There have been billions of advertising dollars spent by commercial pet food companies to make dog owners believe that all you have to do is open a bag of dry kibble or a can of wet slop, put it in a bowl and you have given your dog a complete and balanced meal. And don’t forget that you have to feed the same kind of food every day or the dog will be sick. This is simply not true but it has been money well spent because most dog owners believe it. (I fell for it too.)
What most people don’t know is that the pet food industry was born from the human food and agriculture industries. Pet food provides a convenient way for waste products from the meat packing, poultry, grain and other food industries deemed ‘unfit for human consumption’ to be used and made profitable.
They get away with it because most people don’t read the label. If they do, they don’t know what the heck the ingredients are, just trusting that they are beneficial. Take a common ingredient, Poultry By-Product Meal for example. Sounds like chicken, right? Yes, but it’s not the chicken breast and thigh meat you are imagining, it’s the left-over stuff that can include; organ meat, backs, necks, feet, feathers blood, intestines, hair, feces, beaks, cancerous tissue, ear tags, noses, foam packaging, spoiled meat, and heads. It also includes all the other stuff that is literally swept up with all this garbage including wood shavings or sawdust. Yummy. Commercial pet food is also loaded with artificial chemicals and preservatives that are just not safe to eat. Don’t believe me? Go grab your dog’s bag of pet food and Google each of the ingredients. If you are like me you will throw that bag away before you reach the end.
If that’s not enough, commercial pet foods have even been linked to many common diseases in dogs including; allergies, obesity, food intolerance, inflammatory bowel disease, chronic ear infections, cystitis, bladder and kidney stones, certain heart diseases, pancreatitis, hip dysplasia, canine mammary cancer, bloat, and diabetes. So, it is time to start paying close attention to what we are feeding our dogs.
Just like humans, dogs benefit from eating fresh foods including meat, fish, fruits, vegetables and grains. If you don’t have the time or inclination to prepare fresh meals for your dog, research natural, organic, holistic and human-quality pet foods that are becoming more and more readily available. However, proceed with caution because even with the massive recalls of 2007, the pet food industry is still not regulated by the FDA like you think they should be. And don’t be fooled by the razzle-dazzle marketing on the package, read the label, do your homework and if you wouldn’t eat the ingredients don’t make your dog eat it.
