Buyer Beware - research on what Fido eats - Brief Article

It pays to think twice about what you feed your pet

Most consumers assume that pet foods are safe, wholesome products that our pets thrive on. If you are like I was, you never stop to consider who regulates the pet food industry -- or who inspects the ingredients or even the source of the ingredients used in pet foods. I once assumed that pet food ingredients would cause no harm to my animal companions.

It was only after I began some persistent questioning of exactly what the contents listed on pet food labels really meant did I begin to realize how difficult it was to determine just what was in the product. Basically, labels are vague. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), state laws require a label statement on pet foods of "Guaranteed Analysis" for minimum protein and fat content, maximum fiber content and, in some instances, maximum moisture content. What is legally allowed in pet food, however, is extensive. Labels do not indicate the hidden hazards that can be contained in cans and bags of pet food -- foods our pets ingest on a daily basis.

Perhaps the most disgusting ingredients rendered into pet foods are the carcasses of cats and dogs. Yes, the remains of dogs and cats can be legally used in pet food. Rendering plants use these remains, often collected from animal shelters and veterinary clinics, and render them into the raw material that is sold to many pet food companies to make their pet food products. To this day, many companies deny this practice. Nevertheless, there is a strong body of evidence that indicates this happens -- and frequently. Because pet food companies don't test the raw material they can deny or claim that they have no knowledge that rendered pets are in the material they purchase. However, this doesn't make the facts any less truthful.

After talking to state officials about precautionary testing of pet foods to determine exactly what is in rendered product, I learned that there is no testing undertaken nor is it required by law in any state in the United States or in Canada. Inordinate amounts of heavy metals, hormones, drugs, pesticides, pathogens, and toxins have been found in pet foods, in addition to animal remains, but due to lack of testing and strict regulations, all of these are allowed in pet foods. The FDA does, however, state that pet foods may not contain poisonous substances or pesticides in excess of established tolerances.

In addition, it is legal to render diseased animals for use in pet food. Cows, pigs, sheep, chickens, and turkeys also carry diseases -- a vast array of diseases, including bovine squamous cell carcinoma, osteomyelitis in turkeys and even avian (bird) encephalomyelitis, just to name a few.

Animals found with these diseases at the time of slaughter are usually condemned or the parts of the animals that are affected are condemned "not fit for human consumption." This material can either be sold to pet food companies or breeders, or sent off to the rendering plants to create product for commercial pet food companies. (In Europe, thousands of animals with mad cow disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), were rendered and used for pet food. Now pets in Europe are beginning to die from feline or canine forms of mad cow disease.)

Although many of these diseases can be obliterated in the rendering process, I know that I do not want my pets to be eating material that has been condemned for any reason. When you combine diseased animals with the potential dangers of drug and hormone residues, heavy metals, mycotoxins, and bacteria, you have a toxic mix that the pet food industry describes as "complete and balanced."

To say the least, I am angry knowing about the myriad substances that can be used legally in pet foods, and yet consumers are told in endless ads and television commercials that their pets get a complete and nutritiously balanced meal from commercial pet foods.

If enough pets become ill from a particular commercial pet food, the news media will report recalls of a particular product. I wonder, however, how often individual pets become ill from commercial pet food while their owners and veterinarians remain unaware of the cause. The pet suffers, the symptoms are treated, and most likely, the pet continues to eat the same pet food that caused the problem in the first place. Unfortunately, it is only the exceptional veterinarian who considers an animal's diet as the potential cause of the problem.

Not only are our pets eating many foods containing levels of antibiotics, hormones, and pesticides, but when our pets become ill they are also treated with a wide variety of drugs and antibiotics. I have seen sick dogs and cats that have been put on one drug after another. Would it not be better to attempt to alleviate the underlying cause of the problem? Perhaps one of the primary goals for healing should be to build up the animal's immune system with natural substances such as whole foods, supplements, vitamins, and minerals. It may take longer to treat the condition with natural methods but the pet is not incurring the side effects often experienced on prescription drugs.

It is all too easy for pet owners to assume that the food they buy at the pet store or even at the veterinarian is safe and wholesome. It would be wonderful if we could trust that foods labeled as "complete and balanced" were just that, but unfortunately, many times, that's not the ease. Just as diet is the cornerstone of good health for humans, it is of equal importance to our pets.

(A Better Nutrition exclusive from Ann N. Martin's new book, Protect Your Pet: More Shocking Facts, NewSage Press, 2001)

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