# Killing Our Pets With Every Meal



## Linariel (Feb 21, 2006)

I first found this article on another forum I frequent. I think it's an important read for all pet owners.

If anyone would like more info on choosing quality pet foods, I have some good links and information.


http://www.healthyplanetrx.com/articles.asp?id=137

Healing Our World: Weekly Comment
By Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D.

Food Even a Dog Shouldn't Eat - Killing Our Pets with Every Meal

Each year, Americans spend $10 billion on pet food for our beloved companion animals, animals we treat like members of our families and whom we love as our closest friends. Yet 95 percent of the food fed to these treasured creatures is made up of materials that are unfit for human consumption and contain little nutritional value.

As a result, "man's best friend" has skin disorders, arthritis, obesity, heart disease and a variety of cancers. Without speech, our animal companions cannot tell us of the insidious, often life threatening ill health they experience.

A large percentage of commercial pet food is made up of meat by-products, a toxic brew containing diseased and contaminated meat from slaughterhouses, animal heads, toenails, chicken feathers, feet and beaks. It also includes dead animals picked up from the nation's roads, rancid kitchen grease and frying oil from the nation's kitchens, and millions of pounds of dead animals from the country's animal hospitals and shelters.

Meat Packing Plant (Photo courtesy Sterling Industries)


The meat industry produces a tremendous amount of waste. Half of every cow and one-third of every pig butchered is wasted. Add to that the millions of tons of dead animals each year and you have an incredible waste problem.

In the United States alone, rendering is a $2.4 billion industry with 286 rendering plants disposing of over 100 million pounds of dead animals, meat wastes and fat EVERY DAY.

A few years ago, Baltimore reporter Van Smith visited a rendering plant in his city and found that the large vats that collect and filter the animals prior to cooking contained a vast array of animals including dead dogs, cats, raccoons, opossums, deer, foxes, snakes, a baby circus elephant and the remains of a police department horse. This one rendering plant alone processes 1,824 dead animals every month. Every year this one plant turns 150 million pounds of decaying, diseased and drug filled flesh and kitchen grease into 80 million pounds of meat and bone meal, tallow and yellow grease. This nutritionally dead, often toxic material provides the base for most pet foods and is found in a vast array of products used by humans as well.

Shredding before boiling at the rendering plant (Photo courtesy Fan Separator Company)


This meat and bone meal is used to augment the feed of poultry, pigs, cattle and sheep destined for human consumption.

The deceptive product label names to watch out for that indicate the presence of this deadly soup include meat meal, meat by-products, poultry meal, poultry by-products, fish meal, fish oil, yellow grease, tallow, beef fat, chicken fat and fatty acids.

Fatty acids can be found in lipstick, inks and waxes and other rendering products such as tallow and grease go into soaps, candles, tires, many drugs and gummy candies. The health conscious consumer should avoid all these ingredients in human and pet foods.

Downed dairy cow waiting to be picked up by the rendering plant (Photo courtesy Farm Sanctuary)


Many toxic chemicals make their way into the rendered products. In addition to the unused meat from the livestock slaughtering process, dead, dying, diseased and disabled animals are also included. These animals are known as "4D meat" in the trade. Along with the meat comes disease, antibiotics and other drugs used during the animals' lives, pesticides, cattle ID tags and surgical needles.

Unsold supermarket meats, still in their plastic and Styrofoam wrappings, go into the mix as well as the plastic bags they are delivered in.

The millions of dead dogs and cats from veterinarians and animals shelters go into the rendering pots, including their flea collars containing toxic pesticides, ID tags and a variety of powerful drugs.

The city of Los Angeles sends 200 tons of euthanized cats and dogs to West Coast Rendering plant every month. This is just from the city's animal shelters and does not include animals from private veterinarians.

Euthanized dogs (Photo by Barbara Ward)


A common drug found in the rendering brew is phenobarbital, commonly used to euthanize sick animals. The American Journal of Veterinary Research did a study in 1985 that showed there was virtually no degradation of this drug during the typical rendering process and that measurable quantities of it remain present in the rendered material used for pet foods and for feeding cattle destined for human consumption.

