This post is long overdue. Today (yesterday for y’all) I snail-mailed The Miami Herald from May 18th to Gina Spadafori of PetConnection.com. On that day, she was front-and-center of the business section (in color, even) after my local paper picked up a national story on blogger-power in the wake of the pet food recall.

Gina has almost single-handedly served as point-person for pet food recall issues since the story exploded on March 19th. I don’t think she sleeps much these days and I figured she needed a little pick-me-up care package from Miami to light her way as she continues to slog through the murky waters of this still-evolving crisis for us.

PetConnection and other blogs (Itchmo, PetSitUSA, among many others) have shown us what the blogosphere can do when it does its job well. Complain as they might (for our lack of journalistic training and unregulated content), traditional media have to hand it to us bloggers: we know how to put public opinion in perspective by getting info out ASAP and recruiting readers to glean what they can from our unique blend of news and opinion.

Apart from the Herald piece, a couple of other articles have been forwarded my way. Both are from USA Today (one under Technology and one in the Money section). They all credit pet blogs with providing much-needed, day-to-day information on the recall, keeping the issue in the media spotlight, and demonstrating how important this issue has been for millions of pet owners concerned about their pets’ well-being.

I’m unhappy to have to continue to explain (to both readers and clients) how various toxins affect their pets. It’s embarrassing for the pet food industry, humiliating for vets and stressful for everyone on many levels. But if this medium helps anyone, I’m proud to continue to offer my vet-centric opinion and field all your comments. It’s your interest and concern that fuels the blogosphere-assisted power of our communal search for justice on behalf of our pets.