What are you feeding your pet? Is it the "remains" of other pets???

[Radio_Lady]

I interviewed an author on my audio show on Monday. His book is interesting, but there was something we discussed that I promised myself I would follow up on.

He said that most dog food sold in American contains the "remains" of other animals, including dogs, that have been euthanized.

Yuck and double yuck -- What do you know about this? Have you ever thought about this? Once, I opened a can of dog food years ago and there was a fully-developed pig snout staring back at me. It was gross.

Here is an interesting web site:

http://www.commongroundmag.com/2005/cg3202/wh_lead3202.html

Your comments, please!

[LisaM]

1. Great, one more thing to worry about.

We feed out dogs ProPlan Chicken, on a vet's recommendation. It's made by Purina.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. my birds eat from my plate

so this afternoon they will have pasta, yummy, but if we cook chicken or turkey they get chicken or turkey... seeds, taht is like feeding them hershey bars

for the record birds need a balanced diet and they like cooked food

[enigami]

3. That does it . I'm not eating anymore dog food

Seriously. that doesn't surprise me

[Hubert Flottz]

15. Hey I quit that a long time ago!

I'd just had two Jo-Bo sandwiches for lunch and I laid down by the road to lick my %@##$ and A big truck almost ran over me!

[DistressedAmerican]

4. If The Animals In Question Were Put Down, Wouldn't There Be Lethal

drugs in the meat?

Sound a bit off to me. But, I have no realy knowledge.

I did just check the bag od science diet my dog eats and the only thing that could possibly fit the description is "animal fat". They do not specify the animal.

[kinsa1]

23. See my post "Yes, it's true" for links...

...regarding the presence of euthanizing drugs, carcinogens and liver/kidney toxins in commercial pet food.

[napi21]

5. No it's NOT other dogs!

Read the damn labels! Yes, most dog food is remains of other animals, but it's cht leftovers from chickens, hogs, beef and lamb. Parts that are not sold for you to eat are sold to the dog food manufacturers.

Believe it or not, dog food is a pretty heavily regulated business. You may not like it, but you could eat it too, and have no problems.

[enigami]

9. sure man

thats what they said about soylant green too

[Liberaler]

6. Rubbish!

Take a look at the dog food packages to see what's in it. There would simply not be enough remains for the manufacturers to use and besides, animal food these days are as cloesely watched as human food, esp by all the breeders and animal lovers in general. if this was the case it would be huge, but this is just another urban legend.

[donco6]

7. I agree

It just wouldn't be cost effective for a big manufacturer to send people around to collect up "road kill" and euthanized dogs! That's just goofy.

[garybeck]

24. no, you are incorrect

the original posting is true.

the ingredient is called "meat and bone meal". it is in almost every brand of dog food.

meat and bone meal comes from "rendering plants." Rendering plants take many things, including the parts of animals that are not used for meat (including cow heads). It is also where most veterinarians send dogs that have died in their office.

some dog foods have this as the #1 ingredient. in that case a dog eating it would amount to cannibalism.

[RummyTheDummy]

26. Cue the DU pet food Nazis

"I can afford to spend $150 a month to buy gourmet dog food for my pet and if you can't, you're a BAD, CRUEL pet owner!"

[Madrone]

27. It doesn't cost that much.

Besides - what it will likely pay for itself a thousand times over in later years with a huge decrease in vet bills.

Seriously, better quality food means the animals get better nutrients in their meals, meaning they eat LESS, meaning less waste to clean up in the yard or litter box.

If your animal is eating less of the more expensive food it equalizes the immediate costs of higher quality food even more.

[RummyTheDummy]

28. Not saying I disagree

But despite your moderate, thoughtful response, there are plenty here who get a little bit caustic when this subject comes up. Everyone has an opinion and everyone thinks they're an expert.

[Madrone]

30. Yeah - I know.

Truthfully, I didn't always feed all my animals the best, either. I didn't know any better, and really never gave it any thought. Like MANY people, I imagine.

Once I thought about it though, there wasn't any other choice.

I do know, though. There ARE plenty here, on a variety of subjects, that turn caustic, and quickly!

[tocqueville]

8. this is basically the problem of mad cow disease

Prior to the BSE epidemic, cattle were fed with meat and bone meal, a high-protein substance obtained from the remnants of butchered animals, including cows and sheep. This practice allowed the accumulation of prions over many generations. As more animals became ill, more infectious tissue got into the feed, and so the number of cases reached epidemic proportions. The tissues that contain most of the pathogenic molecules are those of the brain and the nervous system, although infectious amounts have been shown experimentally to be present elsewhere, such as in blood.

