Commercial Dog Food

Pets play an important role in many people's lives. The healthier they are, the longer the animal companions will live and be at their best. Though using commercial pet food is an inexpensive and easy way of feeding pets, there is much evidence that many of the popular pet food brands have little or no nutritional value and are causing serious illness and even death.

There have been many pet food scares in recent years. Perhaps the first big incident that got people to start thinking about how they fed their pets was the commercial pet food scare that started in mid-march of 2007. After months of tests, pet food ingredients such as wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate were found to be contaminated with melamine (Mann). This chemical, added by Chinese manufacturers to make ingredients seem more protein-rich, was the cause of thousands of pet deaths. As tying a pet death to the pet food requires tests results from a pet's tissue and blood samples, the number of pets who fell victim to this disaster will never be known for sure. (Julie, Schmit, and Weise Elizabeth)

Not only are there dozens of pet food scares like the one of 2007, but the normal pet food ingredients themselves are terrible. Diseased meat and common ingredients in commercial pet food are known to cause liver and kidney damage, cancer, heart disease, hypertension, thyroid disease, brain defects, nervousness, anxiety, diabetes, arthritis and a lot more (Bailey 11-12). Even if a pet owner frequently reads pet food labels, they need to be aware of what the ingredients can actually mean.

On the pet food labels, there are many generic terms to stay away from. Ingredients such as bone meal, fish meal, poultry byproducts, dried liver digest are some of the common terms to cover up actual horrible ingredients (Pitcairn 12). "Meat byproducts" for example, can actually mean poultry feather meal, connective tissues, "gristle," leather meal, (yes, leather, like that used to make belts or shoes), fecal waste from poultry and other animals, and horse and cattle hair (Pitcairn 11). The pet food is filled with empty carbohydrates such as rancid or moldy grains, corn gluten meal, and beet sugar, all with little or no nutritional value (Pitcairn 11). After all this, there are other factors, affecting not only animals, but humans as well. Artificial coloring in the food does not require labeling. Herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides are used while growing crops that go into the food. Growth stimulants, hormones, antibiotics and tranquilizers that are given to the livestock eating the crops. Finally, more chemicals are added to the livestock once slaughtered to preserve, soften, and enhance the color of the meat (Bailey 12).

Some of the food people buy for themselves might say "USDA inspected." But the point to realize is that the inspection was to determine if the food was suitable for human consumption. What was not edible goes into pet food. So it is incorrect to think that because the food is inspected, the person's pet is eating food of high quality. It actually means the opposite - that because it is inspected, that person's dog or cat is eating the discarded remnants (Pitcairn 17). So, for instance, when chickens go through the inspection line to be packaged for the grocery stores, the chickens that are dead, diseased, disabled and dying (the four D's) are thrown in a bucket to be sold to unknowing costumers as pet food.

Veterinarian and author Alfred Plechner, in his work with chronic allergy and immune disease in dogs and cats, began with changing their diets to all natural food. For many animals this is all that was needed. In Plechner's discoveries, it became clear that nutritional and vitamin deficiencies- direct results of poor feedings - were the cause of most animals' health problems (Stein 60).

People who switch to an all natural food diet for their pets will usually notice a significant change in their animal within a month or so. Pets on natural food have beautiful coats and skin, never need baths to smell good, and have no "doggie breath". Fleas typically do not bother a healthy pet who has built a strong immune system from eating natural "people" food.

It was not until the 1920s that Purina began selling the first commercial dog food (Irvine 53). Before that, dogs ate table scraps and anything that humans did not eat (Irvine 54). Dogs should have raw meat and small amounts of vegetables and grains should be added, just like their wild ancestors would have found in the stomachs of the animals they killed. Although preparing homemade pet food takes a little extra time and money, it will save the owner many vet bills and heartbreak in the long run. There are many books and online material that provide recipes with raw meats, vegetables and grains that keep pets free from diseases caused from commercial food.

Therefore, people who go against conventional wisdom and mix up a pot of raw turkey, carrots, and oatmeal, or just give them scraps from their table, are actually doing their pets a favor. Imagine how happy pets would be, enjoying the food nature intended them to have, since the time when they were wild. Instead they're given hard, dry kibble from a bag, full of putrid ingredients that can lead them to disease and/or death.

WORK CITED

Holistic Animal Handbook: A Guidebook to Nutrition, Health, and Communication By Patrice Mattelon

Dr. Pitcairn's complete guide to natural health for dogs & cats By Richard H. Pitcairn and Susan Hubble Pitcairn

Stein, Diane. Natural healing for dogs & cats. 1993.

Julie, Schmit, and Weise, Elizabeth "Pet-food death toll unlikely to be known." (n.d.): TOPICsearch. EBSCO. Web. 22 Nov. 2009.

Mann, Jennifer "Majority of pet food ingredient tests reveal melamine." (2007): TOPICsearch. EBSCO. Web. 22 Nov. 2009.

If You Tame Me : Understanding Our Connection with Animals Irvine, Leslie (Author) Bekoff, Marc (Foreword by)

Real Dogs Don't Eat Kibble! : Sandra Bailey (Paperback, 2007)