Kelly, I think you might want to google ‘Sarcasm impairment’ ;-)
I believe Don was citing the fact certain groups are still holding onto that 12-17 number...
who are you?
“Don’s” mommy? LOL
“Don” should try posting “sarc” if litttle “Donny” meant to be sarcastic...at any case...I’m sure “Don” can speak for himself.....
finally, you might want to google “minding your own business”
cyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...
And which groups would those be? I haven't seen a single "group" claiming that number was the total even back to the beginning of all this -- much less now. Rather, there seem to be a lot of reading-impaired people claiming that various evil parties are claiming this is the total.
The very low numbers have always been cited as the absolutely confirmed cases, most of them the ones who died in Menu Foods' lab tests. These citations have ALWAYS been accompanied by further mention that it is believed many more pets have been affected, but that it's impossible to know how many. Since lots of things can cause kidney failure in dogs and cats, none of the cases reported prior to the identification of melamine (which is STILL not confirmed to be the main cause) could have been definitely blamed on the food. Also many people don't save old pet food containers and don't know for sure if their pet even ate any of the recalled batches. And few pets have been subjected to autopsies, much less autopsies including extensive toxicology tests that could confirm the presence of melamine.
It's odd how most FReepers are quick to dismiss poorly supported claims of huge numbers of Iraqis killed "due to" the US-led war there, but are quick to scream "cover up" if any media outlet or government agency declines to blame every kidney-related pet death in the US over the past 2 months on contaminated pet food, and mentions the number of deaths that are actually CONFIRMED to be from that cause.