Somebody, please, tell me this isn't true...

[conuly]

http://www.nexusmagazine.com/articles/petfood1.html

Tell me it's sponsored by PETA or something, because I'm not about to check.

Comments

[priyatelka.livejournal.com]

Well, not sponsored by PETA.

The magazine has this to say about itself:

NEXUS is an international bi-monthly alternative news magazine, covering the fields of: Health Alternatives; Suppressed Science; Earth's Ancient Past; UFOs & the Unexplained; and Government Cover-Ups.

This kind of statement would usually make me wary of any information they may offer. Not disbelieving, just wary.

However, in the Pet Food Industry articles listed, one was written by a vet with what looks like very good credentials:

Dr Belfield is a graduate of Tuskegee Institute of Veterinary Medicine and is now in private practice in San Jose, California. Dr Belfield established the first orthomolecular veterinary hospital in the US. He is co-author of The Very Healthy Cat Book and How to Have a Healthier Dog. This article first appeared in Let's Live Magazine, May 1992.

So I don't know what to think. I have noticed the things he's talked about in my cats over the years, cats who weren't sick (according to the vet) and I couldn't figure out why they were throwing up, etc.

That is very distressing...

[nightsea.livejournal.com]

I'm not particularly inclined to believe that article. Not because it's distressing, which it is, but because of the lack of proof as well as information I'm aware of which is contradictory.

I've had a number of close friends who worked in the veterinary field, and they have all told me that euthanized pets are disposed of through cremation. There may or may not be some sort of law that dictates how deceased pets are handled, but personally I think that there might be.

Now, it's fairly common knowledge that diseased and/or disabled animals such as cattle and horses are used in pet food, but I have no reason to believe that someone's dear Fluffy or Spot ends up in Fido's food.

[moggymania.livejournal.com]

Euthanized pets at a *vet* are disposed of via cremation, yet. It's established, however, that pets put down at shelters are sold to renderers -- several major reputable news sources have confirmed it.

Google results on the topic (http://www.google.com/search?q=rendered+shelter+pets+cat+food&sourceid=firefox&start=0&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8).

Depends on the vet, I think, or maybe the state.

[marveen.livejournal.com]

When my husband's pet of many years was hit by a car (dog should have been named Houdini, Blackie was not only in a fenced yard but tied up since the family were at the store), they took him to the vet and the vet said that he was sorry, there was nothing he could do but ease the end.

Afterward, the vet asked if they wanted to take Blackie's body or if they would like him to dispose of it. So they asked how.

The vet said "Oh, we send them to the landfill."

My future husband (then 17; this was in 1986) and his father were angered and insulted that their beloved pet would be callously classed as trash. They took Blackie home and buried him in the backyard. (The marker is still there today.)

[catsluvdmb.livejournal.com]

HAHAHAHA, road kill that's a good one.

I work for one of the companies that provides the animal protein that goes into pet food. I can tell you that from what I know, they are not putting road kill and dead pets into the food. I work hands on with what eventually ends up in pet food, and Value Protein would wonder what the fuck is wrong with us if we put a dead opossum in the bin.

[moggymania.livejournal.com]

As I said to somebody else, pets put down at shelters are sold to renderers and used openly in pet food -- several major reputable news sources have confirmed it, and there's a huge number of Google results on the topic (http://www.google.com/search?q=rendered+shelter+pets+cat+food&sourceid=firefox&start=0&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8).

So perhaps "from what you know" they're not, but it's pretty well-known that it is going on...

[catsluvdmb.livejournal.com]

hmmm... the way they made it sound in the beginning (i only skimmed the rest), it was like they were taking euthanized animals from vet clinics.

To be honest, I don't really see the problem with taking animals already killed in shelters. I'd rather have them recycled than taken to the town dump. It sucks that animals have to be put down, but until people are more responsible about their pets, it's a necessary evil.

