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Showing posts from December, 2020

A Conversation With FDA's Charlotte Conway Highlights FDA's Continued Shut Down Towards Citizens

Today on December 29, 2020, I called Charlotte Conway of FDA-CVM to discuss several issues currently happening in the "regulatory" sector of the pet food industry, specifically at the FDA. Ms. Conway has regularly attended private AAFCO meetings, where public employees are performing regulatory functions in private. She is currently the deputy director of the FDA-CVM Public records show Ms. Conway is also one of the FDA employees who has been "regulating" by what they state is their "opinion" instead of a properly passed rule.  As part of ongoing Pet Schooled research, I have been trying to obtain an actual regulation for the use of the term "raw" for use on pet food packages. No one at the FDA has been willing to provide me that very simple regulation, or confirm with me that it doesn't exist. Some of my efforts to verify the existence of this regulation has included a phone call to Dan Danielson of FDA on December 10, 2020. Mr. Danielson hu

Erin Bubb And The "Gymnastics" Of AAFCO

Today, I called Pennsylvania Department Of Agriculture public employee, Erin Bubb. She has recently sat on the "board of directors" of AAFCO, helping operate the private corporation. Next year, Erin Bubb of PA will be the "president" of AAFCO. AAFCO is the shield public employees have long been using to perform their regulatory duties...in private. AAFCO meetings are not "public" meetings. Yet, all the work done at the meeting by public employees to develop, write, and pass ingredients for use in pet food are then adopted by almost all states by "reference." Citizens who have longed attempted to access these "regulations" have been told by their public regulatory agencies that the information is "copyrighted" by AAFCO.  In October 2020, I put in a request to Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture for all the material they adopt from AAFCO via "reference" into their state law. The request was as follows:  "Pursua

Colorado Department Of Agriculture Attempted To Charge Requestor $103.75 For Access To Regulations

On December 3, 2020, Colorado Department Of Agriculture received a request, "I am wanting to access feed regulations and definitions of feed ingredients in your state. Please let me know how I can access these regulations." On December 7, 2020, CDA Division Director Hollis Glenn stated, "As you may know, we have adopted the Official Publication by reference through our rule. The Official Publication contains the feed terms and definitions." Over the decades, states such as Colorado have adopted material they refer to as the "official feed definitions" they state is owned by a private non profit corporation, "AAFCO." Over the past few years, internal documents obtained through FOIA requests have shown that it's actually public employees helping to operate this private corporation. Hollis Glenn himself, a public employee of CDA, sits on the AAFCO board of directors. While states often refer to AAFCO as though it's an independent 3rd party

Stan Cook On Why States Are Copyrighting "Regulations"

With the growing concern over public state employees engaged in the privatization, copyright, and sale of official "regulations" for the animal feed (pet food) industry, a call was placed to Stan Cook, who works at the Missouri Department Of Agriculture.  Mr. Cook has long helped operate the private non-profit corporation "AAFCO". Public employees are currently using a "non-profit" shield to perform their public regulatory work  required by their state. Although the work performed at these meetings is for the strict purpose of being adopted by states as official and binding regulations in the states, these meetings are not currently deemed "public" meetings.  The public employees helping to run this private association, "charge" citizens on average $550 simply to attend the "regulatory meetings", where official definitions for pet food are proposed, written, and approved. This "non-profit", which is in reality a col

Report: CDC Data Concerning "Deaths" Associated With Humans Handling Raw Pet Diets

There are many claims by public health agencies concerning raw pet food diets, CDC being one of those agencies. As an effort to understand the actual truth and data behind many of the claims being made, we at Pet Schooled have been conducting ongoing research through the federal freedom of information act request law. This law allows citizens the ability to access and see government agency records.  Requests were made to CDC for " all reports made to cdc...pertaining to humans dying from handling any commercially available raw food diets for dogs or cats. " The years for these requests spanned 2009 through 2020.  CDC confirmed they had no reports, data, or records stating time and time again " A search of our records failed to reveal any documents pertaining to your request"  for each year and each request made for these reports of deaths No human deaths have been reported to CDC in years 2009 through 2020, for humans handling raw pet food diets.  Many articles publ