Please read, many birds dead at rehab

[texsize]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

ZuPreem's response just reads like a "poor me" response.
I don't see anything stating that they have run further test's on the batch in question.

I find it amazing that it's been 3 months and we still don't have answers.

 

[SailBoat]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?



Parrot Forum Members,


The extensive death of Parrots has affected all of us!

This active Thread has been followed and kept up-to-date, and it has been both useful and informative, but has placed Parrot Forums in a tenuous position.

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The Moderators of Parrot Forums

 

[Kentuckienne]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

Agree. There are lots of emotions on both sides. Everything from logical discussions to vitriolic slander. I don't think any of the vendors are covering anything up. I think they all really care about parrots and want the best for them. Bad-mouthing either side doesn't help. But it is a puzzle, and any helpful ideas would be .. helpful. Birds are still dying. If it's a food chain problem, it would be good to figure it out so no more birds have to die. If it's some kind of new virus, if it's some other environmental issue, if it's deliberate poisoning of food somewhere in the distribution channel ... we need to know what it is to protect our fids.

 

[Flboy]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

Latest
Posted Tuesday 3/06/18 7:07 PM on their Facebook page—-

David Morris
ZuPreem CEO/Founder

Good Evening Friends of ZuPreem,

First, let me start by saying that 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of my family’s founding of the ZuPreem® specialty nutrition brand. ZuPreem is part of the pet health and nutrition legacy started by my grandfather some 70 years ago that includes Prescription Diet®, Science Diet®, and the Morris Animal Foundation®. During these 5 decades, ZuPreem has been committed to building special bonds between parrot owners and their beloved birds.

My grandfather, Mark Morris Sr., DVM, and my father, Mark Morris Jr., DVM, PhD, were both veterinarians who loved animals and believed food plays a critical role in improving their health and well-being. I have continued with this belief and that mission as CEO of ZuPreem. And, I can assure you that each employee at our small, family-owned company, feels the exact same way.

That is why it’s been especially painful for me over recent weeks to hear the dedicated team at ZuPreem being called things on social media such as liars, uncaring, greedy, arrogant, rude, and dishonest, just to name a few. The truth is that if you were to visit us at our facility in Shawnee, Kansas, you would find our people to be nothing like they have been described on social media.

The people who work at ZuPreem, such as Gail and Jennifer, who make up our consumer communication team, act and believe nothing like the people being described on Facebook. Bird lovers, bird caregivers, nutrition fanatics, quality improvers, and food safety advocates would be much more accurate descriptions of the people who contribute every day at ZuPreem.

Now, after continued negative posts on social media, I can no longer stand by and allow a series of unsubstantiated accusations degrade the great people and products at ZuPreem.

My family and my company have loved and cared for pets for over 70 years. We know all too well how difficult it is to lose an animal. We have never put sales and profits ahead of the health and well-being of animals. Any suggestion to the contrary is completely misleading and inaccurate.

My grandfather and father taught me always to start any inquiry with facts. Given that, here are a set of facts to provide you with my perspective on ZuPreem and the batches of ZuPreem FruitBlend that are related to the unfortunate event in Michigan:

- Batches called into question: FruitBlend Large Pellets (code dates ending 2/28/19, 3/31/19).

- Both batches, over the course of the manufacturing process, were each cleared by 13 different food safety tests before ever leaving ZuPreem facilities (as a part of what I believe is the most rigorous food safety testing in the bird industry).

- Michigan State University tested pellets from these batches for a series of toxins, and no toxins were found. ZuPreem pellets were not implicated in any way in these findings.

- Pellets from these batches also were not implicated in the findings of the histopathologic (microscopic) analysis of the necropsied bird.

- These same two batches of FruitBlend contained 350,000 pounds of large pellets which equals approximately 1.8 million food servings or meals for birds.

- Pellets from these batches have been fed around the world by professionals in zoos, bird sanctuaries, retail stores, breeding facilities, and in other rescues without any health-related inquiries submitted to ZuPreem.

- Pellets from these batches have been fed by tens of thousands of individual bird owners around the world with only very few health-related inquiries submitted to ZuPreem.

- Thus, the evidence submitted to ZuPreem from customers around the world does not suggest, in my view, and the views of experts we’ve consulted, that these batches have any health-related issues.