The grains in pet food bear little resemblance to the nutrient rich cereals we assume are present. Pet food grain consists of the leftovers after the grain has been processed for humans. It also contains moldy grain that has been declared unfit for human consumption. Some of the mold is toxic and potentially deadly.

The preservatives added to pet foods, and human foods, are highly toxic. Sodium nitrite, a coloring agent and preservative, ethoxyquin, an insecticide, BHA and BHT have all been linked to cancer. Your dog could be consuming as much as 26 pounds of preservatives each year if it is fed these foods.

The state of ill health that these non-foods generate is responsible for a host of health problems and can cause a hypersensitivity to flea and insect bites. Many flea allergies would go away in animals if their diets were changed.

8,000 gallon fat boiler ((Photo courtesy National Bi-Products)


The pet food industry is unregulated by government bodies. An organization called the Association of American Feed Control Officials sets the standards. Its membership includes a few state agency representatives, but it is mostly run by commercial pet food industry workers.

Don't be fooled by pet food sold at a veterinarian's office. Depending upon the brand, this food can contain most of the same ingredients as commercial pet foods sold in supermarkets. The corporations that own these brands are simply very clever with their advertisement and product placements and begin courting vets during their training with free food, lectures and even clothing.

Fortunately, there are alternatives and some are presented below, but you will need to pay more. Rather than paying 15 cents a pound for toxic commercial pet food, you may need to spend a dollar a pound. But the thousands of dollars you could save in treating your pet's food-caused illnesses could more than make this up.

As always, larger issues loom. We must cast off the comfortable assumptions we have lived with all our lives, discover the truth and act on it. Change your pet's food today. And change your own, while you are at it!

And don't forget the water - if you wouldn't drink tap water, why are you giving it to your pet?

I hear a voice,
the cry of a wounded animal,
Someone shoots an arrow at the moon;
A small bird has fallen from the nest.
People must be awakened,
Witness must be given,
So that life can be guarded.
-- W.S. Rendra


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## iluvmyvikin (Aug 24, 2005)

i've read the fluoride in the tap water is VERY bad for the doggies teeth


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## Isshinharu (Jan 27, 2006)

Interesting read... thanks for posting.

I knew by-products and meals were bad... but either this article sounds radical / extreme... or I didn't fully understand just what those ingredients included. Personally, once I heard by-products and meals were bad, that was enough for me... I feed only holistic... Wellness.

It's a shame that more pet owning americans aren't aware of what their pet actually eats. All that most people see is a 40# bag of Ol' Roy for $20 and their eyes light up. It's no wonder it's americas #1 selling brand of dog food... I wouldn't want to pay $35-$40 (the comparable price for a holistic food) for a 40# bag of bones, beaks, and feathers either! Too bad people didn't know that _good_ food is actually out there.


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## Linariel (Feb 21, 2006)

Iluvmyvikin-Flouride isn't bad for their teeth that I've heard. It's just very dangerous to swallow. Same for us. Ever see on the tube of toothpaste where it says, "If more is swallowed than is used for brushing, contact a poison control center immediately."? That's because it's a toxic chemical, and pets can't spit toothpaste out. The flouride in water is bad for us to ingest as well.

Isshinharu, yes, by-products are bad. Mostly because they aren't very digestible. You don't find too much nutrition in the beaks and feathers, you're right. But the article was also referring to low quality meat sources.

Take Ol' Roy, for example--one of the main ingredients is "Meat and bone meal".
The source isn't specified. The meat could be anything, including the things mentioned in the article.

Meal is really not bad-it's just processed meat and bone and skin. However, if it doesn't tell you what KIND of meal it is, look out! I prefer fresh meat to meal simply because the meal is processed much more. But it's still in a lot of the top dog foods, because it's not harmful.

These nasty ingredients aren't always found in by-products. By-products are usually nasty in and of themselves. However, most lower quality foods use by-products as a cost effective meat source. So often times the stuff spoken of in this article finds its way into lower quality pet foods somehow of another.

Also, just because it's AAFCO approved doesn't mean it's *good*. 

The AAFCO standards are really horrendous. I can dig them up if someone's interested.

Oh, and I agree that Wellness rocks!


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## ~Jessie~ (Oct 30, 2005)

I am big into dog nutrition, and it is so hard to get this information through to people.

I only give my dogs' bottled water as well... I would NEVER drink the tap water; why should they!