The use of meat and bone meal as a protein supplement in cattle feed was widespread in Europe prior to about 1987. Soybean meal is the primary plant-based protein supplement fed to cattle. However, soybeans do not grow well in Europe, so cattle raisers throughout Europe turned to the less expensive animal byproduct feeds as an alternative. A change to the rendering process in the early 1980's may have resulted in a large increase of the infectious agents in the cattle feed. A contributing factor seems to have been lax British laws that did not require a high temperature sterilization of the protein meal. While other European countries like Germany required the said animal byproducts to undergo a high temperature steam boiling process, this requirement had been eased in Britain as a measure to keep prices competitive.

Soybean meal is cheap and plentiful in the United States. As a result, the use of animal byproduct feeds was never common, as it was in Europe. However, U.S. regulations only partially prohibit the use of animal byproducts in feed. In 1997, Regulations prohibited the feeding of mammalian byproducts to ruminants such as cows and goats. However, the byproducts of ruminants can still be legally fed to pets or other livestock and poultry such as pigs and chickens. In addition, it is legal for ruminants to be fed byproducts from some of these animals. <5>

In February 2001, the USGAO reported that the FDA, which is responsible for regulating feed, had not adequately policed the various bans. <6> Compliance with the regulations was shown to be extremely poor before the discovery of the Washington cow, but industry representatives report that compliance is now 100%. Even so, critics call the partial prohibitions insufficient. Indeed, US meat producer Creekstone Farms alleges that the USDA is preventing BSE testing from being conducted <7>.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_cow

[leftchick]

10. it is true

without looking at the link I found this out in my local paper 2 years ago. The local "animal shelter" run by the county was accused of mishandling animal remains. It seems some were to be going to "rendering" plant to become dog food and there was a major screw-up I can't recall. What I do remember is " Rendering Plants"... for ... dog food! :wow:

:puke:

[randome]

11. I feed my cats...

...the leftover scraps of the American Dream.

God, I depress myself sometimes.

[garybeck]

12. yes, it is true. here is an alternative

anything with "meat and bone meal" in it has cow heads and dog carcasses in it.

I use Nature's Choice Vegetarian Formula. It's available at pet Smart. It has none of that crap in it.

[Tamarin]

13. Flint River Ranch, which is human grade,

but my dogs think rolling in and eating small dead frogs and other creatures in the yard is a delicacy; so what do I know.

[magellan]

14. We make our own food

We have a book of recipes for various diets depending on the dog's health. One of our dogs is susceptible to struvite bladder stones so she gets a special recipe (basically tuna and brown rice), the other has no health issues so gets potato and chicken. They love it and are doing well. We like to joke they eat better than us.

We also buy Wellness canned food off the net, which is 100% natural, and mix some of that in with each of their meals just to extend the time between having to prepare the other stuff.

Here's a link to the book if anyone is interested: Home-Prepared Dog & Cat Diets: the Healthful Alternative

[Lilyhoney]

16. Well, yes I do feed my dog animal remains.

But I intentionally purchase them. I feed her an organic raw diet, including raw chicken parts, turkey, beef, pork and what ever else I think might look tasty to a dog. And friuts and vegtables as well what ever we eat.

Thank you for your post.

[Straight Shooter]

17. I feed my dogs only Abady, which is non 4D

This means no dead, dying, diseased or disabled animals used in their food.

Somewhat expensive, but the health benefits are great. And when I say "somewhat expensive," I don't mean astronomical, I just mean it costs a bit more not to buy dog food that doesn't contain euthanized animals and other such rendered products and junk.

It's not carried in pet food stores, but you can find a distributor closest to your area by googling Abady pet food. BTW, my distributor is so far away, that 1/3 of the cost of the food is the freight.

[Cosby]

18. I always fed my dogs people food

Raw ground chicken, ground turkey, ground venison (all organic) and ground vegetables (carrots, garlic, parsley, sweet potato, pumpkin seed, ginger, green pepper, olive oil, anise bulb, cabbage, green beans, and whatever else looked wholesome). They loved it, but then they were small (9 lb mutt and 4 lb 12 oz Maltese) so it wasn't too much trouble. It would be hard to feed a Labrador.

They are both gone, now.. The 'big' guy died at 16 1/2 and we just lost the little one at 18 years under somewhat tragic circumstances.

[earth mom]

19. My 10 year old dog got really sick at about a year old

with a stomach ailment. She lost a ton of weight and was at the vet on ($$$) and off for a couple of months. Finally when the vet was ready to open her up to see if she had stomach cancer or not he gave her a steriod shot first instead and miracle of miracle she recovered. Ever since, we've fed her dry dog food topped with protein-fresh chicken, turkey, eggs, and once in awhile beef, since I don't eat it, and it's only in the house when dh eats it. In addition, we never take our dog to dog parks or put her in a kennel. She's been free of that stomach problem since.

My question now is-what to feed the two feral kittens we just took in?

[roguevalley]

20. I use Solid gold (Hundenflaken) or Canine Cavier, both made from

pure ingredients for dogs with food allergies or a tendency to get fat.

