Food Pets Die For

by Ann Martin

Until about seven years ago, I fed commercial pet food to my menagerie of cats, dogs, and rabbits. I did so because this is what my veterinarians recommended This was, and still is, what the pet food industry assures us is a "complete and balanced diet" for our pets. Not one to question authority, I followed this advice until my two large dogs became ill after ingesting a commercial pet food. It was then that I began to ask questions. I am not a veterinarian. I am not an expert. But I am a concerned consumer, an individual who wanted answers to my questions. At the time, little did I know this personal investigation would lead to seven years of searching, and now this book. Those first questions were basic: Who regulates the pet food industry? What are the ingredients used in pet foods? What tests are conducted to ascertain if these foods are complete and balanced? Can these foods have a detrimental effect on the health of our companion animals? What research is available showing that our pets cannot be fed human food and who has undertaken such research? I have since learned that this industry is virtually self-regulated. Just about anything and everything is fair game for use in pet food. This includes condemned and contaminated material from slaughterhouse facilities, road-kill, dead, diseased, disabled, and dying animals picked up by dead stock removal operations; and, although the industry vehemently denies it, euthanized companion animals. These are just the protein sources. Grains and fats, dregs from the human food chain, are also included. When I convey the information I have unearthed to other pet owners or to the public at seminars, people are concerned and shocked. Most people have no clue as to what they are feeding their pets. Most pet owners believe - as I once did- the information fostered by the pet food industry. I am here to offer the conclusion of my personal investigation. In my opinion, most pet food is garbage - unregulated garbage. Whenever I speak publicly on this issue, I am swamped with questions. People want more information. Every day I receive phone calls, faxes, and email from all over the world. I have learned that little information is available in this industry. If it had not been for the illness of my dogs, I too, would have been none the wiser. I have written a number of articles for magazines in both the United States and Canada, but these barely scratch the surface of what is actually happening within the North American pet food industry. A book is the only viable means of putting my seven years (and still continuing) research together. As I was writing my book, more information was coming to light on a daily basis, especially the development on mad cow disease and its connection with commercial pet food. This has been added, but I am sure more revealing information will be forthcoming. Pets can do extremely well on homemade food, and it is my hope that in writing my book, pet owners will take the time to cook for their dog or cat. When you open a can or bag of commercial pet food, question the quality of the ingredients. In my book I explain how to read labels on commercial pet food to understand what certain ingredients are. And if you do not have time to cook for your pets, at least you will know what to watch for - and avoid - when reading pet food labels. If you must buy commercial pet food, some are definitely better then others. Could you or your children stay healthy on substandard food from a can or bag every day for the rest of your lives? Don't expect your pet to.

Renderers in the United States pick up one hundred million pounds of waste material every day - a witch's brew of feet, heads, stomachs, intestines, hooves, spinal cords, tails, grease, feathers and bones .... An estimated six to seven million dogs and cats are killed in animal shelters each year, said Jeff Frace, a spokesman for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in New York City. For example, the City of Los Angeles sends two hundred tons of euthanized cats and dogs to West Coast Rendering, in Los Angeles, every month, according to Chuck Ellis, a spokesman for the city's Sanitation Department. Pet food companies try not to buy meat and bone meal from renderers who grind up cats and dogs, said Doug Anderson, president of Darling International, Inc., a large rendering company in Dallas. "We do not accept companion animals," he said. "But there are still a number of small plants that will render anything."

The Food and Drug Administration/Center for Veterinary Medicine (FDA/CVM responded to my query regarding the disposal of pets: "In recognizing the need for disposal of a large number of unwanted pets in this country, CVM has not acted to specifically prohibit the rendering of pets. However, that is not to say that we that the practice of using this material in pet food is condoned by the CVM." Not condoned, but apparently no steps have been taken to eliminate or restrict this practice.

Sodium pentobarbital, a barbiturate, used to euthanize companion animals and in some cases, livestock and horse, should not be used on animals intended for food. The 1993 "Report of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA Panel on Euthanasia," states: In euthanasia of animals intended for human or animal food, agents that result in tissue residues cannot be used unless they are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Carbon dioxide is the only chemical currently used in euthanasia of food animals that does not lead to tissue residues. Carcasses of animals euthanized by barbituric acid derivatives or other chemical agents may contain potentially harmful residues. These carcasses should be disposed of in a manner that will prevent them from being consumed by human beings or animals."

Author Ann N. Martin and her friend Charlie

Although most pet food companies deny that rendered companion animals are being used in their products, not one company tested the raw material to see if it did contain cats and dogs. These are not just pets from shelters. In the city where I live in Canada, not a huge city, I was to find that euthanized pets from almost every veterinary clinic in this city, were ending up at rendering plants. Once you sign that piece of paper at the vet clinic requesting the euthanasia of your pet, your pet no longer belongs to you. Unless you pay extra and request that the ashes be returned, your pet could very well end up at a rendering plant and be processed for livestock feed or pet food.

No reprints or copies of this article without expressed permission from the author. You can purchase Ann's book through the Book Store.

Ann Martin jmartin@gtn.net