Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Petco will quit selling pet treats from China

From Wire Reports

NEW YORK – Petco said Tuesday that it will stop selling dog and cat treats made in China by the end of this year due to ongoing fears that the imported treats are making pets sick.

Investigators at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration haven’t been able to figure out why pets are getting ill from the treats since the agency began receiving reports of illnesses in 2007.

In an update last week, the FDA said it has received more than 4,800 complaints of pet illnesses and more than 1,000 reports of dog deaths after eating Chinese-made chicken, duck or sweet potato jerky treats. The FDA said tests found the antiviral drug amantadine in some samples of imported chicken jerky treats sold a year or more ago, but doesn’t think it caused the illnesses. The FDA said it will continue to investigate.

Rival PetSmart Inc., which also runs about 1,300 stores, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Portable bed handles recalled after deaths

WASHINGTON – About 113,000 adult portable bed handles used to help people get into and out of bed are being recalled following reports of three deaths.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission said the recall involves handles sold by Bed Handles Inc., of Blue Springs, Missouri.

The agency said the handles can shift out of place when attached to a bed without the use of the safety retention straps.

CPSC said three women died when they became trapped between the mattress and the handles. One was an elderly woman at a Minnesota assisted living facility; another was at a Washington managed-care facility. The third woman, in her 40s and disabled, died at an adult family home in Washington.

Banks facing charge of price manipulation

AMSTERDAM – European Union regulators on Tuesday charged banks JPMorgan, HSBC and Credit Agricole with colluding to manipulate the price of financial products linked to interest rates.

The European Commission’s move is the first step in a legal dispute that can cost the banks dearly. The commission’s top competition regulator, Joaquin Almunia, said the banks will now have a chance to respond to the preliminary findings. If the commission concludes they have broken the law, it can impose a fine of up to 10 percent of their annual revenue.

In December 2013, the commission levied fines totaling $1.42 billion on Barclays, Deutsche Bank, RBS and Societe Generale as part of the same case, which covers financial derivatives linked to a benchmark interest rate called Euribor in the period 2005-2008.

Barclays escaped fines for having notified the commission of the existence of the cartel, and the others were granted a reduction in their fine for cooperating in a settlement.