At different times throughout this inquiry, we have proactively reached out to scientists who are trying to solve this case including: Birds and Beak’s veterinarian, Michigan State University, Michigan Department of Agriculture, and the FDA, offering our assistance in helping them get to the bottom of this incident. We will continue to do so going forward, as we always remain open minded to the possibility of new information being discovered.

In closing, I would like to express my gratitude to all friends of ZuPreem who have continued to support us and purchase our products in the face of these unsubstantiated accusations. We are humbled to be able to serve you and your birds, and will do everything in our power to continue delivering high quality and safe food products for your pets.

Sincerely,
David Morris
ZuPreem CEO/Founder

 

[LordTriggs]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

I find it amazing that nothing has been found to be the cause yet. Last I read until today was they tested the food and everything came back negative. The food in some form does seem to be the highest likely cause but then nothing has been substantiated to the food in terms of life threatening bacteria. Just the events leading up to this. Part of me feels that Zupreems constant replies doesn't help because it feels like someone just typing something up at a keyboard going "No can't be us cause we helping"

Ultimately I think it's safe to say that most if not all people just want an answer, not to blame but so other lives aren't pointlessly lost. Ddi they ever check the packaging of the foods? A breakdown in the packaging putting toxic substances into the food is possible, or even contamination after initial packaging in transit to retailers?

 

[Kentuckienne]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

One thing the Zupreme post shows is the importance of getting out in front of bad news. At the time the deaths happened, both of the other named vendors immediately promised to retest those batches of food, and they published the results as soon as the retesting was completed. Zupreme, on the other hand, made the statement that they had reviewed the tests and were confident their food was safe. They didn’t answer direct questions like “does that mean you redid the tests, or that you just took another look at tests already done?” Even if their tests are the most stringent in the industry - which they might be - vague answers and ignoring direct questions is bad customer relations. It seems that set the tone for the acrimonious talk that ensued.

I was watching most of the FB posts from a couple of groups since the beginning. There was one group, Parrot Posse, that was particularly vitriolic. Now, that’s a group that says up front they like insults and crude talk, and says don’t join if you can’t take it. But instead of confining the insults to their own groups, they also posted harsh and cruel comments on Birds and Beaks’ page. Things like “here is the google maps picture of their place” when the rescue is a private residence. Other group members posted outright fabrications such as the rescue operator is an adulterer, an embezzler, a drug addict, a bird hoarder, was neglectful, had deliberately poisoned their own birds to get sympathy donations...the list was astounding. People went to pay-for-info sites, where you can buy anybody’s personal information including credit and legal history, and posted that online. I’m all for freedom of information but lots of that was beyond the pale.

The arguments devolved, and people who came later were faced with over 6000 posts to read - which is too much, so most jumped in and responded to whatever was currently being said, which by then had left reality far behind. There were people who thought one particular company was under attack, and defended them. Which in many cases included repeating the allegations of neglect and deliberate harm. This ticked off supporters of the rescue, and they doubled down on their responses. You have to take all the posts on a couple of sites with a grain of salt. One of the cattle salt blocks is probably about the right size.

Zupreme might have brought a lot of this on themselves that could have been avoided with just a small amount of transparency and openness. I agree with them - there are baseless claims and allegations being made. They are being called heartless, unethical, greedy, and worse by defenders of the rescue. If they spoke out against the slander against BnB, I didn’t see it. They would do themselves a big favor by disavowing some of worst comments from the PP supporters. Parrot Poop is a vocal and hyper-enthusiastic supporter of the company, but they are not acting like civilized people. Puts me in mind of some events from last summer. There are some groups whose support is best left alone, or actively discouraged.

So for anyone just coming to the discussions, try to keep an open mind. I watched the videos from the rescue where she showed where birds were housed and described the pattern of deaths, and I personally believe they were not negligent. Info being shared about batch numbers, etc. is shared because that’s all people have to go on. It could be that someone deliberately poisoned food at a distribution center. It could be that some toxic contaminant was unevenly introduced during production. It could be s new avian hemorrhagic fever. It could be someone broke in and somehow poisoned the birds or the food. It seems that whatever it is, is hard to diagnose. Look at the recent case of the former Russian agent in the hospital right now - all they know is he was poisoned with some kind of nerve agent. Just because no toxin has been identified means only that no toxin has been identified, not that no toxin or pathogen exists.