[kinsa1]

21. Yes, it's true

Many commercial (i.e., Purina, Alpo, Iams, etc.) do in fact contain the remains of euthanized animals, roadkill, etc. This is NOT explicitly reflected in the ingredients label.

snip:

In February 1990, San Francisco Chronicle staff writer John Eckhouse went even further with an expose entitled "How Dogs and Cats Get Recycled into Pet Food."

Eckhouse wrote: "Each year, millions of dead American dogs and cats are processed along with billions of pounds of other animal materials by companies known as renderers. The finished product... tallow and meat meal... serve as raw materials for thousands of items that include cosmetics and pet food."

Pet food company executives made the usual denials. But federal and state agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration and medical groups, such as the American Veterinary Medical Association and the California Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA), confirm that pets, on a routine basis, are rendered after they die in animal shelters or are disposed of by health authorities -- and the end product frequently finds its way into pet food." More here: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0106-04.htm

snip:

For seven years, I (Wendell Belfield, DVM) was a veterinary meat inspector for the US Department of Agriculture and the State of California. I waded through blood, water, pus and fecal material, inhaled the fetid stench from the killing floor and listened to the death cries of slaughtered animals...

snip:

As Eileen Layne of the CVMA told the (San Francisco) Chronicle, "When you read pet food labels, and it says 'meat and bone meal,' that's what it is: cooked and converted animals, including some dogs and cats."

Some of these dead pets -- those euthanized by veterinarians -- already contain pentobarbital before treatment with the denaturing process. According to University of Minnesota researchers, the sodium pentobarbital used to euthanize pets "survives rendering without undergoing degradation."

Fat stabilizers are introduced into the finished rendered product to prevent rancidity. Common chemical stabilizers include BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) and BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) -- both known to cause liver and kidney dysfunction -- and ethoxyquin, a suspected carcinogen. Many semi-moist dog foods contain propylene glycol -- first cousin to the anti-freeze agent, ethylene glycol, that destroys red-blood cells...

**********************************

In addition to the disease, bacteria, and toxic drugs (from euthanasia) contained in the fat and meal made from rendering animal carcasses, your most popular commercial dog foods commonly contain the liver toxins and/or carcinogens BHT, BHA, and ethoxyquin (used as preservatives. For this reason, along with the overall poor nutritional quality of commercial "grocery store" brands of pet food, we only feed our dogs and cat non-toxic, non-animal rendered food, such as Dick van Patton's Natural Balance, Merrick's canned dog food, or Castor & Pollux kibble and treats. We read the labels on EVERYTHING we give our "kids" and if BHT, BHA, ethoxyquin, or the generic "meal" or "meat meal" appears, we will not buy it. We also supplement our pets' meals with fresh meat, grains, and veggies. After having lived through losing our last two dogs from cancer (thymoma and hemangiosarcoma), the extra cost of fresh, nutritious and non-toxic food is more than worth it.

On BHT, BHA, and ethoxyquin:

http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/toxicology_of_bha.htm

Related article (recycling of pets):

THE DARK SIDE OF RECYLCING: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0106-02.htm

[BeHereNow]

22. I make my dog food

Rice, organic ground beef from NZ,
and natural kibble.
Everybody's health has improved greatly because
of it- shiney coats, more energy and agility-
Gee, I sound like a commercial, don't I?

No vaccinations either, other than rabies because
my city requires it for registration.

I don't trust the pharma companies
where critters are concerned anymore
than I trust them where people are concerned.
As a matter of fact, even less.

I have heard the horrors of commercial animal feed for
years and am not about to give it to
my fur friends!

BHN

[Radio_Lady]

25. Thanks to everyone who responded. I used to work in a

pharmaceutical company that owned a hair care company.

We usually would elect to pass when hair stylists and beauticians asked what EXACTLY was in the hair conditioners that are on the market. Most are made partially from "animal ingredients" -- the inedible parts containing proteins and keratin -- that's what makes the hair feel so nice and slippery when applied to freshly shampooed hair!

I assume it's the same today.

I appreciate all your responses today. I don't have any animals now, but I was shocked and surprised by all this information.

[Demonaut]

29. waste not, want not

[Corgigal]

31. Probably

Like a true blue Dem I use coupons. When you have as many animals as me you do what you have to. Tomorrow its canned Kibble and Bits (coupon) and dry Pedigree (coupon). Cats have dry friskies (coupon) and some moist can (coupon).

I worry more about what is the human food we are all eating. Dogs have a short life span, getting mad cow takes what 20 years or so?

[AmandaRuth]

32. i have worked in pet stores, some that sold premium foods

such as Royal Canine, Nutro, AvoDerm, Natures Recipe, just about all of them, on and off for about 10 years. The fact that some pet foods contain animal remains was the dirty little secret that the vender's, and suppliers didn't want to talk about. The whole pet food business is a racket big time. The best and purest diet for your pet is a raw diet or one where you do all the cooking.