Do you really know what you are feeding your dog?

If you own a dog of any breed or size you have probably spent plenty of time in the petfood isle at Walmart. I'm sure all pet owners want to find the healthiest food out there for that member of their family, but do we really know what is in each food being there are so many ingredients most of us can not even pronounce? The order that the ingredients are posted determines how much or how important that item is in the overall quality of the product. The first ingredient is usually either a vegetable or a meat product. We all know what corn and rice and even lamb and chicken are but what exactly is meat and bone meal, or meat by product?

• Meat and bone meal (MBM) is a product of the rendering industry. It is typically about 50% protein, 35% ash, 8-12% fat, and 4-7% moisture. It is primarily used in the formulation of animal feed to improve the amino acid profile of the feed.
• Meat by-productsare ground and cleaned slaughtered meat carcass parts such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs, bones, heads, and intestines (and a small amount of feathers in the case of chicken meat). The terms meat by-products or animalby-products are often used in reference to the ingredients included in commercial pet foods.
• Rendering is a process that converts waste animal tissue into stable, value-added materials. Rendering can be referredto any process of animalbyproduct into more useful materials. Rendering is not limited to only farm or industrial, can also be carried out on a kitchen scale as well.The majority of tissue comes form slaughterhouses but dose not turn down restaurant grease and butcher shop trimmings,expired meat from grocery stores, dead stock from farms and the remains of euthanized and dead animals from shelters, vets and zoos. (Wikipedia)

Now I'm not saying that Meat and Bone Meal are entirely out of the question to feed your petbut consider what else goes into these products? When an animal is sent to the rendering plant it has died. Normal decomp and disease begin to set in, but what about the animals who become lame and diseased while they are still alive? Animals who are beat and abused during their lifespan are processed just like any other. (http://www.chooseveg.com/animal-cruelty.asp?gclid=CPS6w5e4kpgCFRsRagod63yumw)

Toxic waste also accompany the animals.

Pesticides via poisoned livestock Euthanasia drugs that were given to pets Some dead animals have flea collars containing organophosphate insecticides Fish oil laced with bootleg DDT Insecticide Dursban in the form of cattle insecticide patch Other chemicals leaked from antibiotics in livestock Heavy metals from pet ID tag, surgical pins and needles Plastic from: Styrofoam trays from packed unsold supermarket meats, chicken and fish Cattle ID tags Plastic insecticide patches Green plastic bags containing dead pets from veterinarians

When a household pet is euthanizedand sent to these plants they are treated none the less like any other animal breed for the slaughter. Rendering plants supposedly destroys the bacteria from contaminated meats sent to these plants and the D-4 meats (diseased, dead, dying or disabled) from slaughterhouses.

“While the cooking process may kill bacteria, it does not eliminate the endotoxins some bacteria produce during their growth and are released when they die. These toxins can cause sickness and disease. Pet food manufacturers do not test their products for endotoxins. (Source: Animal Issues, Volume 33 Number 3, Fall 2002 )

From what i can see there are no regulations by the FDA to test or stop the use of euthinized pets in pet food. So basically it is fully legal to feed a dead dog or cat which has not fully broken down the Sodium Phenobarbital( chemical used to put down your beloved pet). http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring04/Perhach/PetFood/Regulation.htmSeveral

Studies have been done to determine if the chemical is still present in the food process.

Toxic Recall

In October of 2003, the FDA issued a voluntary recall of all Go! Natural pet food manufactured in Texas and owned by Canadian company Petcurean Pet Nutrition, Inc.

After 13 cats and dogs got ill, included six that died, Petcurean investigated the chances of its food being the cause. Symptoms of the animals were rashes, vomiting, reduced appetite and jaundice. Liver failure was the cause of death.

On January 12, 2004, the owners of the pets who died filed lawsuit against the parties involved in producing and distributing the food in the case Hanrahan et al. v Petcurean Pet Nutrition, Inc. et al.

Heather A. Foster, partner at Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, said, "Petcurean and Pet Food Express touted the high-priced Go! Natural pet food as a premium product that was one of the 'healthiest pet foods in the world.' We believe the evidence will show, as alleged in the complaint, that Go! Natural contained substances toxic to animals and this is why so many pets have died."

Several pets who would have lived to be nine or ten are now passing at three and four years do to the break down of their body functions due to the release of these cemicalsinto their bodies over time. When a dog is feed only a dry dog food and never another natural product you are 100% increasing its chance to pass at a young age.

I hope the information i have presented to you will at the least make you think how your dog food is processed and what the long term effects it could possibly have on your pet. There are unforutuanly very few pet foods on the market which do not contain a meat meal or meat by product. So please take the time to research each dog food and what is right for your family pet.