The Partnership for Food Protection and the US Food and Drug Administration launched the Pet Event Tracking Network, PETNet, which is a secure, Web-based information exchange system for petfood-related incidents.

PETNet’s voluntary information exchange, surveillance and alert system provides real-time information sharing about emerging petfood-related illnesses and product defects among FDA, and other federal and state agencies. PETNet is currently made up of more than 200 representatives from four federal agencies, all 50 states and Puerto Rico.

The system will be accessible to PETNet members that are federal, state and territorial government officials responsible for the regulation of petfood products and the investigation of disease outbreaks in companion animals. Members can enter “events” into the system after they have identified a trend or a suspicious incident or defect associated with petfood products. Once entered on the standardized form, the information will be immediately available to all other PETNet members, allowing other members to track the emergence of such data and to evaluate the need for action within individual jurisdictions.