(Crossposted from the KC Freecycle Yahoo Group page.)

Howdy folks -

Sorry to deluge y’all with yet another ADMIN message, but I wanted to remind everyone to check your cat and dog food before freecycling it. As you probably know, Menu Foods, “the leading North American manufacturer of private-label wet pet food products”, is in the midst of a major contamination scandal, with 16 confirmed deaths so far (and more to follow, no doubt).

According to the recall info page on their web site,

“The recall is limited to “cuts and gravy” style pet food in cans and foil pouches produced on specific dates and times between December 3, 2006, and March 6, 2007 in two of Menu’s plants. The recall affects 42 brands of cat food and 53 brands of dog food. In order to determine whether cat and dog food that your pet consumed is subject to recall, you should refer to the list of brand names on this website.”

They recommend that,

“If you are in possession of a variety or multi-pack, please be sure to check the individual can or pouch rather than relying solely on the date coding on the side of the carton.”

If you think that your cat or dog may have consumed contaminated foods, Menu Foods offers the following advice:

“If your pet is exhibiting any signs of kidney failure please contact your veterinarian as soon as possible. Symptoms include loss of appetite, vomiting, weakness, disorientation and changes in water consumption and urination. If you suspect that you have fed the recalled pet food to your cat or dog, save any remaining pet food and the can or pouch. Open cans or pouches may be double-bagged in sealable plastic and kept in the freezer. ”

You can view a comprehensive list of the recalled products here:

Cat food: www.menufoods.com/recall/product_cat.html

Dog food: www.menufoods.com/recall/product_dog.html

While we do ask that all members check for recall/safety issues on ALL items before offering them up on Freecycle (this includes not just foodstuffs, but other items as well, such as car seats and cribs, for example), we do realize that mistakes happen - which is why members on the receiving end of a freecycled item should check for safety and recall info, too. And two sets of eyes are certainly better than one!

If you have any questions/comments on the Menu Foods recall, feel free to email me off-list at kelly [at] kcfreecycle [dot] org - or take your discussion over to the KC Chat Cafe.

Now back to your regularly scheduled freecycling!

Kelly G.
KC Freecycle List Owner
kelly [at] kcfreecycle [dot] org

You might be wondering what the heck National Pet Theft Awareness Day has to do with Freecycle, so allow me to ’splain.

Every year Last Chance for Animals sponsors a National Pet Theft Awareness Day. While LCA’s definition of “pet theft” includes the obvious examples - literally, a thief who steals your dog, cat, snake, etc., from your home, yard, car, or whatnot - actions that we might not otherwise think of as “theft” are included as well. For instance, if an individual were to respond to your “free to good home” ad and promise to give your beloved Fluffy a good, loving home, and then turn around and sell her to a research lab - well, that’s pet theft. To be more specific, theft by deception. And it’s one of many reasons why we do not, under any circumstances, allow members to request or offer animals of any type on KC Freecycle.

For more information on our no-pet policy, please see our shelter page. You’ll find guidelines on adopting out an unwanted animal yourself, as well as a list of resources that can help you place your animal in a good home. If you’re looking to adopt, you can search the local shelters and rescue groups by type of animal.

Another great resource, which I’ve used with much success in the past, is Pet Finder. It allows you to search for a specific type of animal (if you want to adopt a furry/feathered/scaled friend) OR view a list of rescue groups in your area (if you need to rehome and animal). In fact, I recommend it over our shelter listings, simply because the groups update the information themselves!

In this vein, if you notice a mistake in any of our listings (or know of an organization that we’ve overlooked), please let us know. You can contact me personally at kelly [at] kcfreecycle [dot] org.

If you’d like to spread the word about National Pet Theft Awareness day, visit StolenPets.com for more information, as well as a slew of campaign materials.

Oh, and happy Valentine’s Day, too!

Hello everyone -

Just a reminder that we do not allow members to offer or request live animals. If you need to place an animal (or if you’d like to adopt one), we’ve compiled a searchable database of Kansas City area shelters and rescue groups. The list can be accessed at www.kcfreecycle.org/shelters, along with other resources regarding pet adoption (and a more detailed explanation of our “no pets” policy).

Also - we’ve had a huge increase in membership in the last day due to a great article in the KC Star. Please, everyone — new and old members — go read (or re-read) the rules at http://www.kcfreecycle.org/rules/. The moderators would much rather spend our time cleaning out our garages and basements and closets than rejecting your messages! Really!

Thanks,
Ann
KC Freecycle CoModerator

Please remember that we do NOT allow any type of discussion on list. Whether you’re flaming the moderators or supporting them, at the very least your message will be deleted and your account will be placed on permanent moderation.

If it doesn’t directly relate to keeping items out of landfills, don’t post it. If you’d like to contact the moderators directly, please feel free to do so at kcfreecycle-owner [at] yahoogroups [dot] com.

This is a new worm, and our board has received several messages today. Unfortunately, there’s not alot we can do, but to remove the messages, and put the people on moderation so we don’t get more of them. Fortunately, Yahoo is stripping the attachment so there is no harm from these messages you get from KC Freecycle.

As always, never open an unidentified or unexpected attachment, and keep your virus software up to date.

Thanks,
Ann
KC Freecycle CoModerator

Good morning everyone!

Well, we’ve finally made our final decision, and now have a moderator for each day of the week! The decision was hard, as there were some great applicants.

Cristy and Danielle have joined us, and today is Cristy’s first day moderating, so be kind!!!

Anyway, as always, you can reach Cristy, Daneille, and any other mod, by their firstname [at] kcfreecycle [dot] org or all of us at kcfreecycle-owner [at] yahoogroups [dot] org.

Thanks again,
Ann
KC Freecycle CoModerator

In addition to the wanteds on any day (one post per member a calendar week!!!), the moderators have decided to make a couple more changes.

#1 - Members are not allowed to include signatures or “sigs” in their group-related emails. Please just sign your emails with your name (and it doesn’t have to be your full name, either - just whatever moniker you go by), and refrain from advertising your business, linking to your web site, including your children’s names and ages, etc. The former violate our “keep it free rule,” while the latter poses safety concerns.

#2 - Responses to wanteds with a tip on where to buy an item are not appropriate. It does not keep anything out of the landfill, so we ask that you no longer respond if you do not have the specific item to offer for free to the poster.

Initially, an infraction will get a warning, the message removed or returned to you. Repeated problems will have you placed on moderation. If it continues to be a problem, we will issue you a strike.

Thanks,
Ann
KC Freecycle CoModerator

Good morning everyone!

Just wanted to let everyone know, that we have brought on one new moderator. Sheree has joined us, and today is her first day moderating, so be kind!!!

Anyway, as always, you can reach Sheree, and any other mod, by their firstname [at] kcfreecycle [dot] org or all of us at kcfreecycle-owner [at] yahoogroups [dot] com.

Thanks again,
Ann
KC Freecycle CoModerator
ann [at] kcfreecycle [dot] org

Hello,

There seems to be some confusion among some members lately, about what Freecycle(TM) is really about. So, here is my interpretation.First, what Freecycle is NOT about.