CITYSCAPE ROUNDUP:FDA lengthens recall list

More pet-food labels have been added to the Food and Drug Administration’s recall list this week due to contamination that has sickened pets across the country, including at least five in Huntington Beach, although many veterinarians have not been able to pinpoint a cause.

Friday the FDA notified Kansas-based company Hills Pet Nutrition, Inc. that it had found melamine and melamine byproducts in wheat gluten used by the company to make Prescription Diet m/d Feline Dry cat food. Whether melamine is the ingredient causing the alarming number of pet deaths has not yet been confirmed, according to the FDA.

Saturday Del Monte Pet Products voluntarily recalled a number of products, including dog snacks, wet dog food and similar products sold under private labels, according to the American Veterinary Medical Assn. The Del Monte products included Jerky Treats, Gravy Train Beef Sticks and Pounce Meaty Morsels.

Less than 1/10 of those products were contaminated. Other Del Monte pet treats, biscuits or wet dog food, dry cat food, dry dog food, wet cat food or pouched pet foods were not affected, according to a Del Monte news release.

In mid-March the FDA announced that Canadian-based pet food manufacturer Menu Foods, Inc., was recalling all of its wet dog and cat food produced at a facility in Kansas between Dec. 3 and March 6. Nine cats died during taste tests, suffering kidney failure after eating the food, according to the FDA.

Rodenticide — the original chemical thought to be responsible for the federally reported deaths of 16 cats and dogs — has been eliminated as a possibility.

“The number is not finite … this is still an ongoing investigation,” FDA spokeswoman Rosario Quintanilla Vior said.

The recall has affected more than 50 pet-food manufacturers and a number of local pet supply stores.

3/1 Marines deploy from Camp Pendleton

The city’s adopted battalion of Marines, the 3rd Battalion/1st Marines, is being deployed from Camp Pendleton on Monday. For the first portion of their deployment, Marines will be aboard ships on various training missions, but later they may end up in Iraq, said Cindy Cross, executive director of the Huntington Beach 3/1 Marines Foundation.

The battalion will leave in two waves, at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.; there will be a special area for attendees from Huntington Beach, including refreshments for the marines and their families.

Marines will bring with them 1,300 packages from Huntington Beach inhabitants and businesses, each containing a pillowcase, chocolate bars and notes from local residents, Cross said.

Members of the public interested in attending should send an e-mail to HB4Marines@aol.com for more information.

Police offer women’s self defense class

Huntington Beach police officers and martial arts instructors are offering a free women’s self-defense class in recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

Women 16 and older are invited to the event at noon on April 21 at the Huntington Beach Krav Maga Training Center, 16889 Beach Blvd. Officers and instructors will be available to answer questions from the public.

For more information call 714-375-4567, or go to www.hbkravmaga.com.

City budget wins ‘Budget Presentation Award’

The Government Finance Officer’s Assn. of the United States and Canada has given Huntington Beach its “Distinguished Budget Presentation Award” for the 11th year running.

According to the organization’s website, the award honors budgets presented and organized for the understanding of city officials and the public.

Receiving the award is a way of knowing the city is on track with how it communicates its budget information, said city finance director Dan Villella.

“It lets you know you’re not straying off,” he said.