I have been sent this from a Cyberfriend in Thailand:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A rather disturbing item in the BANGKOK POST on Tuesday in which the US-based
multinational producer of the pet  food brands Whiskas and Pedigree have
withdrawn all sales of their dried foods following rising concern amongst
veterinarians here about the rapidly rising number of renal (kidney) disease
amongs dogs.

It is stressed that there is no conrete evidence to link this problem with the
brands but the company themselves have decided to suspend sales and
investigate.  It is not known how long this suspension will last.

A Bangkok veterinarian apparently was quoted as saying that dogs that eat the
same kind of food every day could accumulate certain substances that force
their kidneys to work harder than usual.  She added that the number of kidney
disease cases at her clinic had risen by 30% recently.

This was also echoed by another veterinarian who said that records showed that
dogs and cats that regularly ate instant pet food had a higher tendency to
develop kidney disease rather than pets that are fed with fresh feed.

~~~~~~~~~

Followed up with:

This story gets stranger by the minute!  I believe Pedigree in India are also
withdrawing all stocks of Dog Food but curiously, as in Thailand, no mention
has actually been made of problems with cats even though they have also
withdrawn Whiskas.

"Effem Foods Thailand announced yesterday it would temporarily withdraw its Pedigree Dry dog food from the Thai market and suspend its shipments to Southeast Asian markets. "

Above is from the Bangkok Post .. I cannot read the article because I do not subscribe. :-)

But here's from the Pedigree site http://164.109.83.228/pedigreeinfo/en-gb/media/Situation/th-th/

Thailand

EFFEM FOODS THAILAND, ANNOUNCES TEMPORARY WITHDRAWAL OF PEDIGREE® DRY DOG FOOD IN THAILAND

Bangkok, March 8, 2004 – Effem Foods Thailand concerned about an increase in renal illness among dogs, announced today a voluntary, temporary withdrawal of its Pedigree® Dry dog food from the Thailand market. As a precaution, the company further announced that it would also temporarily suspend shipments of Pedigree® Dry dog food from its factory in Thailand to Southeast Asia markets.

Despite exhaustive testing of Pedigree® Dry dog food by the company, the cause of the increase has not been determined. No evidence of harmful ingredients has been found. We are continuing our investigation.

Dr. Duncan Hall, regional scientific affairs manager of Effem Foods, said: "As the company dedicated to pet health, we understand the distress associated with a pet’s illness or death, and we are working closely with pet owners as well as with local veterinarians and international veterinary experts. Our goal is to identify the cause of the increase as quickly as possible.

Hall stressed that, "We do not know, however, if their illness was caused by the product itself, a disease, contamination during its distribution, local environmental issues – such as water quality – or other factors. In the spirit of responsibility and concern for dogs and their owners, we have decided to temporarily withdraw Pedigree® Dry dog food from the market.

A toll free number 1800-738227 is available for any consumer and customer to call in for additional information. We have no indications of any concern with other Pedigree® products, and consumers may continue to use them with full confidence in their quality and safety.

We will be communicating further information as it becomes available. Pedigree® would like to thank the pet owners, veterinarians and all consumers who have helped us investigate, and we welcome their continuing involvement.

Also on the site:

The recall applies to PEDIGREE® Dry dog food, WHISKAS® Dry cat food and PEDIGREE® Dog’s Delight Ringo, PEDIGREE® Dog’s Delight Tasty Bone and PEDIGREE® Puppy Biscuit dog treats manufactured at the Thailand plant. The products were sold in Taiwan, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam. KITEKAT® dry sold in Thailand and Malaysia as well as CESAR® Duo sold in Taiwan and Korea are also to be withdrawn.

The recall also covers products in Japan and Hong Kong. In Japan, the recall is limited to one variety of PEDIGREE® Dry dog food, nine varieties of KALKAN® Brekkies dry cat food and two varieties of dry cat food sold under the KITEKAT® brands. In Hong Kong, the recall covers only PEDIGREE® Dog’s Delight Ringo and PEDIGREE® Dog’s Delight Tasty Bone treats.

At least for now it sounds to me like contamination of some sort from one manufacturer plant and/or its suppliers. However, if my dog were on Pedigree food this would cause me to switch them to another brand until the situation was resolved.

Stacey

The recall covers only products manufactured in Thailand, so consumers should check the label on the back of the package to determine where the product was made. Consumers are asked not to use the recalled products, and to return them for a full refund.

Sorry - this belongs to the above post, from Pedigree site.

Stacey

I have heard over and over again that dogs that are fed the same food though out their lives are more prone to allergies and kidney disease as the product builds up in their liver and kidneys,not to mention that these poor dogs must get so bored with the same bowl of kibble plonked in front of them day in day out,despite what some folk think,dogs do enjoy and appreciate variety in their diet,my dogs exctiement goes up 10 fold when they know they are getting rabbit for dinner,they dont get as excited about other foods as much as rabbit.
I have always fed my dogs a huge variety of different foods,they never get the same meal 2 days in a row.

Christine

Not only pedigree that has been withdrawn, I also heard that Nutro and Hills are also out of stock in Thailand due to mad cow disease in Europe. Anybody heard about this?

You mean these foods actually have some meat in them :D