Also, I feed my dogs' Innova and Wellness. They are well worth the trip to the doggie bakery, and the extra money


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## Linariel (Feb 21, 2006)

I won't drink city water, but luckily I've got a well! So we all drink tap water here.

I stay away from city water because of the flouride, and chlorine. 

Some people don't realise that a lot of bottled water has that stuff in it too, because it's just purified tap water! Yuck.


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## ~Jessie~ (Oct 30, 2005)

I drink spring water... I don't drink purified water.

Well water would be nice... but I live in Orlando, and the water here is disgusting :wave:


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## *Tiffany* (Sep 27, 2005)

my parents have a well....but i would never drink that water its got lots of iron and stuff. it tastes really bad ukeright: i always thought city water was a little better than well water :? :? either way i wouldnt drink any of it only bottled


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## ~Jessie~ (Oct 30, 2005)

My parents have well water as well... it is super filtered... and we still all drank bottled water.

I used to live in Massachusetts, and the well water up there was a lot different... but we never drank it.

I don't like the taste... so it's bottled water all the way :wave:


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## sesar_galvez (Apr 23, 2006)

i had no idea!


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## sesar_galvez (Apr 23, 2006)

i better start feeding better!


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## Jennifer Mcfly (Jun 1, 2006)

At the bottom of the article it list's Life's Abundance food link, wow, that's what I feed Chloe! Yay! Good Stuff!!


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## Xymenah (Dec 4, 2006)

I hate to tell you all this but this article is missinformed... I have taken a course in animal nutirition and have learned that by products are actually organ meat, which contains the most nutrients out of any other body part. They cannot list it as organ meat on the lable. Organ meat is actually quite good for your animal. I think after i finish my final exam for this class and have some time i will post my knowledge on nutrients and pet foods on here just to give another opinion to allow a well informed decision on everyones part.


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## MyTank (Sep 8, 2005)

But aren't by-products also feet, beaks, and whatever else they wanna throw in there?


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## oddboots (Sep 21, 2006)

In the UK - pet food has to be fit for humans to eat, Just incase you make a mistake,yucks.
If its backs to heaven and its not off - its edible.

I was brought up on a farm - only animal I wont eat - one I gave a name to.

Oddboots


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## Krista (Dec 29, 2005)

By-products are a lot more than organ meat. Yes, they are also feet, beaks ... and roadkill, euthanized animals, expired meats from grocery stores with the plastic still on! That's what by-products are, not organ meat (which is also bad for regular consumption as it's linked to a lot of cancers and other severe health problems). And it has been proven that yes, those things are put into certain pet foods. Not even people should eat a lot of organ meat ... for one, it causes gout ... and that's only one of the immediate problems that arise, never mind the long-term damage. Also, not all organ meat is good for consumption. Yes, liver has a lot of iron, but they also throw in intestines, tendons, etc. which are not fit for eating at all.


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## jmp24 (Nov 25, 2007)

I got some samples of Nature's Variety dog food, supposed to be a good one, does anyone have any opinions on that one? It runs about $9.99 for a 5 lb bag. My dog likes it, so I think I am going to get it.


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## feistypup6 (Dec 12, 2005)

We used to feed Natures Variety and did like it. We look for a food with two meat sources however in the first 5 ingredients. That helps us to believe that we are not giving to many grains in the diet. Natures Variety only has one meat in the upper ingredient list.
A word on meal. The ingredients are listed by the amount of ingredient. If Chicken is first, then this diet has more chicken than anything else. Chicken would have all the water weight in tact, where chicken meal would be only the chicken after water is removed. The ingredient 'chicken' may actually fall alot lower on the ingredient list after the water is removed, therefore making 'chicken meal' a better choice. 
For other foods, beware of Meat Meal, as the source of meat is not specified. 
We now feed Flint River Ranch and do like it very much.


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## Sweet-Chi (Feb 8, 2008)

For those of you who will only drink bottled water.... just remember that ANYTHING can be in that bottle. It is not regulated AT ALL. It could be tap water just poured into a bottle and a lot of them are exactly that! You can bottle tap water and call it "spring water". I would much rather drink tap water at least I know whats in it. Bottled water can and usually does still have chlorine and all kinds of other stuff in it.


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