Scary pet food

5 April 2007

The current pet food recall has dog and cat owners scrambling to find something safe to feed their pets. It’s tragic. But it may have a silver lining. I’m hoping it will shine a light on the pet food industry and the fact that it’s virtually self-regulated, by the Association of American Feed Control Officials, the trade group that has established the industry standards. And I’m hoping that will change. Already, through this recall, we’ve learned that many pet foods are made in the same factory. And I bet I’m not the only one a little surprised to learn that some of the ingredients come from China.

I’m one of the lucky ones who doesn’t have to worry much about it. I started feeding my dogs home-prepared food back in 1999, when my now-departed standard poodle, Kramer, was very ill. You can read my thoughts on that in my now-defunct column over at thepoop.com.

But just last year we started including some kibble in the poodles’ diet, mostly because my husband felt that they wanted it for the texture. Sure enough they do like it and it’s so easy that they do get it every now and again. We feed Innova EVO, a human-grade, grain-free kibble whose ingredients are surely a cut above what was available in the late 90s. Our kitty, Joe, is ape over the feline version (he used to eat the dog EVO out of the dog bowl, so we bought him his own.)

My poodles do get commercial treats (Milkbones and Greenies), so I’m keeping a close eye on the ever-growing recall list at Menu Foods website, as well as the pet-food recall page at the website of the Food and Drug Administration.

Back to that silver lining. This scare might well shake people’s confidence in the pet food industry. Pet owners had somehow been convinced that commercial pet food was safe, that “complete and balanced nutrition” was available in any bag or can. It’s time that pet owners took an active role in their pet’s health by scrutinizing labels and applying a little critical thinking about what’s inside that bag or can.

Common sense tells us that a food whose first four ingredients are grains is not a natural diet for a dog. I encourage you to educate yourself about your pets’ diet. You don’t have to prepare the food yourself, if you don’t want to. But take this scare as an opportunity to be shaken out of your complacency. Your animals will thank you.

Tagged with: dogs, pet food, recall