USDA lifts bovine TB testing requirement for Manitoba cattle exportsJuly 19, 2018Breeding cattle and bison shipped to the United States from Manitoba, Canada, no longer require pre-export bovine tuberculosis testing under the United States Department of Agriculture.
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Radagast Pet Food recalls raw diet cat foodJuly 12, 2018Radagast Pet Food of Portland, Ore., is recalling three lots of Rad Cat Raw Diet Free-Range Chicken Recipe that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, according to an FDA report. In addition, the company is recalling one lot of Rad Cat Raw Diet Pasture-Raised Venison Recipe due to possible contamination with Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O121. No pet or human illnesses have been reported. The following three lots of Rad Cat Raw Diet Free-Range Chicken Recipe, shipped to distributors nationwide in May and June 2018, are being recalled: Lot Code 63057, Best By Date: 10/9/2019 Lot Code 63069, Best By Date: 10/23/2019* Lot Code 63076, Best By Date: 10/31/2019* (8-oz. UPC 8 51536 00103 6, 16-oz. UPC 8 51536 00104 3, 24-oz. UPC 8 51536 00105 0) *These two lots were shipped to one distributor in Vancouver, BC, Canada, in addition to U.S. distributors in May and June, 2018. The following single lot of Rad Cat Raw Diet Pasture-Raised Venison Recipe, shipped to distributors nationwide only in May and June, is being recalled: Lot Code 63063, Best By Date: 10/15/2019 (8-oz. UPC 8 51536 00121 0, 16-oz. UPC 8 51536 00122 7, 24-oz. UPC 8 51536 00123 4 and …
Nestlé in talks to buy Champion PetfoodsJuly 2, 2018Nestlé, the Swiss food and beverage conglomerate, is in talks to buy a majority stake in Champion Petfoods for $2 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The Edmonton, Alberta, Canada-based Champion, maker of Orijen and Acana superpremium dog and cat food and treats, is owned by Toronto-based Bedford Capital and others. Its products are sold through pet specialty shops and retailers throughout the U.S. and Canada, veterinary clinics in Canada, and distributors in the U.S. and internationally. Nestlé owns Castor & Pollux, Merrick, Beneful, Friskies, and Purina pet food brands, among others. Nestlé is currently under pressure from investors—activist investor Dan Loeb, in particular—to fix its overall corporate strategy. In a statement today, Nestlé said it's on track to meet its 2020 goals for margin improvement, operating profit, and structural cost savings. Champion, too, is currently under fire. Consumers from California, Minnesota, and Florida filed a class-action lawsuit early this year for "false advertising" and "feed law" violations, among other charges. The suit states that its dry dog food contains BPA, which typically is not associated with dry pet foods.
College of Veterinarians of British Columbia bans onychectomyJune 14, 2018The College of Veterinarians of British Columbia (CVBC) has banned the practice of partial digital amputation, also known as onychectomy or declawing, of domestic cats, effective immediately. The province is the second in Canada to ban declawing, following the procedure's condemnation from the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA). "Elective and nontherapeutic declawing is ethically problematic and not an appropriate means of dealing with feline behavior issues," reads CVBC's statement. The college acknowledges there are medical conditions that may necessitate partial or full digital amputation as an appropriate medical therapy, such as biopsy for diagnosis, severe trauma, or medical conditions affecting the health of the nail (i.e. onychodystrophy, paronychia, neoplasia of the nail bed/phalanges), but adds there is no medical condition or environmental circumstance of the cat's owner that would justify declawing. Declawing has already been banned in the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, and several cities in California. Earlier this year, Nova Scotia became the first Canadian province to ban the procedure, with the Nova Scotia Veterinary Medical Association amending its code of ethics to declare the practice, when performed electively, "ethically unacceptable." While CVMA does not regulate veterinarians in Canada and cannot enforce a nationwide ban, the association announced …
Canadian researchers team up to fight canine osteosarcomaJune 14, 2018A group of researchers called the Dog Osteosarcoma Group–Biomarkers of Neoplasia (DOGBONe) at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, have joined forces to determine more accurate ways of measuring bone cancer, with the main objective of identifying biomarkers to assess patients with canine osteosarcoma. The presentation of osteosarcoma in dogs is remarkably similar to that of humans, according to the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC); so much so that computers are unable to distinguish between tumor samples from each species based on gene expression patterns. These similarities make canine osteosarcoma research all the more valuable, as any progress in developing better treatments for one species means progress for the other as well. "The dogs are a model for the worst of the human disease," said Geoffrey A. Wood, DVM, Ph.D., DVSc (pathology), of the OVC's Department of Pathobiology. "Right now, the information we find out in human osteosarcoma serves as a model for the dogs. There's an opportunity to go both ways between the species, for the benefit of both." The team consists of the university's top osteosarcoma researchers from across four departments at OVC, including co-leaders Dr. Wood and Alicia Viloria-Petit, Ph.D., MSc, BSc, of the Department of …
Report: Canadian veterinary drug prices expected to spikeMay 21, 2018An increase in veterinary drug service fees proposed by Health Canada could lead to higher prices for some animal medications and the elimination of others, according to a report from research organization Agri-Food Economic Systems. The report, which was commissioned by the Canadian Animal Health Institute (CAHI), states the suggested increases would range between 169 to 500 percent by April 2019 and would affect more than half of the veterinary drugs for livestock and companion animals, leading to potential medication shortages in Canada, as well as a decreased competitive edge for the country's food animal industries. "The proposed fees will have unintended consequences that will hurt the safety of our food supply, our trade with foreign countries, and reduce pet owner access to health management tools for their pets," said Al Mussell, the report's co-author. "This is an administrative decision made without the full understanding of the ramifications for Canada's economic competitiveness and welfare of its animals; it also sets an alarming precedent for regulatory service fees that could apply elsewhere in the agri-food chain." While Health Canada suggests the proposed fees make the country more consistent with those applied in the U.S., …
Ontario vet college ranked top vet science school in CanadaMarch 10, 2017UC Davis has been ranked No. 1 in the world in the field of veterinary science, but for our friends up north, University of Guelph's Ontario Veterinary College (OVC) has been named No. 1 in Canada. That's according to the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World Rankings, which recently released its results of how universities and colleges around the world rank in various academic subjects.
Ear Cropping Ban Spreads to Western CanadaOctober 28, 2015Veterinary regulators in British Columbia, Canada, this week banned practitioners from performing cosmetic ear cropping on dogs, a controversial surgical procedure that has been outlawed in some countries. The policy change brings the province in line with Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan. "Ear cropping is an unnecessary procedure unless carried out in cases of injury or for reasons of health concerns," said Larry Odegard, the CEO and registrar at the College of Veterinarians of British Columbia, which oversees the province's more than 1,600 practitioners. Canada's most populous province, Ontario, allows ear cropping, which traditionally has been performed on purebreds such as boxers, Dobermans and great Danes. The College of Veterinarians of Ontario has not banned the procedure despite the 4,400-member Ontario Veterinary Medical Association's position that cosmetic surgery is unnecessary and that breed associations should change their standards, OVMA spokeswoman Melissa Carlaw said. British Columbia veterinarians who defy the ear cropping ban will face disciplinary action on charges of unethical practice of veterinary medicine, the college reported. "The province's Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act authorizes the BC SPCA to investigate and recommend charges against any person, veterinarian or otherwise, believed to be carrying out such procedures," …
