New Jersey ? A federal judge in New Jersey on Friday approved a $24 million settlement for thousands of owners whose animals were sickened by tainted pet food.

The deal, worked out last week, resolves more than 100 lawsuits filed in the United States and Canada since an epidemic of sick pets began last year.

Lawyers said Friday that the country’s leading veterinarian organization estimated that 1,500 pets died from commercially sold food that contained tainted wheat gluten grown in China. Thousands more were made ill.

Pet owners would be reimbursed for documented medical expenses, as well as up to $900 for undocumented costs such as wages lost while caring for the animals, property damage, and transportation costs.

The main defendant in the case was Menu Foods Inc., a Canadian manufacturer of about 100 of the contaminated product lines. The defendants previously paid $8 million to settle other claims.