Do They Really Use Dead Dogs and Cats to Make Pet Food?

To ERICS Comment bout dogs being wolves????? What the Hell? My four legged children are not wolves!!!! they are part of the family! you are quit stupid! and dont need any! keep your comments to yourself! Go Eat your OWN SELF!

After finding about all this recently, I no longer will feed my dog the wet food I have been using to mix with her dry food (Nutro Holistic senior formula). I was originally mixing it with Cesar and I know that is a bad brand that has mysterious meats.

I am just changing her diet altogether. I am now putting her on the small breed senior Blue Buffalo dry food and will mix it with various canned food by Blue Buffalo.

I find this whole thing sick. It’s like feeding your children fetuses. I know my cannot fathom or understand but I don’t think she’d like it if she had morals. I love her too much to feed her that crap.

I have a big mixed – breed dog. He’s very strong and healthy. He does chase cats and other dogs though. He woofs down his food . He’s fine with wal-mart’s OL’ROY kibbles. Never never been sick and is 11 yrs old.He’s proof that all the hype doesn’t concern the final result. I live on ssi an buy 40 lbs of it a month. But I must admit, though he’s killed things before and eats them. Maybe for extra protein. Neighbors don’t like my dog and annoyed because of 11 years putting up with him .Pit bulls are still legal in Oregon.

My German Shepherd mix (95 lbs) had surgery recently and went off his normal food completely. I believe the anesthesia affected his taste buds (as it has mine every time I’ve had surgery). Anyhow I began trying a variety of canned food, different dry foods that the pet store let me get samples of…nothing worked. I was afraid he was going to stave to death and then he started with diarrhea and vomiting the tiny amount he was eating. So we then had to fast him for a day and then start him on brown rice and ground chicken. Very small amounts at first and then increasing as he was able. I began to mix in small amounts of his normal dry and he literally would allow it to fall out of his mouth as he ate the chicken and rice. I began reading about the different ingredients allowed in dog food and was flabbergasted! I wondered if possibly my poochie had been doing some internet research when I wasn’t around! LOL! So I went and bought a bag of more expensive dog food with what I felt was really good ingredients. (no corn, no “meat meal”, etc.). He wouldn’t touch it by itself, but I thought maybe it’s just because he’s now spoiled with my homemade dog food, so I read how to make healthy homemade dog food. I experimented by adding veggies, blueberries, sweet potatoes, etc. I learned texture made a big difference so to get him to eat certain things, I just had to cook them a little more tender or blend them (like the blueberries for instance). OK, very long story short…it’s over a month later and he still will not touch dry dog food when served alone, but when I mix it with my homemade version, he eats it just fine. Someone asked me how expensive it is to make, and I figured it out and it’s really not that bad. Plus, it’s not too time-consuming either. I make a huge batch at a time (about once every week or two, however, I’m getting to where I can cook a months worth at a time now), I allow it to cool and then place it in gallon Ziploc baggies, date it, and put what will be used within a week in the fridge and the rest in the freezer. When I mix it with his higher grade dog food (Diamond natural beef and rice), he eats it very well. He’s finally gotten to where he’ll eat it well when I mix it about 1/2 and 1/2. Surprisingly, it costs about the same as if I was feeding him the dry only plus I get the joy of making something my best friend really enjoys, not just tolerates. It’s especially cost effective when you buy the brown rice in the larger bags. I don’t mean “quick rice.” I’m talking the stuff that takes an hour to cook. The good thing is, you can add the other ingredients and allow it to all cook together. That way the flavors meld together and he really seems to enjoy it more. I have experimented with additional vegetables and have him do “taste tests” and really seem to have perfected what he likes. Who knows? I may even find a market for this gourmet dog food locally.
I feel so much better knowing that no “rendered” ingredients are ending up in my pals food and in turn are not in his body. I read somewhere that dogs fed a diet of standard dog food that has corn as a main ingredient have a lifespan of 7 to 10 years less than those that consume a diet that is designed for…well…a dog!

Except, that’s not really what the choice is. It’s like saying it’s okay if kids are fed food from a dumpster as long as they’re fed. There has to be a decent minimum standard of food quality. If people who can’t afford to take proper care of their pets don’t have them, then the pet population will naturally drop. People who pay for good dog food, vet bills, etc… generally aren’t the same people doing irresponsible breeding and such of the like. I’m not saying pets that are already alive should be euthanized, I’m saying owners and companies should be responsible and moral instead of selfish and greedy.

Good pet food isn’t even all that expensive. There’s maybe a $5 difference between a bag of good dog food and crap like Purina. Solid Gold Wee Bits is $10 a bag.

