gave them was included.  The dog biscuits were not included in the salmonella peanut butter scare, but shockingly the exact brand of dog food and UPC on my bag of food was. 

There is a voluntarily recall on almost all the Ol' Ray brands with a best use date of Aug 09 - Oct 09, and I bought dog food two weeks ago.  So therefore it is safe to say that you potentially may be feeding your dog from a bag that contains salmonella.  My parents use the same brand on their three dogs and one has been having constant diarerrha for a month that we have been attributing to old age.

In the morning I intend to call them, but as they purchased the same dog food brand I did and have been using Ol Roy for quite some time,it is possible that they have salmonella.  I understand that the peanut butter outbreak has been large news, but why was not the significance of personal health in regards to pets better explained.

Had we been aware of the contaimination at the Allentown, PA site none of us would have still been feeding our pets Ol Roy dog food.  According to the Mars petcare website, the recall has been in effect since last Thanksgiving, so why was the food on the shelf and why doesn't anyone know.

I am now greatly concerned more for my parents dogs as they are advanced in age, which is when the peanut butter salmonella is supposed to be the worst.  Even more so, salmonella is transferred through feces, and since the dog  has had diarrhea as of late, my parents and myself have been cleaning it up.  Normally, I would not, but since my dad had open heart surgery I spend a lot of time there helping out.  Which means I have been potentially cleaning up salmonella feces for a few months now, as well as my father the heart patient who has a weakened immune system.

From my side, the only thing that I can confirm is that we have been feeding our pets potentially contaminated dog food and may have been at risk.  My anger is directed at the fact that I have to worry about the potential now, as the food should have been taken off the shelf and it should have been more publicly known that pets were affected by the peanut butter salmonella as well.

Plus, I get the added worry for a few weeks now if I start to feel sick if I have it, or if my father does if he has it.  Add on the agony of worrying about the dog, who we will probably have to take to the vet now, has had it or is still carrying.  All of this could have been avoided by proper recall procedures by Walmart so that we did not have the option of buying the food. 

So everyone with a pet, beware, you may be feeding it posion if you bought your dog food from Walmart.  The Mars Petcare corp has an extended list on their website for those who want to check and an option for a refund, but I would rather them keep their money then this added worry and concern that we have all been ignoring a possibly very sick dog, and maybe a few humans.