Mere months after a lawsuit between pet food makers Menu Foods and pet owners who lost their beloved animals was settled, comes news that supermarket shelves may not be safe after all. Just 24 hours after the FDA filed a lawsuit based on a warrant to search Petco warehouses located in Chicago, reports began piling in that what they found during inspections in April and May of this year could lead to long term ramifications for the large retailer.  According to several sources the feds inspected Petco warehouses on multiple occasions between April and June of this year leading to this weeks lawsuit. Among the rodent and bird droppings that were found during the inspections, holes along exterior walls in which vermin were able to enter in and out were also discovered. In addition several dead birds were also found near food containers. It’s the view of the FDA that all pet food is susceptible to pest and vermin unless enclosed in a metal/glass container.

Petco which sales to stores in (Alabama, Tennessee, Texas, Ohio, Missouri, Kentucky along with 10 other states) says that they are fully cooperating with the investigation and that have “acted aggressively to address each and every concern that was raised” per the chains VP of corporate communications. While April’s settlement with Menu Foods managed to somewhat calm the fears of pet owners all across the country, this weeks action against Petco could bring the issue of better pet food practices back to the front of the publics eye. With food and fuel costs rising on a daily basis, pet owners are already finding it difficult to feed their animals and a new food scare just may send the adoption/abandonment rate even higher.