Sites unleash pet power

"I don't even think our friends came," said Huh, 29, a software company product manager.

Then came the March 16 recall of 60 million containers of pet food after reports of illnesses and deaths. Huh posted a few bits of information on the suspect foods and links to recall lists. Itchmo then hit blogger pay dirt: links to Web documents, such as the manufacturer's "Code of Conduct," that were not visible from the company's home page. In two weeks, Huh logged 1.5 million hits from fearful and outraged pet owners.

"This is not like somebody stirred up a hornet's nest; it's like someone stirred up a flock of sheep," said Huh, whose wife has quit her job to devote herself to the site full time. "We're not used to being mobilized like this. But we've got teeth."

The pet food scandal has transformed once-obscure websites about litter boxes and doggy breath into poignant memorials to beloved companions -- and hot sources of muckraking reporting. Bloggers and owners of sites such as Itchmo, Pet Connection, Howl 911, The Pet Food List and Pet Food Tracker have been deluged by millions of pet owners who are grieving or railing or both -- and digging for answers.

Their online barking is being heard in Washington's halls of power, including the Food and Drug Administration and Capitol Hill. They have the numbers to howl loudly: Americans own 73 million dogs and 90 million cats.

Just after releasing a letter to the FDA asking for a report on its pet food investigation, Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) sent it to six pet websites that have closely followed the issue.

Durbin's staffers have posted information on pet blogs and solicited pet owners online for ideas about new legislation. Those suggestions later made their way into an FDA bill amendment sponsored by Durbin, calling for stricter production and labeling standards for pet food, the senator said.

"The Internet has changed all the rules here in terms of mobilizing public opinion on important issues, and this pet food contamination is a clear illustration," Durbin said in a telephone interview from his Chicago office.