1) Polly Parker is the chief executive officer of Juno Dog Food Company, a manufacturer of dry dog food. Juno is located in California. Its dog food is sold throughout the U.S. and in other countries. Juno's products contain a variety of natural ingredients. One ingredient is LT4, a natural protein found in lemon peels. LT4 is inexpensive to produce from the abundant supply of lemon peels which are available in California from producers of lemon juice. By using LT4 which it extracts from lemon peels, Juno is able to produce high protein dog food at low cost, and generate significant profit.

2)Recently, a U.S. federal regulatory agency announced the results of research which shows that LT4 contributes to liver disease in mammals, including dogs, and shortens an animal's life by an average of 10%. The government agency announced that a ban on the sale of all animal food, including dog food, containing LT4 would take effect on June 1. The ban does not prohibit the export from the U.S. of animal food containing LT4 and does not prohibit gifts of animal food containing LT4 to U.S. animal welfare organizations like animal shelters.

3)Juno is immediately changing the formula for all of its dog food to eliminate LT4 and maintain the same protein level by using more expensive ingredients. Juno is also buying back all unsold bags of Juno dog food containing LT4 from U.S. retail stores even though the ban has not yet gone into effect.

4)Juno estimates that it will have 20,000 bags of dog food containing LT4 in its warehouse in early June. At a recent meeting about what to do with the dog food containing LT4, Luther Lewis, Juno's vice president told Polly that dog food containing LT4 could lawfully be sold in the island country of Pacifica, which is only a few hundred miles from California. Juno has a history of selling an average of 2,000 bags of dog food a month in Pacifica. The vice president said that he had already checked with Juno's lawyers who confirmed that sales of dog food containing LT4 will continue to be legally permissible in Pacifica for the foreseeable future. The lawyers also have confirmed that it will be lawful to make gifts of animal food containing LT4 to U.S. animal welfare organizations like animal shelters.

5)Polly is wondering what should be done. She is troubled by an article on the Internet which describes how poor people in some countries sometimes try to save money by mixing pet food into the food they eat. Although the article did not specifically mention Pacifica, Polly knows that a significant percentage of the people there are very poor. She also wonders whether donating the dog food containing LT4 to U.S. animal shelters is a good idea.

Analyze this situation according to the multi-step ethical decision-making process. YOU SHOULD ASSUME THAT THE LAWYERS' ADVICE IS ACCURATE AND SHOULD NOT SPECULATE ABOUT POTENTIAL LEGAL ISSUES REGARDING POSSIBLE DISTRIBUTION OF DOG FOOD IN PACIFICA AND GIFTS TO U.S. ANIMAL WELFARE ORGANIZATIONS. Your should be written from the point of view of someone providing advice BASED ON ETHICS to Polly, the chief executive officer. You should conclude by recommending an ethically appropriate course of action for Polly to take on behalf of the company. Polly has final decision-making authority regarding the formulation of the company's products and how they are distributed. Polly is Luther's boss.