RUSTY 3 INCH NAIL FOUND IN MERRICK DOG TREATS

Lori- I don't know about everyone else, but I definitely believed you when you posted about the shipping staple. I forgot about the blue plastic though. But mostly I would have thought they'd have gotten their act together by now. This nail just shatters ANY trust I would have in their company. [&o]

I've listened to the stories here about Merrick and I have never bought it and never will. There's no excuse for their carelessness. [:'(]

I believed you as well, Lori.  In fact, because of the reports here, I have avoided all Merrick products - even their bully stick type of treats.

I ma now using the Solid Gold Lamb treats.

Yikes.....[:'(]
 
My dogs love "Innova" canned food.

Hmmmmmm, this is disturbing.  I'm going to check Dakota's Merrick bag right now.  In fact, I may just throw out the whole thing.  Thanks for the important info!

Finally after all the hard work we got a reply from AVA. Please write in to Mr. Thiam Hock Lee from ava if you have encountered such problem with Merrick or any brand of dog food. This is for the welfare of our pets. We cannot let these money grabbing manufacturers continue selling bad quality dog food.

Here is the reply from AVA:

From: Thiam Hock LEE
Date: 22-Jan-2007 17:30
Subject: Re: Fwd: FW: 3 inch nail found in Merrick Lamb Training Treats
To:

Mr Neo

Thank you for your feedback.

We will not allow import of the Merrick Lamb Treats until the manufacturer
reverted with their investigation and rectification.

Best regards

Okay...look... I work for a pet product distributor.  We distribute the 2 largest "body part" dog treat companies, Redbarn and Merrick.  Both have had nails found in their body part products.  Why?...Because they have to put a nail throught the veins of whatever part to help drain it.   It's part of processing it.  Sometimes the nails aren't visable and are thought to have been already pulled out.

And staples, well it was probably a nose ring on a pig or cow.  Sometimes they can be so small they look like construction staples.  Again, just about every "body part" treat company has had a few foriegn products in their treats. 

The reason why Merrick gets such a bad rap is because they have horrible customer service.  Redbarn has had just as many nails and foriengn products in their treats too, they just handle it better.

Rip me apart as you will, but I've seen how those treats are made and the Merrick plant, which is very clean.  Oh and by the way, those treats are made from Lamb Lung - hence lots of veins.

well, if they claim to be such a good company and yet still have such bad customer service, then why should people support such a compny who do not care about thier customers and their pet's welfare? I am writing this thread not for personal gains but to encourage people not to sit back and allow these companies to just ignore all these bad product control standards and bad customer relations. I defiinitely do not agree with you about finding nails in the treats as a norm because of the way they process the food... these are suppose to be high grade food... expensive too! If a nail were to be found in a canned food meant for us.. what do you think would have happen to the company? Are you saying that just becasue it was found in the dog treats that is is ok because they are not menat for human? And for your info, these treats cost more than most human food so why should the quality control standard be any lower than human food? Are you saying that our dog's health can be compromise because thye are not humans? I'd like to say that they are more than human... they are better than most human bacuase they do not take us for granted and cheat us of our money and trust like these money grabbing dog food companies that supply bad products and MOST OF ALL PUTTING OUR DOG'S HEALTH AND WELFARE IN DANGER!!!!!

thought to have been

is not good enough for my dog.
i cannot believe this company has had that many incidents and is still allowed to make FOOD. if you found a rusty nail or staple in a jar of JIF you know darn well the whole planet would be talking about it. it's not a big deal if fido ingests a nail, he is just a dog after all, and they thought they got them all out.

<<<<

ORIGINAL: Jay1970

well, if they claim to be such a good company and yet still have such bad customer service, then why should people support such a compny who do not care about thier customers and their pet's welfare? I am writing this thread not for personal gains but to encourage people not to sit back and allow these companies to just ignore all these bad product control standards and bad customer relations. I defiinitely do not agree with you about finding nails in the treats as a norm because of the way they process the food... these are suppose to be high grade food... expensive too! If a nail were to be found in a canned food meant for us.. what do you think would have happen to the company? Are you saying that just becasue it was found in the dog treats that is is ok because they are not menat for human? And for your info, these treats cost more than most human food so why should the quality control standard be any lower than human food? Are you saying that our dog's health can be compromise because thye are not humans? I'd like to say that they are more than human... they are better than most human bacuase they do not take us for granted and cheat us of our money and trust like these money grabbing dog food companies that supply bad products and MOST OF ALL PUTTING OUR DOG'S HEALTH AND WELFARE IN DANGER!!!!!