I’m glad the PF group is such a supportive and intelligent bunch. Just don’t be drawn in by the acrimony of the people who should be under a bridge somewhere scaring goats. The truth is out there, and I hope they find it.

 

[Anansi]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

I think part of the problem is that everyone has assumed that it's the food. Fact is, scientific approach dictates that we assume nothing. Assuming nothing means that we consider everything. And when you think about it, the fact that nothing has been found in the foods leaves the field for potential culprits tragically wide open.

Think of it. Aerosolized agents were listed as potential catalysts, here. But they've been largely eliminated (in the realm of public opinion) as suspects. Why? On the say so of the rescue. Now don't get me wrong. It's possible that they are right. But it's also possible that they are wrong.

Scientific method has not been practiced here. We should trust nothing but the science. But sadly, science does not operate in a vacuum. And much of what would have been necessary for a proper scientific approach was time-sensitive. For instance, having tested only one bird is a problem. But that is obviously beyond correction at this point.

Another problem is in the other instances of bird deaths. Might it be further evidence of something going on with those particular batch numbers? Absolutely. But then again, the possibility for coincidence in this scenario is disturbingly high. Think of how often we've read threads on this forum alone about birds who have become suddenly and mysteriously ill and died. It happens more often than we like to think. Given the sheer number of birds who eat pellets on a daily basis, it's not unreasonable to factor in the significance of simple coincidence. Zupreem is a large brand. Being fed to birds all over the world. So anyone reading of the cloud of suspicion currently surrounding said brand who has just inexplicably lost their bird will certainly be checking their batch numbers. You won't hear about those whose batch numbers did not match. But those that do? Boom! Up front and central.

So Zupreem pellets as the common denominator is not definitive by any means. Something to be considered? Indubitably. But far from conclusive.

This isn't a defense of Zupreem. I'm sure they have a team of lawyers that can handle that far more ably than I. If Zupreem is ultimately somehow to blame, I hope it's proven and revealed beyond all doubt and for all to see. This is actually a defense of the scientific method. I don't know if they'll ever find the true culprit, but I hope they don't miss out on the chance to do so because of a myopic focus on only one possibility.

 

[Anansi]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

Well said, Kentuckienne.

 

[Aquila]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

I'm also surprised nothing has some up on necropsies. Certain things may not show up, but you'd think something would be common among all of them pointing to a cause. I know there were some results that were inconclusive. When I lose a bird, I look at everything. Food, water, environment, my personal interactions, and necropsy results. In every case, a cause has been determined, granted none of them were my fault, most recently two being from different types of cancer and one from severe liver damage and organ failure due to years of neglect before I got him.

Sudden death, in my opinion points to some kind of inhalent or contact reaction. I understand that some had no shared air, but somewhere there has to be a common denominator and I get really frustrated any time I read anything regarding this because I feel like everyone is looking in the wrong place for answers. Foul play is a concern, but unlikely if they're still pushing for answers.

 

[LordTriggs]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

well see kentuck!

Anansi I actually believe the same as you, it could literally be anything. I think I said the same earlier that maybe look away from just the food and inspect everything. Like I've said throughout this, the zupreme posts strike not as them being purposefully unfeeling but more strike me as some poor customer rep flinging an email out and nobody actually looking into it. If the food I think something happened at distribution/in transit which is why a re-test is vital.

Hopefully they find out exactly what caused this and everyone can work to make sure no others die

 

[SailBoat]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

well see kentuck!

Anansi I actually believe the same as you, it could literally be anything. I think I said the same earlier that maybe look away from just the food and inspect everything. Like I've said throughout this, the zupreme posts strike not as them being purposefully unfeeling but more strike me as some poor customer rep flinging an email out and nobody actually looking into it. If the food I think something happened at distribution/in transit which is why a re-test is vital.

Hopefully they find out exactly what caused this and everyone can work to make sure no others die

Unless you have ever suffered under the OverLording of a Legal Department and/or the Organization's Hired Legal Guns fully in protection mode. It becomes extremely difficult to understand the Terms used in any public release. At every level of this occurrence, everyone of, even mid-size has Lawyered-up.

