The Pet Schooled Press

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When Even The Ombudsman Group Is Working Against You...

I will admit, from the very beginning, I had my doubts. It was years ago when an FDA FOIA ( freedom of information act ) employee asked me to have a "phone only" meeting with an "ombudsman" group called OGIS. The FDA FOIA employee Sarah Kotler stated that OGIS is "a neutral arbiter of FOIA related issues for government agencies and requesters". This was in December 2018, and I had spend the greater part of the year documenting how FDA was regulating one sector of the pet food industry with their "opinion" they called a "compliance policy", while regulating the major dry pet food sector of the pet industry using "enforcement discretion", which translates into "looking the other way" as major violations of federal law occur. Part of what I had come across in my documenting was how FDA would routinely get certain pet food manufacturers (who were not breaking the law) on the phone, threaten them, then potentially use th

Public "Regulators" Have The Same Legal Firm As Those They "Regulate"

In emails obtained through the freedom of information act, FDA employees have had questionable meetings and conversations throughout the years with representatives of AFIA ( American Feed Industry Association ), the largest lobbying group in the pet industry. For decades, FDA has not been holding public meetings to develop pet food ingredient definition regulations. This is a very important aspect of democracy and the regulatory process, and it seems that FDA should be proudly engaged in this official process. Yet, they're not. It could even be argued that FDA is taking the opposite approach, doing everything in their power to ensure that a private organization "AAFCO" continues to hold onto the process of making "official regulations" in a private setting. FDA has long been a member of AAFCO , an association of public "regulatory" employees at state and federal levels. AAFCO is a private corporation, even though its board consists entirely of "pu

FDA Refuses To Speak Via Phone To Veterinarians & Consumers Regarding Ongoing Regulatory Issues With Aflatoxin

Today, FDA confirmed they would not be granting phone call requests in relation to longstanding and ongoing regulatory issues with aflatoxin in dry pet foods, mainly dry pet foods produced with the ingredient corn. For years, Dr. Steven Solomon and other federal employees of FDA-CVM (Center for Veterinary Medicine) have continuously refused to speak to consumers, consumer groups, and members of the educational field regarding the myriad of issues surrounding various regulatory actions by FDA-CVM. Why wouldn't the FDA-CVM want to have open, honest, and continuous dialogue with the regulated consumers, or with the veterinary field? For years, FDA-CVM has been regulating the pet food industry by what they call their "opinion", instead of a properly passed rule. It has also been discovered that employees of FDA-CVM held secret meetings with the major grain and dry pet food lobbying group AFIA, where FDA-CVM actually worked with AFIA to stifle regulations that would have bro

"Please, Do Not Share, Forward, Discuss Nor Distribute My Previously Emailed Document"- George Ferguson Of North Carolina Department Of Agriculture

In recent files obtained via FOIA, George Ferguson of North Carolina shared his insights about his own state department's involvement in trying to privatize the term "human grade" via the private corporation AAFCO, of which his state would intern "adopt" via reference. In essence, Mr. Ferguson as a public employee involved with other employees in trying to privatize the regulation process for the pet food industry. There are many moral questions surrounding public employees such as George Ferguson of North Carolina Department Of Agriculture. He has personally been involved in calling citizens foul names, and helping to "restrict access" to AAFCO meetings for certain citizens. This could also be called a ban. In one email, Mr. Ferguson states " I have also added a couple of pages of my own thoughts/comments that I believe the committee and any subsequent workgroup should consider if/when a decision is made to move forward with the AMS partnership

Pet Schooled Challenges FDA's Refusal To Comply With Law & Post DCM Related Records Publicly

Pet Schooled has submitted an official citizen petition to FDA, sending a warning shot to FDA about their refusal to comply with FOIA law and post frequently requested records on the public FDA FOIA reading room. This matter concerns a FOIA (freedom of information act) request for records relating to FDA's "DCM investigation." FDA originally refused to provide the original requestor for these records, Daniel Shulof, with the records. Mr. Shulof sued and challenged FDA's illegal refusal in federal court. FDA was forced to produce records and have been producing records in "batches" to Mr. Shulof for over a year and a half now. FDA has also refused to provide Pet Schooled with copies of these records, leading to another FOIA lawsuit in response to FDA's direct violation of FOIA law. Many other requests for the same records have been submitted to FDA. According to law, more than 3 requests for the same records requires FDA to publicly publish those recor

Conversation With FDA's Eric Nelson, On FDA Regulating By "Opinion"

I have been wishing to speak to Eric Nelson of FDA for quite some time. Over the years, I have asked public state employees why they are regulating based on their opinion. One consistent name has come up time and time again as I have been looking into this legal issue. I'll quote one specific state department of agriculture employee here. "We just follow what FDA tells us to do at the meetings." The "meetings" beings referenced here are private AAFCO meetings, where FDA engages in official rule making functions in a private setting, right next to representatives of Hills, Purina, and other major companies that have long dominated the pet food market. I asked this state employee, "who at the FDA is giving you instructions, which you then follow without question?" After a bit of back and forth, the state employee said, "Eric Nelson." Over this years, I have also documented how this FDA employee has engaged in attempting to whitewash the entire