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Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,731
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Pet Food Safety

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So sorry, but it is true.  I have known this since I was in college in the 1970's.  I got my degree in Animal Science, and took many courses in dietary formulation for all species of farm animal.  There are ingredients in all animal diets that would gag you.  If you have horses, cows, or sheep, for instance, I invite you to look at a bag of any kind of sweet feed, usually a mix of grains and pellets that are bound together with molasses and other ingredients.  If you see an ingredient in the list on the tag that says "mill run", I will tell you EXACTLY what that is.  At the end of every day, a feed mill cleans up the mill area, they sweep up all the spilled grain, mud or dried plant material or manure that fell off the boots of anyone who walked through the plant, any dead rodents, bird feathers or poop, spilled food from their own lunches, or anything else on the floor, and they sweep it into the bin with the last of the grain, soybean meal and other stuff that's in that last bit of material being ground up and mixed with molasses and put into any combination bagged feed.  It adds weight and is cheap, and the livestock eats it because it's sweet.  And that's just livestock feed!  Remember Mad Cow Disease?  That is spread from dead animals to live ones because dead animals are rendered into meat and bone meal, mixed into livestock feed or pet food, and fed back to live animals.  If you see meat and bone meal in your pet's diet, I will tell you EXACTLY what can go into that, too!  Meat and bone meal, or meat meal that is NOT for human consumption can and does contain what is called 4-D meat, defined as meat from diseased, dying, dead and decayed (yes, I said DECAYED) meat.  That is where the road kill comes in.  Or if a farm animal dies and the farm owner cannot dispose of the carcasse they can call a disposal service truck from a rendering plant who comes and picks up the dead body and halls it away.  Sometimes it can take a day or two while that carcasse bloats up and starts to rot before the truck comes to get it.   When a pet is euthanized at a vets office and the owner does not take the body to bury it, or pay to have it cremated, and lets the vet "take care of it", that vet does not have a pet cemetery!  They send the bodies to the rendering plant, too!  So no, the pet food company does not put dead pets in their food, they put meat and bone meal in pet food, and that meat and bone meal contains the bodies of DISEASED, DYING, DEAD AND DECAYED ANIMALS OF EVERY SINGLE SPECIES OF LIVESTOCK OR PET THAT WAS PROCESSED THROUGH THAT PLANT DURING ANY PARTICULAR TIME PERIOD.    So, for pity's sake, please read your pet's food ingredients, and if you see the terms meat meal or meat and bone meal, switch brands to something that specifically lists the species from which the meat came, such as beef, chicken, turkey or pork.  If you can find pet food that specifically states that it's made from human grade ingredients, that will be safer yet.  And bear in mind that any particular company can and does make mistakes, and also there can be deliberate malfeasance in pursuit of profit, such as occurred in China with the use of melamine in the adulteration of pet foods and human baby formula as well.  Knowledge is power, educate yourselves and protect yourself and your pets.

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,633
Registered: ‎10-21-2010

We feed Purina pro plan. Everyone can trash purina all they want but they never have recalls and they mfg their own dog food. Plus they put a lot of science behind their formulas.

Super Contributor
Posts: 467
Registered: ‎04-07-2010

@Carmiewrote:

I feed my dogs Orijen.  It is expensive...about $100 for a 25lb bag, it just went up in price. It has never had a recall and I trust the company.

 

i think it is terrible that dog food companies are selling junk food to our pets.  I hope they get caught, fined and are forced out of business.

 

I think it's a disgrace that these practices are allowed in the U.S.  Since the FDA doesn't crack down on these businesses the consumers should make their voices heard by writing to these companies and not purchasing their garbage anymore.  The saddest part of this whole disgusting business is the fact that pets die and these people get away with it.

 


 

Super Contributor
Posts: 467
Registered: ‎04-07-2010

CamilleP - I am so glad you spelled it out..  I knew about all of this.  I am also glad you mentioned Mad Cow disease.  While Europe now checks every slaughtered animal the U.S. tests very few.  We had animals with Mad Cow in several states. I wonder if they ended up in pet food.  While people who have lived in Europe for over 10 years are not allowed to donate blood for fear of spreading Mad Cow, the U.S. does absolutely nothing or very little to protect the public from this disease.  Another issue is hunting.  A large portion of Elk and Deer have Prion diseases.  People still hunt and eat the meat without the animals being tested.  I wish I was a vegetarian.  Eating meat, especially here in the U.S. is like playing Russian Roulette. 

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Super Contributor
Posts: 467
Registered: ‎04-07-2010

@Carmiewrote:

I feed my dogs Orijen.  It is expensive...about $100 for a 25lb bag, it just went up in price. It has never had a recall and I trust the company.

 

i think it is terrible that dog food companies are selling junk food to our pets.  I hope they get caught, fined and are forced out of business.


I'd rather pay more and have a quality food.  Although that's no guarantee anymore.  Remember the recall of the organic dog food recently?  I am lucky enough to have a great independent pet food store.  They only carry high quality food without any of these questionable ingredients.  The minute there is a problem with a food it's gone from their store.  They are worth gold.  I drive 1 1/2 hours to that store.  BTW, what you spend more on food you save in vet expenses. 

Frequent Contributor
Posts: 137
Registered: ‎10-31-2010

For anyone who has a finicky cat, my vet taught me to mold the wet cat food into an upsidedown cone.  The pointed end on top.  And it that did not help, put some water from a can of tune in the food.  I have tried both and it works with my cats, especially when they are not feeling well and can not smell the food.

 

Also cats can not taste sweet flavors.  So the corn and other sweet things in a can of cat food doen't help the cat.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 18,612
Registered: ‎10-25-2010

@TWwrote:

@Carmiewrote:

I feed my dogs Orijen.  It is expensive...about $100 for a 25lb bag, it just went up in price. It has never had a recall and I trust the company.

 

i think it is terrible that dog food companies are selling junk food to our pets.  I hope they get caught, fined and are forced out of business.


I'd rather pay more and have a quality food.  Although that's no guarantee anymore.  Remember the recall of the organic dog food recently?  I am lucky enough to have a great independent pet food store.  They only carry high quality food without any of these questionable ingredients.  The minute there is a problem with a food it's gone from their store.  They are worth gold.  I drive 1 1/2 hours to that store.  BTW, what you spend more on food you save in vet expenses. 


I agree that there is nothing too good for our pets. I buy my food from an independent family run pet food store.

 

Unfortunally, I spend a fortune on Vet bills too.  I have two very sick dogs,  Both  have congenital health problems. They are worth every dollar and cent spent  to me and my DH.