From the Vet involved to the Manufacturers (even the ones not named) and everyone between are moving to or already standing on Legal Grounds. Unless an individual and/or organization 'must' say something, they are all be advised to say nothing.

As a group, we need to move forward, the Past is just that, its history.

At present, this has caught the US Government's attention and as the result of Michigan's boarding with Canada, they are watching also! Up until an 'official' statement by the oversight Department. There is little to nothing that will be happening in the next 12, 18, up to 24 months. That's just the reality of this situation.

 

[LordTriggs]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

There is little to nothing that will be happening in the next 12, 18, up to 24 months.

Sounds like public sector workers over here!

 

[Kentuckienne]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

There are a couple reasons why the food is under suspicion. And by this I mean any of the foods, not just Z.

1. What is the evidence against an airborne toxin?

The birds that died were distributed all over the house. One was further away because of quarantine. Some were in one room, some were in a separate room with closed french doors. One bird in a cage died, and its cage mate was fine. I think Shannon has a video posted to FB, where she walks through the house and shows where the birds were kept, both the ones that died and the ones that had no symptoms. There is no forced-air heat system, they have radiators. Anything airborne would have had to move through several rooms, some with closed doors between them, and affect only some of the birds in each room. The birds who died were not clumped together. One one hand, an airborne toxin is the best explanation for such sudden deaths, but the distribution pattern is hard to reconcile.

The emergency responders tested the air and found nothing, but that's not conclusive. If there were a car idling outside, spewing CO, and that got inside, it might have been cleared to undetectable levels by the time the emergency crews arrived. But again ... wouldn't that kill birds in localized groups, not spread out through the house?
2. What makes them think it's food related?

Looking at common factors.... all the birds who died ate a mix of three types of dried/pellet food: Zupreme fruit blend, Higgins Vita Seed, and Nutriberries. None of the birds who didn't eat these foods died or got sick. One bird, a large Hy, was eating macadamia nuts (the expense doesn't stop with buying the bird!), and the other birds had special diets. That was the first thing that jumped out as a link. I believe some birds were fed pellet mix that didn't consume them because they are picky eaters.

3. Why couldn't it be something in the water?

All the birds had exactly the same water. The rescue maintains the water was changed regularly.

4. What about a disease? After all, this is a rescue.

That's absolutely a possibility. But the birds dying so suddenly, within hours of each other, seems really implausible. Maybe something like a birdie Ebola, some runaway virus? But why would the deaths be so separated spatially, and why would some birds be seemingly immune? Wouldn't some birds continue to fall sick as time went on?

5. What if someone deliberately killed the birds?

You have to ask the question. Mostly because at this point, nothing has been ruled out. But again ... who? The rescue operator, her husband, her sons, their friends, a trespasser? The one son was absolutely destroyed when he found his cockatoo dying. Would he have poisoned his own bird? Would Shannon have poisoned her own personal favorite bird, a greenwing named Charlie? If someone did try to kill birds deliberately, why were the deaths so widely spaced out? Say a guest saw a bug and sprayed bug spray - wouldn't that be more localized? Even a trespasser with evil intent ... it seems more likely that they would spray something quickly as they went along, and not just certain birds. Plus, all those chemicals are super stinky. Especially bug spray. Wouldn't that have been obvious?

6. It seems relatively easy to eliminate most of the possibilities except for something in the food. OK, let's use that as a working hypothesis. How could the food become contaminated?

The food was dumped into a large container to be mixed up, so that container could have been contaminated. Someone accidentally tossing something in, thinking it was trash, or poisoning it on purpose.

The food could have been contaminated at the factory. If it involved a lot of food, you would think more deaths would have been reported, especially by zoos. I believe the foods are well mixed along the way, so any contamination would have to have been late in the process, maybe during the packaging. Something lodged in the system that fell out, something deliberately introduced. It would have to be a strong enough toxin to cause swift death, yet localized to just part of the batch.

Someone could have poisoned the food at the distribution center. Last I heard, this was being taken seriously. Other parronts who lost birds feeding that brand of food bought theirs from the same distribution center. Maybe some untrained person saw a roach and sprayed the bags.