My main point though is that these companies are crooked. They claim they’re providing a healthy formula, knowing the average person doesn’t read ingredient lists or understand them even if they did. They stick in stuff that’s the nutritional equivalent of toxic waste. Cancerous livestock, euthanized pets, floor sweepings, etc… An owner thinks they’re buying good healthy food, when they’re unknowingly killing their pet. These pet food brands profit on pain.

Totally evil.

Misty I hear ya and feel where your coming from . I made a almost the same comment on people affording or not affording pets . Jonathan slammed me and made me really think about it . Yes it would be wonderful if every pet owner fed top foods . Really though , isn’t better that dogs are being loved and being able to live by people who can’t afford good food and do the best they can on what they have ? Sorry to say I would rather see a dog live than be put down because some people can only spend a few bucks on food .

Given the fact that the pet food industry does sometimes use euthanized pets in their products, you should look beyond and consider why such practices are in place… why shelters knowingly allow their euthanized animals to be rendered.

In many cases, these animals will be picked up & disposed of for FREE by rendering companies. Yes, they could simply cremate every animal they get but guess what — this costs money (operating the furnaces +/- labor costs). I personally opted to have every single one of my pets cremated & had their ashes returned to me. This may not be an issue either in smaller shelters which has a small coverage area, but how about in large cities & metros which may have to dispose of thousands of unwanted animals every year?

I’m sure you won’t disagree that budgets are probably already running thin to support our local shelters. What other alternatives are available? dumping their dead bodies to further fill our local landfills?

You don’t like the aspects of “recycling”, but what other cost effective way to deal with carcasses (not just of these pets, but also of the cattle, roadkill, etc). If everyone insists on feeding animals pure foods not derived from intentionally killed for food animals, then not only would it drive prices up and make owning pets unfeasible for a larger portion of the population but we would also be promoting the killing of more animals to support our + our pet’s carnivorous needs.

In the UK on pet food cans it states a percentage of meat but also lists animal derivatives. I know of a rendering plant and the lorries go to vets picking up the animals that were pts!! Its vile! We are making our pets cannibals!

FDA-Skeptic wrote “Of course, the FDA claims phenobarb in pet food is at a non-harmful level, in spite of the mysterious resistance to the chemical found by field veterinarians in pets. That is why you can’t always trust ‘the experts”

I agree completely with FDA-Skeptic (except it’s pentobarbiotal not phenobarb (an anti-seizure med). The US Fish and Wildlife have this to say about rendering animals (ANY animal not just pets).

“Rendering is not an acceptable way to dispose of a pentobarbital-tainted carcass. The drug residues are not destroyed in the rendering process, so the tissues and by-products may contain poison and must not be used for animal feed….

All pentobarbital-euthanized carcasses should be prominently tagged with one or more highly-visible “POISON” warning labels. Bagged animals should have a label affixed to the carcass itself and also attached to the outside of the bag.” http://cpharm.vetmed.vt.edu/USFWS/USFWSFPentobarbFactSheet.pdf

I dont want my puppy-Nixie-eating dead dog or cat etc., what are some healthy options of food for dogs that is not store bought yet,acceptable.

I can’t watch this video.

As it is, everytime I see the word “animal” in pet food ingredients I shudder and throw the bag down like I might get coodies or something.

Eric – dogs are not wolves… dogs are domestic animals that evolved from wolves. Wolves in the wild do not eat the same food with the same ingredients day in and day out for their entire lives. Wolves may occasionally scavange some less than ideal meals, but they are generally not consuming traces of pesticides, chemicals and pharmacuticals every single day as alot of our pets unknowingly are. Our companion dogs trustingly eat whatever food we feed them. And don’t confuse “sick and injured” wild animals with “diseased and dying” livestock and/or other domestic animals, I can assure you they are very different.. and they make what wolves eat very different from commercial pet foods.

something really needs to be done about this issue. more research needs to be done to find out whats really going on. how would people like it if restaurants starting adding “old lady” or “cancer victim” to the menu? would something be done about that? i think so. let’s put some of these pet food companies out of buisness for good!!!

Mike, I’ve been your friend and patient for about forty years and I just discovered your website! Thank you for the research! Many years ago, I poured out a bag of a mid-priced, heavily advertised kibble and found a torn blue nylon strap. At the time, I assumed it might have come from some of the processing equipment but years later, I realized that it may have been part of a collar. I think the pet food industry (and the meat industry in general) has a lot of dark secrets they don’t advertise.

How sad….for our live pets and especially sad for those that are euthanized because of lack of homes. People really need to be educated. I have always tried to read ingredients and be careful with what pet food I purchase; but after reading this, will be more proactive. Actually, the whole scenario is quite disgusting. Have bought Science Diet for years thinking it was “the best”, but now they’re on the list too! AAUGGHH!!!!!!!!!