A year after tainted pet food led to sickness and death for thousands of dogs and cats nationwide, a proposed settlement was announced by Sherrie R. Savett, one of the lead counsel for plaintiffs, to U.S. District Judge Noel L. Hillman at a hearing in U.S. District Court in Camden, New Jersey on April 1, 2008. The proposed settlement would resolve more than 100 class-action lawsuits filed by grief-stricken pet owners in the United States and Canada that were consolidated into a Multi-District Litigation (“MDL”) in Camden.

Details of the “agreement in principle” were not disclosed during the hearing but will be filed with the Court by May 1, 2008.  The tentative settlement followed months of negotiations between lawyers for companies that manufactured or distributed the poisonous pet food and Ms. Savett and other lawyers for pet owners.

More than 120 varieties of dog and cat food were pulled off the market last spring. Menu Foods Inc., based in Canada, was the manufacturer of about 100 of the tainted product lines that were recalled.  Other companies that manufactured or distributed the tainted pet food are also defendants in the MDL proceeding and are also parties to the proposed settlement.