As far as that ... who would do such a thing? Either it was an accident, a lack of training, someone didn't know not to do a thing or someone picked up the wrong bottle of something. Accidents happen. Or ... you can't rule out deliberate harm. Remember the poisoned Tylenol? The strychnine in open sugar bowls in Boston? Maybe somebody hates parrots, or hates someone who has a parrot, or is testing out a home-made poison. There's a part of my mind that remembers an Alt group in Michigan who was found in possession of instructions/materials to make ricin, but there was not evidence they had actually made any. Someone who wanted to test a poison might choose animals, might choose a public space where they could administer it unobserved, might choose an animal they don't have affection for.

Really, it's hard to make sense of it. I think about it. I have friends, evil people, who send me brain-teasers that make my head hurt. One of the group is a nuclear physicist, and HE has trouble with some of them. This is right up there. What could cause symptoms and death like this, that is consistent with the pattern of deaths and the environment? I think people keep coming back to "food" because it's the least complex explanation, but that's not enough of a reason. I put it as a puzzle to anybody reading this. Sherlock, if you are out there, what happened in Michigan?

 

[Scott]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

I come from the world of aviation; our procedures are written in blood. In the early days, crashes were haphazardly investigated, and conclusions were drawn without rigor. Regulatory bodies eventually embraced a scientific approach, various specialties and processes were developed. Today, one can rely on the professional boards in the U.S, Canada, UK, Australia, and others to render a precise verdict* and issue recommendations.

Massive die-offs of birds are probably investigated like aviation accidents were in the 1930s. No singular body to lead, procure evidence, test scientifically, and issue a unified conclusion. Rather, an ad hoc group of testing facilities and organizations without a charted vested interest.

It pains me to know we may never know what killed the birds at this rescue or other locations in similar timeframe. Perhaps we will learn the cause by dumb luck or admission from a culpable entity.


*Even so, conspiracy theories abound. TWA 800, anyone? (747 explosion after takeoff from NYC)

 

[Sfsal]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

Thank you for your post, even though the tests are not back yet, I thank you

 

[reeb]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

I know it’s been a while since an update, but just saw this on Facebook this morning...

“It is with a heavy heart that I must throw out yet another warning about Zupreem Fruit Flavored Blend Pellets and products containing those pellets such as Smart Selects and Pure Fun mix by Zupreem as well.

Batch Numbers:
10287 865309107 Use By: 3/31/19

09137 862908047 Use by: 2/28/19

We have NOT had any complaints about naturals. So if you must feed Zupreem, I'd recommend the naturals until this is figured out.

***A note about the batches - We are ONLY warning about these particular batch numbers. The ones reported are these and some Pure Fun Mix and Smart Selects with very close batch numbers. See bottom of the post for what to do if you can only feed these foods. If you've already got a bag open, with no ill effects of a batch that doesn't match - it is more than likely ok.

We've noted a trend in the death spikes, Every 2 months from around the 25th-5th of the next month, the deaths start getting reported again. The first one occurred when my birds died. Jan 1. There were a slew of related deaths from Christmas until about the 5th or 6th, and then again around the first of March, and now here we are, right on schedule end of April to early May.

People open the new bag, feed their birds and then a few hours later, they're drunk, wobbly, having seizures and profusely vomiting. Few survive it, but if they do, the symptoms are gone within about 48 hours and the bird basically goes back to normal with no long term effects.

For those having necropsies and histopathologies done, the cause of death is acute toxicity with a lot of pulmonary edema going on inside.

I've been trying like crazy to avoid putting out another one of these warnings because every time I do, the internet goes nuts, and the naysayers (with live birds) drag me through the mud for weeks on end. But, as this all started to begin with - I guess I just can't care what they think. This isn't about me. It's about giving you the information you need to make the right decisions for yourself about your birds.

You may have read that there is no FDA case. That there is no Department of Ag case. There is. There absolutely is. The Department of Ag in Michigan opened the case with the FDA. I do not have a direct line or human at the FDA. I talk to the DoA guys. I'm not sharing documents anymore. That's not going to happen. Because what happens when I do is that a bunch of amateur people who don't have degrees in any sort of science try to translate them and then spread misinformation across the internet.

The last histopathology was done by the FDA. Cause of death - Pulmonary Edema. Pretty much same as the first. This histopathology pointed towards possible mycotoxins, so last I heard from the science teams is that was what the FDA is focusing on for testing right now.

We still don't have an answer. If we remember back when the meniadone thing happened with the dog food, that took months and months to figure out. This is not really different from that.