[moggymania.livejournal.com]

No, it's true... I've already put Google results in reply to other comments in your LJ, but there's also these as a quick intro:

http://cats.about.com/cs/catfood/a/whyfussfood.htm

http://www.messybeast.com/cat-food-industry.htm

just for starters.

It has also been confirmed by large reputable news sources (San Francisco Chronicle for example), state/national vetrinary associations, the FDA, and so forth. This isn't some secret made up by whackjobs.

[conuly]

Huh. So, by now, what pet foods are left to trust?

[moggymania.livejournal.com]

Quite a few, actually -- it's just the ones in the grocery stores for the most part that can't be trusted. (Any food that has vague labels like "animal" or "meat" is to be avoided, put simply.)

Some of the safe brands in this sense:
Nutro
Felidae
California Natural
Wysong
Iams (this might have changed)
Chicken Soup For the [Pet] Lover's Soul
Innova
Royal Canin
(list goes on and on, believe me)

(All of those only use meats that they can openly list on the label and don't use by-products like cancerous tumors. Some still use cheap filler like ground yellow corn, but that's another whole issue and not nearly as important/scary as the protein sources.)

[moggymania.livejournal.com]

(Posting this to my LJ too :)

Natura (one of the *good* companies) has this cool ingredient comparison wizard, which not only lets you compare ingredients between different brands, but also will give you information on what each of the ingredients are, including whether they're good/bad and why:

http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=comp-wiz

[robotliliput.livejournal.com]

Scary, but it's true.

The only dry pet food to feed your animals is either Precise or Avo. Everything else has tumor meats, meat "by-products", and "non-food-grade" meats and grains (including environmental toxins). If it's not safe for human consumption, why is it okay to feed to animals, I ask? Because animals don't live that long anyway? I hate this callousness. It sickens me.

[xmorningxrosex.livejournal.com]

Well you've got enough comments saying that it is true already, but I just wanted to add that I'd believe it. I remember being at a farm for a field trip, and one of the workers was explaining what cows are fed. In the list of stuff was dried cow blood (in powder mixed in with grains) for iron/protein/etc. Whole idea grossed me out, and I've seen some pretty horrible pics of horses that were on their way to being dog food, so feeding pets roadkill doesn't seem all that far off.

[priyatelka.livejournal.com]

Well, not sponsored by PETA.

The magazine has this to say about itself:

NEXUS is an international bi-monthly alternative news magazine, covering the fields of: Health Alternatives; Suppressed Science; Earth's Ancient Past; UFOs & the Unexplained; and Government Cover-Ups.

This kind of statement would usually make me wary of any information they may offer. Not disbelieving, just wary.

However, in the Pet Food Industry articles listed, one was written by a vet with what looks like very good credentials:

Dr Belfield is a graduate of Tuskegee Institute of Veterinary Medicine and is now in private practice in San Jose, California. Dr Belfield established the first orthomolecular veterinary hospital in the US. He is co-author of The Very Healthy Cat Book and How to Have a Healthier Dog. This article first appeared in Let's Live Magazine, May 1992.

So I don't know what to think. I have noticed the things he's talked about in my cats over the years, cats who weren't sick (according to the vet) and I couldn't figure out why they were throwing up, etc.

That is very distressing...

[nightsea.livejournal.com]

I'm not particularly inclined to believe that article. Not because it's distressing, which it is, but because of the lack of proof as well as information I'm aware of which is contradictory.

I've had a number of close friends who worked in the veterinary field, and they have all told me that euthanized pets are disposed of through cremation. There may or may not be some sort of law that dictates how deceased pets are handled, but personally I think that there might be.

Now, it's fairly common knowledge that diseased and/or disabled animals such as cattle and horses are used in pet food, but I have no reason to believe that someone's dear Fluffy or Spot ends up in Fido's food.

[moggymania.livejournal.com]

Euthanized pets at a *vet* are disposed of via cremation, yet. It's established, however, that pets put down at shelters are sold to renderers -- several major reputable news sources have confirmed it.

