Appeals may delay claim payments in pet food case

More than 23,000 pet owners in the United States have asked for money from a $24-million settlement for owners of dogs and cats that were sickened or died after eating pet food contaminated with an industrial chemical.

U.S. pet owners with claims were set to start receiving checks in 2009 but their payments could be held up longer while a judge sorts out last-minute appeals to the settlement filed by four people.

“If one of their objections succeeds, the class comes unraveled,” said Kenneth A. Wexler, a Chicago lawyer involved in working out a settlement.

The case began in March 2007 when dogs and cats mysteriously started getting sick.

It turned out that the common thread was pet food produced under nearly 200 labels -- much of it by Menu Foods Income Fund in Streetsville, Canada.

Most of the food contained Chinese-made wheat gluten laced with melamine, an industrial chemical used to make plastics and fertilizers.

Menu Foods and other companies involved in making, distributing and selling the food agreed to pay pet owners as much as $24 million in a deal approved by a judge in October.

The settlement includes Canadian pet owners, who have until Jan. 27 to file claims.

Although the settlement does not compensate owners for pain and suffering associated with the death or illness of their pets, it was structured to pay as much as 100% for a variety of other costs -- including vet bills and replacing carpet ruined by sick pets.

Pet owners can get as much as $900 for undocumented claims -- for example, if they didn’t save receipts that showed they bought the contaminated pet food.

A claims administrator will review the claims. If those that are approved add up to more than the amount available to pet owners, the payout to each owner will be reduced.

It’s not clear yet how long it might take to determine whether the awards would be reduced.

Plaintiffs lawyers have requested more than $6 million from the settlement.

Four pet owners are appealing the case for a variety of reasons.

Two California pet owners say the settlement does not address their concern that the contaminated food was labeled “Made in the USA” though it contained products from China.