Where did I ever say it was the "norm."  I said it happens to all "body part" treat companies.  And I never said nails were alright for dogs to consume.  And yes I know Merrick's Lamb Training Treats are expensive, my company sells them.  Before you start ripping on me read my post and look at where I'm comming from. 

All I'm saying is it happens.  If humans ate freeze dried lamb lung, I'm sure a few nails would be found in a few packages too.  If you saw how they are processed, you'd realize it is very difficult to find every nail in every vein and every ring or staple in every cow/pig nose  It happens.

I agree with you, Merrick has bad customer service.  Has Merrick reimbursed you yet?  Did you bring the bag back to the store you bought it from, because they can give you a discount too and they have much more clout when it comes to getting Merrick's attention.
 
And not to say that you didn't find a nail in your training treats, but I have 25 accounts, my company distributes to 500 accounts most of which purchase Merrick products.  Not a single one of our accounts have complained of nails or staples in anything foriegn in their products.  So your case was one out of God only knows how many.  And again, it is very difficult to find every nail in every vein.  Further, you mentioned the price, well imagine how expensive it would be if Merrick had a metal detecting machine.??

I don't want to be posting but I just had to say this. 

The staple I found was a shipping staple, a sort of horseshoe shape but narrower with two pointy (like the tip of a nail) edges.  There is no way this would of been thru an animals nose.  Furthermore, the canned food I found it in was Grammy's Pot Pie, which is chicken, not beef or pork.  And, also, it's not a treat. 

Sorry, but I don't see why you're defending them.  They never contacted me back either.  And, I could care less about a refund.  But, if my dog had died they would of had a big problem. 

  and they have much more clout when it comes to getting Merrick's attention.

Well, that shouldn't be the case, should it?  The customer is the one buying the product, without them the store wouldn't have much use for it would they. 

However, I still don't care about their customer service over the quality of the product. 

Edited to also add---I also found in a second can a piece of blue plastic.  So, I don't think these things are happening as infrequently as you might think. 

And, also your not the first person to imply myself or someone else is making up these things either.  One reason I feel no need to post here for the most part.  But, I do care very much that people are aware of this issue.  If it was your dog that almost ate something that probably at the very least would of required an endoscopy to remove (if we were lucky) I don't think you'd be defending this crap right now.
 

    So your case was one out of God only knows how many

 
What if that one in God knows how many packages was the one you were rushing and didn't notice the object and Jojo ate it and needed surgery or worse happened. 
 
And, I don't think I'm being at all dramatic, these are sharp metal objects.  I gave them the benefit of the doubt when I found the plastic. 

ORIGINAL: willowchow

I don't want to be posting but I just had to say this. 

The staple I found was a shipping staple, a sort of horseshoe shape but narrower with two pointy (like the tip of a nail) edges.  There is no way this would of been thru an animals nose.  Furthermore, the canned food I found it in was Grammy's Pot Pie, which is chicken, not beef or pork.  And, also, it's not a treat. 

Sorry, but I don't see why you're defending them.  They never contacted me back either.  And, I could care less about a refund.  But, if my dog had died they would of had a big problem. 

  and they have much more clout when it comes to getting Merrick's attention.

Well, that shouldn't be the case, should it?  The customer is the one buying the product, without them the store wouldn't have much use for it would they. 

 
 Think about it, the store has more clout... because the store may stop carrying or at least stop recommending their food because of it.  Most stores do care and most stores will take something like that back and most stores will call Merrick and find out "what's up."
 
"And also it's not a treat"  Again, I know.  I sell the stuff.  I'm not stupid, infact I just might know more about this than most do - or maybe not, cause you know I just work for one of their major distributors.  But I don't know anything. 
 
And actually, I found out the reason why staples/nose rings where found in certain "body part" products, through Redbarn, not Merrick.
 
Again, yes again, I agree that Merrick has bad customer service.  If they addressed and "reimbursed" right away then their staples and nails would be just as silent as Redbarn's and Smoke House's and American Rawhide's.
 
Look, I'm not saying that nails and staples weren't found.  But I am telling why they were there, that it's part of their processing and the processing of everyother "body part" product manufacturer, and that it's very, very difficult to avoid.
 
 

 I don't understand, you said you knew the product.  So, why would a "staple" be in a can of chicken food if it presumably was supposed to be used in beef or pork??  Are you saying that not only are they missing things but that they are also exposing one meat source to another? 
 
And, not for anything but a piece of plastic a staple, a nail obviously this is more than just a body part processing issue.  It's the way things are handled by them in general. 

just curious, does jojo eat merrick's food and/or treats?