Google results on the topic (http://www.google.com/search?q=rendered+shelter+pets+cat+food&sourceid=firefox&start=0&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8).

Depends on the vet, I think, or maybe the state.

[marveen.livejournal.com]

When my husband's pet of many years was hit by a car (dog should have been named Houdini, Blackie was not only in a fenced yard but tied up since the family were at the store), they took him to the vet and the vet said that he was sorry, there was nothing he could do but ease the end.

Afterward, the vet asked if they wanted to take Blackie's body or if they would like him to dispose of it. So they asked how.

The vet said "Oh, we send them to the landfill."

My future husband (then 17; this was in 1986) and his father were angered and insulted that their beloved pet would be callously classed as trash. They took Blackie home and buried him in the backyard. (The marker is still there today.)

[catsluvdmb.livejournal.com]

HAHAHAHA, road kill that's a good one.

I work for one of the companies that provides the animal protein that goes into pet food. I can tell you that from what I know, they are not putting road kill and dead pets into the food. I work hands on with what eventually ends up in pet food, and Value Protein would wonder what the fuck is wrong with us if we put a dead opossum in the bin.

[moggymania.livejournal.com]

As I said to somebody else, pets put down at shelters are sold to renderers and used openly in pet food -- several major reputable news sources have confirmed it, and there's a huge number of Google results on the topic (http://www.google.com/search?q=rendered+shelter+pets+cat+food&sourceid=firefox&start=0&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8).

So perhaps "from what you know" they're not, but it's pretty well-known that it is going on...

[catsluvdmb.livejournal.com]

hmmm... the way they made it sound in the beginning (i only skimmed the rest), it was like they were taking euthanized animals from vet clinics.

To be honest, I don't really see the problem with taking animals already killed in shelters. I'd rather have them recycled than taken to the town dump. It sucks that animals have to be put down, but until people are more responsible about their pets, it's a necessary evil.

[moggymania.livejournal.com]

No, it's true... I've already put Google results in reply to other comments in your LJ, but there's also these as a quick intro:

http://cats.about.com/cs/catfood/a/whyfussfood.htm

http://www.messybeast.com/cat-food-industry.htm

just for starters.

It has also been confirmed by large reputable news sources (San Francisco Chronicle for example), state/national vetrinary associations, the FDA, and so forth. This isn't some secret made up by whackjobs.

[conuly]

Huh. So, by now, what pet foods are left to trust?

[moggymania.livejournal.com]

Quite a few, actually -- it's just the ones in the grocery stores for the most part that can't be trusted. (Any food that has vague labels like "animal" or "meat" is to be avoided, put simply.)

Some of the safe brands in this sense:
Nutro
Felidae
California Natural
Wysong
Iams (this might have changed)
Chicken Soup For the [Pet] Lover's Soul
Innova
Royal Canin
(list goes on and on, believe me)

(All of those only use meats that they can openly list on the label and don't use by-products like cancerous tumors. Some still use cheap filler like ground yellow corn, but that's another whole issue and not nearly as important/scary as the protein sources.)

[robotliliput.livejournal.com]

Scary, but it's true.

The only dry pet food to feed your animals is either Precise or Avo. Everything else has tumor meats, meat "by-products", and "non-food-grade" meats and grains (including environmental toxins). If it's not safe for human consumption, why is it okay to feed to animals, I ask? Because animals don't live that long anyway? I hate this callousness. It sickens me.

[xmorningxrosex.livejournal.com]

Well you've got enough comments saying that it is true already, but I just wanted to add that I'd believe it. I remember being at a farm for a field trip, and one of the workers was explaining what cows are fed. In the list of stuff was dried cow blood (in powder mixed in with grains) for iron/protein/etc. Whole idea grossed me out, and I've seen some pretty horrible pics of horses that were on their way to being dog food, so feeding pets roadkill doesn't seem all that far off.