In the past few days, the death spikes have begun again. One gal opened a new bag of Smart Selects, and only fed that to her to littles. She has several other birds who don't get that food. Gets up the next morning and only the birds that eat that food are dead. Another ended up in the emergency ER with same symptoms. That bird survived. Another passes after opening a new bag. Same symptoms.

So...it's still going. Please avoid these particular batches.

See the attached screenshots for the latest report of death just today.

Also, I've attached an image of just the top part of a document. Showing the FDA is involved. And my name as the owner of the birds.

If you don't agree the food is likely responsible - fine. Do what you want for your birds. But if you actively go around convincing people this food is sound and not compromised, and those people feed that food because they believe you, and their bird dies - that death is on you. We're doing all we can to try to get people educated about the risks. If they discard the information and feed it anyway - we've at least tried. That's all we're trying to do here.

IF YOUR BIRD GETS SICK OR DIES:

1) Keep the food
2) Refrigerate (but don't freeze) your bird until you can get them to the vet for necropsy/histopathology
3) Ask for a necropsy and histopathology
4) Contact your State's Department of Agriculture - Feed Manager
5) Have your Department of Ag contact the Michigan Department of Ag Feed Manager for information on getting your case connected to the FDA Case the MI Dept of Ag opened
6) Feel free to talk to us about it for support and love to get through this.

*****

If you reply with any drama or crappy comments, you're out. We'll ban you without a second thought.

****

Other Pellet Recommendations:

Zupreem: Naturals. No reports on those.
Higgins: InTune - my guys LOVE this stuff.
Hari/Hagen: Tropimix - This is my staple pellet
Harrison's Lifetime
Caitec Oven Bites

I'll likely never recommend artificially colored pellets again. So if you'd like to feed those - you'll want to do your own research.

****
IF YOU MUST CONTINUE FEEDING THIS FOOD:

Write down the batch numbers and expiration dates above, stick them in your wallet or purse, and buy it in person. Match the batch number found on the back of the bag to those batch numbers and if you have to reach all the way to the back of the shelf, see if you can find one that doesn't have those expiration dates and batch numbers.”

She also shared a couple of photos:

 

[Kentuckienne]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

I was about to post this..thanks for being so quick with it.

I repeatedly and directly asked Zupreme about the re-testing of the suspect batches, and they eventually admitted that they did NOT retest the pellets that killed the birds on New Year's Eve. They said that since the pellets had been tested many times before being released, that there was no need to test them again.

Sounds like a business decision. If they re-test and find nothing, they might not be believed - and if outside tests find something, their test process would lose credibility. If they re-test and find something, they have to deal with a recall, monetary damages, loss of reputation. If they don't test, there's a chance the other tests won't find anything definitive, so why should they take a chance of finding something? They are lying low and hoping to dodge the bullet.

Since it seems to be the artificially colored pellets that have the problem ... And testing is pointing toward mycotoxins .. Could the pellets contain a small amount of spores - which are very hard to kill - which grow under certain conditions to toxic levels? Or is there something in the pellets that feeds / supports the growth of organisms that would otherwise be at safe levels? Could fungal spores be getting into the air passages, proliferating and causing the edema? Could it be an allergic reaction to a dye chemical?

 

[Owlet]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

They need to test their pellets. Yes they might not be believed by some but imo their unwillingness to test them again is very suspicious and just not sound business. If a companies product was killing people/animals and they just sat by and really did nothing but say "lol no our product is fine" there would be a mass drop in business for that company and maybe even legal issues, and I am sure Zupreem has already experienced that to an extent. I don't understand why they're so reluctant to test their pellets again. Is it really that hard? I know in these situations you can't rule anything out but we really have no leads as to what is going on other than connection between the deaths via the type + batch of food. Why has nothing been done at all?

 

[LordTriggs]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

wow, Zupreem had made it out early on like they had retested the batches so that is a definite blow to any confidence. FDA or department of agriculture should force them to re-test.

Like has been said multiple times contamination could have been made after initial testing, unfortunately Zupreem would have to deal with a recall if that's the case, imagine any other animal and there would be a mob outside their offices demanding answers

 

[Kiwibird]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

Thanks for the update! Sad to hear this is still a continuing issue and more birds have died with no answers being turned up as to why