I read the post about the food dish and quickly called Petco to discuss
it (headquarters in San Diego).  I was told by the buyer of cat/dog bowls
that they had this problem 1 year ago (with cat/dog dishes) and that they
pulled the dishes that were questionable.  She said that to her knowledge,
no other food dishes have had problems and that Petco has them tested for
toxins before they approve distribution in stores (I guess they decided
this was the safest thing to do as a result of the above experience).
I insisted that the buyer of the small animal products contact me,
personally, to verify that this bowl contains NO LEAD.  I have been using
this bowl for over three years and have not had any problems.  I just want
to know who manufactures it so I can go directly to them and make sure
that I am being given the right information by Petco.  I will post what I
find out (maybe even later today).
 
Now, there was a new article on the PETA site today about Petco (new to
me, anyway).  The link is www.peta-online.org/g4/feat/petco/index.html.
Of course, none of this is new news, but I did find some of the complaints
by store employees interesting and also that PETA is now taking this a step
further.
 
Other interesting stuff (probably already read by most on this list) are
the following links: www.peta-online.org/g4/feat/marsh/sci.html and also
www.peta-online.org/g4/feat/marsh/wycd.html.
 
I do not wish to start a debate over any of the above links (this has been
argued repeatedly) but I did think these articles were well-written and
quite interesting.  PETA is not my favorite organization but it looks like
they are trying to make some headway without resorting to the terrible
tactics that some animal rights activists have resorted to.
 
Keep fuzzy!
 
[Moderator's note: Perhaps it's not your intention to start a debate, but
usually when the links appear on the FML a debate does indeed ensue.  I
suggest checking the archives before going crazy about this... BIG]
[Posted in FML issue 3167]